EO : When I did this course in May(PATS) had only been going for around six months . As you say that you have been with QF for years your comments are curious indeed. Certainly based on what I know some really quite unfair comments that you elected to make on this anonymous BB.
The company you are referring to is called PATS. For those outside OZ to gain a job with Qantas you have to first pass a battery of tests called Stage Two , and if you just fail on a first attempt you MAY get another chance(last) in one or two years . So the stakes are high , and the failure rates at Stage Two from my understanding are over 80% . The battery of tests consists of some aircraft instrument tests, maths , verbal, spatial and abstract reasoning. PATS provides training to pass stage two.
I did both the individual *2 and group courses and found both to be superb. For each particular test you are taught a number of methods that are logical , comprehensive, and very thorough . The methods allowed you to get a good handle on the cubes(spatial) and abstract( commands) very very quickly. The skills test (aircraft instruments) were made easy. The verbal , and maths questions you get to do in the individual course are pretty much the exact Qantas test - and you get taught a whole lot of shortcuts , exam techniques. There is absolutely no way I would have passed Stage Two without these courses . Nearly everyone I know who started at Qantas this year did this course.
The guy running the course was an excellent teacher/communicator - he knew the material very very well, and more importantly could explain it a number of different ways . Effectively I did the exact Qantas test 3 or 4 times before I sat it for real.
In my group course there were four RAAF pilots , and two regional skippers ( they all came on reccos from friends who had got Qantas start dates) . The guy running the PATS course showed one of the RAAF pilot( who had done a stint in RAAF recruitment) a course PATS had put together to prepare people for RAAF pilot selection. The RAAF guy said he replicated the whole RAAF test exactly but with better graphics , and suggested they try to sell it back to Air Force. So probably worth a call if you want to be a RAAFIE.
So based on what I know of these people - if they say they know the Cathay Maths test - I would believe them and I would go and see them very quickly. I did a couple of individual courses so spent well over $2K . Had I not passed and got into QF(maybe??) 12 months later my financial loss in salary alone for that year would be $ 80,000. If you calculated in lower seniority for life and always on a " one year less " salary the loss would probably be $ 300,000. I don't think $800 plus airfares is expensive at all.
Many in Oz are completely bitter and twisted about Stage Two , because they can't pass it and therefore will never work for any airlines in the Qantas group. People also give misinformation to protect either their or a relative/ friends position on the hold file, as if someone obtains a higher score they get a job first.