Thanks for your views Plazbot, I think you've almost gone close to answering my question, which boiled down to, assuming the course is top notch and a person passes (like C-change), what exactly is it about it being "up to you and your ability" that determines the outcome. What qualities and abilities exactly (that are additional to those required in progressing through the course) could make the difference between getting rated vs. getting booted out??
I'm sure we'd all like to know what it takes to be a controller, but in the end each person is different so there is no single answer. What does it take to do any challenging job? I'm not trying to brush you off but aside from hard work, learning the basics inside out to allow time for thinking & listening to your instructor the rest is a very individual matter.
le Pingouin you seemed to suggest either bad luck or a "major deficiency in his controlling" might be the issue - surely such a thing would stop you getting through the course successfully in the first place, wouldn't it? And if it's just bad luck then that sounds very troubling indeed!
Or maybe you were only talking about the end of the course rather than the field training???
No luck - I was indicating possible reasons he'd be in the sim that late in his OJT. If he was terminated in the manner mentioned it would be because there were deficiencies in his controlling.
You pass or fail the college based on exams - effectively get it right for 90 minutes (or however long the sim exams are) & you pass. On the job you're being assessed all the time, so it's over many, many hours, as well as a check shifts. The college only brings you up to a basic standard so there is plenty of scope for holes to remain undiscovered.
I don't want to "risk the lives of hundreds of people" either, but I'm doing that right now. The thing is I also don't want to "waste a couple of years of my life" before I find out that's what I might end up doing. There seems to be some murkiness about C-change's story that troubles me... and I'd be very grateful if anyone can make that murkiness go away.
Remember you're only seeing one side of a complicated story, but sometimes these things aren't handled very well. That said, unless a trainee is absolutely woeful extensions of training & second goes on another sector are usually the outcome if they struggle/fail on the job. We aren't out to fail you.
For better or worse Blippy there are no guarantees. You pays ya money & you takes ya chances.