Why they couldn't have found a more appropriate way of assessing staff already employed within the company and often with a number of ratings under their belts is anyones guess.
The people who have applied for this are already staff with a track record behind them, for whatever reason they either failed to validate or pass the rating course. They are however now valued members of staff and should thus be assessed differently I believe from an unknown quantity.
I was a bit confused about the selection process , I did expect all applicants to go through some form of testing and interview, but to think they are putting them through the initial tests again is just plain daft IMHO. Many of them have a full set of ratings, as one who failed to validate at my first unit I can vouch that sometimes all people need is just a little more time and a different environment before coming valid ATCOs.