I have read through this thread and I'm afraid it has genuinely made me feel rather sad. Having started my career on 26 course and now with 35 years in the profession, I cannot help but agreeing with 120.4's post. We did have failures but not very many, and the vast majority of people who went through the early courses are still employed by NATS. This must be incredibly cost effective in the long term - but I'm afraid no-one seems to think long term any more. If there isn't a return in three years then it's not worth doing seems to be the attitude now.
On a personal note to all you new people at the college - do stick at it and do your best. As an instructor there is nothing worse than trying to work with people who don't want to learn or won't put their best effort in. Never be too arrogant to realise that you might have made a mistake - put it right in real time, then go and have a good technical argument over a cup of coffee or a pint later. That's part of the fun of being a controller - that's how we all learnt!
