Hi guys and girls,
BananaJoe/davidgkovac: You can expect more than 5 or 6 fixes, although it is a while since I did it I seem to remember it being about 9. It doesn't really make much difference though. Don't forget, the point of the SDM test is not to see how good a controller you are, the type of conflict spotting you are doign etc has no similarity to anything you will ever do again in training, what the SDM is about is testing how you LEARN. You are given a long period of time, 90 minutes, with a structured training and learning phase to teach you everything you need to know about the SDM test. What is is looking at is your ability to sit down and self-learn from a set of instructions and rules and then apply what you have learnt.
FC7: IVAO doesn't help in any way shape or form I'm afraid, certainly not with FEAST and almost certainly not with the rest of the training. My personal advice, is don't even mention it.
Erikk: Nope the FEAST has not changed at all in at least 6 years. The selection process as whole is quicker now because it is done over less visits to MUAC.
oddbob: I can't really comment on how tough they are on english skills, but it is checked at a couple of stages. There is an English listening test in the FEAST which probably doesn't remove too many people. Then comes the stage 2 group skills and personal presentation day and finally the stage 3 interview and over these last two phases they are obviously going to get a pretty good idea of what level your English is at. Finally, if you are selected for training then after 9 months, just before your licence issue there is a multi-part english listening and speaking test to check that students have the required ICAO Level 4 English. As for the spread of students, well there are applicants from all over Europe, but it is probably fair to say there are significantly more from Belgium/NL due to geography and more people knowing about Eurocontrol. The rest tend to come from Germany/Spain/Sweden etc. As for there being an over-representation of UK students, this couldn't be further from the truth (5 Brits in the 70 or so students over the last couple of years).
Lastly, good luck to everyone coming for Stage 1 this month!
Last edited by GlobalJourney; 17th Jan 2010 at 11:35.