Garthy - only being honest about what's gone on in the past. I sincerely hope it is not going to happen for others in the future...
As for my "chip on the shoulder", well, let's just say it is well formed for reasons I can't divulge on this site for obvious reasons. I too have an excellent current career, but I WANTED to become an ATCO above anything else. They rejected me for non ATC reasons, citing "apparent lack of commitment" as one of them - that is pretty damn hard to accept.
Garthy, if you are happy to drop out of the process, then let's face it, ATC was probably not for you in the 1st place.
It's a long and tough struggle (or so it seems!), but I am trying to give a bit of honesty and realism here. NATS don't seem to be able to do that for the applicants......
Good luck to all who try.
(a rather common positive theme to most of my posts, I'd have thought)
(and yes, if only I'd known about pprune in 2001 and seen similar posts - then I wouldn't have put off career moves, buying a house when it was 80k cheaper etc.)