I think that that age limit has either been abolished or is in the process of being removed due to EU employment laws. NATS used to have an age limit as well but have had to do the same thing. I have spoken to someone from NATS about this and their position has become to essentially remove the advertised and blatant restriction but in reality anyone over 30 needs to be a ridiculously strong candidate to even be considered.
Whilst they can't actually discriminate against someone for their age studies have shown that a person's capacity for learning heads south after 30 and due to the steep learning curve a TATC experiences anyone older than that tends to struggle. Since it costs so much to train someone they are very reluctant to take this risk on someone less likely to succeed.