"Simfly, are you honestly trying to say its got harder at the college in the last few years???"
Certainly is, & I'd expect no different - the world has moved on considerably, the written material is condensed into as tight a progamme as is possible, & in keeping up with new practise , there's more of it, the practical requirements at NATS are significantly above the rating requirement, & the level of understanding demanded at oral board is similar to a comptency check at unit. I certainly would not advise anyone to try the cram technique unless they are really sure they're previous experience can carry them through - it may get you passed the writtens, but it's very likely that the practical & oral boards will end in tears.
For Pugwash - course rep is the (usually elected) course member who co-ordinates between the course & the college DSAs & CMs. A student has a specific ESAAR definition, can't remember offhand; the NATS term is trainee, or TATC - Trainee Air Traffic Controller. NATS employee - someone who works for NATS....