The facts are, ladies and gentlemen, NATS and non NATS airport operators have no trouble in getting applicants for trainee ATCO posts.
It's also a fact that, although the terms and conditions of NATS Cadets have been significantly reduced over the past few years, NATS ATCOs are still on line to earn significant sums of money once validated, (I know cos I have access to all the NATS pay scales).
So, if you haven't got the confidence to beg, scrape and borrow to live on £10k for 9 months, don't bother applying, go and find another job which will, within 2 years, pay you in excess of £40K per year.
I didn't come through the NATS route, I, like many others, paid for all my own training and risked a great deal and for me, (and the very large of the others) it paid off.
If NATS decided that you had to repay all your training costs, if you failed at any stage of the training, how many of you would be brave enough to see through the courage of your "career ambitions".
Very few I suspect...
