1. Salary depends on Band of unit - Swanwick/TC are top band and MACC and Prestwick the one below - big can of worms there!! Aero/Approach units all different bands from the lowest to the highest
2. You can state a preference but don't bank on it
3. Varies from what I hear - there's a thread on here at the moment on validation times. I believe the quickest validation was at London City which was just under a year from walking in the door at college to validation
4 and 5 - no idea yet!!