anotherthing......
Unfortunately this company has a history of making bad decisions in this regard, as alluded to by Gonzo in one of his earlier posts (#43), however I still find it incredibly elitist that Heathrow hand picks student from the college who are deemed to be good enough - thereby inferring that other airports are not as challenging!!
I'm afraid that history shows us that we have to be 'elitist'....your words not mine...
In the 'old days' when all the students going to work at airfields did the APR course, our Head of Training went down to the college, talked to instructors, sat in on a few exercises, and Heathrow generally got the pick of the bunch - i.e. those thought to be most suited to Heathrow...not necessarily the 'best'...(However, I'm convinced that I got Heathrow because I was observed whilst doing a radar fail and made a bit of a mess....they must have decided there and then to send me to a unit where I'd not train on radar!)....the 'bunch' then numbering 8-16 of the APR course.
When the courses were slashed a few years ago, and we were getting trainees who had done Basic then Aerodrome, sometimes there were only two on the aerodrome course, so we had no 'pick'. The situation seems to be slightly better now, but not by much. It's still a decision taken by NSL HQ rather than Heathrow getting what they want and everyone else getting the rest...far from it.
Before the change, the validation rate was 75%.
After the change, the validation rate was 25%.
The first lot of trainees after our tower move are training now, so I guess we'll see if the measures we've taken to redress this have worked.
I'm afraid that, in my experience of the other airports I've visited, and my friends at those units, within NATS, Heathrow is unique.
Right, tin hat on..........