Lady P and 120.4,
Couldn't agree more. It just seems to me that the whole of NATS has become so infused with the 'management' culture that nobody can see the wood for the trees. In my younger days, the current failure rate would have been taken as a personal disgrace by instructors and training hierarchy alike. Now it seems to be perfectly acceptable, as long as the bean-counters' business targets are met. NATS is nowadays stuffed full of little people frantically trying to justify their existence by cutting petty little costs, and nobody (except PPRuNers) can see the adverse effects this has on the big picture.
As an afterthought, haven't the instructors at the college been able to raise their concerns to management about the appalling failure rate? Or are they also suffering the old 'head against a brick wall' syndrome that is alienating so many other operational staff?