Hi there mate,
Pretty interesting info you've got there, thanks.
I sat my stage 1 tests last year in September 2008, unfortunately I failed on the cube test (spatial reasoning) & diagramming which I also believe are the hardest of all. As for the time limits they were quite the same as you've stated, the only difference was that we didn't sit a d/s/t test which obviously has replaced last years basic checking test. By the way, did you sit a basic checking test after all?
About the motivation paper, I've noticed that there is some new info added since last years pdf leaflet provided by NATS. Nothing to worry about if read it well enough.
I have some questions I'd like to ask, since you recently sat your stage 1 tests, & would really appreciate your advise. Can you remember some of the pre-defined operators used with the diagramming test, other than ( swap with top box, copy to bottom box, swap with box above, copy to box below, reverse colors, set colors to white & vice versa, turn shape upside down, remove contents of this box, cancel previous command, present all shapes in the column in reverse order ), there were about 8-12 different ones last year.
Any clues about specific publications or internet sites, relevant to spatial reasoning & diagramming that hepled you prepare for the test? To be honest I've been through several psychometric & IQ books only to find 1-2 examples from each book. You must be aware of this. I've already been through several book stores & on the net with no particular luck finding specific examples. How on earth does NATS expect from it's candidates to perform on subjects which are not available out in the market for practice. I believe they must make this stuff by themselves, & with so many questions in very limited time, guess what... anyone could get..confused
.. unless you've got a CPU attached in your brain with the specific program...
duh
I also remember that we didn't sit any personality questionaire at stage 1, that's also new.
Anyway, any kind of help would be greatly appreciated, & please feel free to ask me anything you want.
I'll be applying again sometime towards the end of this year, so, I wish you the best of luck with your results, please let me know if you've got through stage 1. Take care mate, keep posted.
