Let me chuck in my two penneth again. Sorry if you saw them on an earlier thread...
As for aircraft recog. be able to distinguish the major airliner types, 747 from 737, DC10 from 777 that sort of thing, if you can do A320 from 737's so much the better.
And as for the aptitude tests, yes you do get the results in the personality interview (well I did) and I have to say that I consider them to be pretty poo. I have a letter from NATS from my first application stating that I lack the aptitude to be a controller. My subsequent application I JUST passed them, yet, without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I managed to pass through CATC without failing anything and manage to (just) hold on to my Heathrow validation....my point being if you fail first time, if you want it keep applying, many controller's I know didn't get in first time. Besides the more people that get in the nearer I am to a posting...O well back to the Telegraph Employment section!!!