What camera do I buy? / general gear talk

EF is all modern lenses? Never bought my own SLR so this is new to me. Being able to steal my dads lenses would be ideal...

Not quite. There are some EF-S lenses which are designed for crop sensors and won't fit on an EF camera (even if it did, you'd get extreme vignetting). 35mm will be EF mount.

EF-S (crop-sensor) cameras take EF lenses as well as EF-S though (with increased equivalent focal length).

Check whether your dad's lenses are EF or EF-S. Even if it's an EF-S camera he might still be using EF lenses.

Edit: there's also the mirrorless ones, EF-M - body can take EF or EF-S but EF-M lenses won't work with EF and EF-S mounts

Sounds like aperture priority is what i should go for, not the AE1. Buying a cheap body and experimenting with lenses that can be swapped around sounds like the best shout. I'll have a trawl through eBay using @Uoeno 's list and look out for a deal

I'd have a look at websites like West Yorkshire Cameras and Ffordes also as they'll normally come with some form of guarantee

Not used a Konica SLR, but this looks like a nice deal for £99. Hexannon lenses usually have a good rep
https://wycameras.com/collections/other-slr-cameras/products/konica-fc1-collection-boxed-set-exc

or the same camera, but with a built motor drive and 50mm f1.8 for £39
https://wycameras.com/collections/other-slr-cameras/products/konica-fs-1-w-50mm-f-1-8-exc

Minolta XG-M with 50mm for £59
https://wycameras.com/collections/minolta-md-cameras/products/minolta-xg-m-w-50mm-f-2-exc

Olympus OM-1n with 50mm for £99 (beware will need to source a 1.3v battery for the meter)
https://wycameras.com/collections/olympus-cameras/products/olympus-om-1n-chrome-w-50mm-f-1-8-exc