ATC IssuesA place where pilots may enter the 'lions den' that is Air Traffic Control in complete safety and find out the answers to all those obscure topics which you always wanted to know the answer to but were afraid to ask.
Hi I'm new here and am not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here goes!
I've recently passed stage 3 and am awaiting my medical before being posted at the college. I was wondering how leave was determined at the college? How many weeks do you get and is it built into the course or can you take it whenever? I basically wanting to knowif it would be possible to take leave in December.
The leave is pre programmed into the course. I'm not entirely sure when the leave is though. (i've not started yet, i'm on the october aero course). I assume though that christmas and major holidays are taken off as normal (even though as atc's we wouldnt get that pleasure)
The college try and tell you when your leave should be when you start at the college, but there's no guarantees that it will stay the same as what they told you at the start!
And yes, we do get Christmas and bank holidays off
I am new to all of this and sat the initial entry exam yesterday so thought I would share my experience with you.
I believe the test has changed a little to what it used to be (although I am going on people's threads not experience).
We arrived at the Nats centre in Whiteley, Southampton and filled out a long 'personality questionnaire'. They say it is not part of the exam but a few friends who work in HR say they put it into a computer and it tells them what kind of person you are and whether you're depressed etc.
After this we all went into a room to sit 4 exams. The first being the motivation paper. I was worried about learning all the specs of the planes but you honestly don't need to know how many people can sit on a 737-200 series. If you read everything they give you you should be fine with this.
Next cam the spatial awareness test . OMG I HAVE NEVER EVER SAT ANYTHING SO HARD IN MY LIFE!! I had practiced many of these online but nothing can prepare you for the one they give you. I think there were 40 questions to complete in 20 minutes. An absolute impossibility!! The first couple are fine as the net is in the traditional T shape. However the 2nd and 3rd nets are very tricky to assemble in your head let alone rotate them and answer questions on them. I would say the best prep you can do for this is to design some 3d boxes yourself. There doesn't seem to be much out there on the net.
Third exam was the diagramming one. Not too bad but still quite different to the example they send you. I think you had 20 minutes to complete 60 of these.
Fourth exam was one they hadn't warned about (but luckily I had revised). It is a mental arithmetic paper consisting of 20 questions in 20 mins made up of speed, distance and time calculations. I completed about 18 of these although some take a long time to work out.
ADVICE: I don't think anyone can complete these tests in the time they give you. As they are all worth 1 mark DO NOT spend ages on a question that will take a long time to complete as you maybe able to do 2 or 3 others in the same time.
I don't think I have made it through the tests. I am truly gutted as I prepared as much as possible. Good luck to everyone in the future taking them. If you got any questions just ask
Hi, I was hoping you guys on the 6th had a response already as i was on 7th July, this seems to be a long time to wait, but still 4/5 more working days to go i guess !!!
I can't wait to find out now! This was my last attempt, no more goes! last time missed the interview by about1mark, ... fingers crossed - hopefully see you on the course!!??
I was just wondering how good you have to be at mental arithmacy? Dying to apply, did a couple of aptitude tests and the only bit i'm really dreading is the numerical tests... Any advice would be highly appreciated!
Hi Mooomooo. I had my interview on the 6th and my application and all my stuff has gone back to the assessors - I have a horrible feeling I'm going to miss out by a few points. You should ring them the same might be happening with yours
Both Area and Aerodrome will be starting around that time (course 221) but November will probably be Area (provisional dates are Oct 09 for Aerodrome at the moment, but these do/will likely change)...
Anyone else got their Stage 2 on the 10th August?
I just booked flights and a hotel and its just starting to become a reality once again! Nerves and what-not!
Linear Mode
