Hi there, I did my stage 1 at Prestwick....I don't know how your going to get to the place, up until the last week I was told it was in Freeson Ave. Its not shown on googlemaps, but if you want some advice....if your arriving at prestwick airport i'd get a taxi to the place.....make sure you arrive at least 20 mins prior to the time slot as you will have to get through security gate.
The Online SHL test needs to be done on a PC with Windows XP, IT WILL NOT WORK ON MORE RECENT OPERATING SYSTEMS.
Now, whether the results of the SHL test is a final fall back for NATS to see how you get on with stage 1, I don't know. I found the SHL test a nightmare....you can use a calculator and pencil to work out the answers but be warned you have approx. 20 seconds to answer the question and the questions are somewhere along the lines of:- Example:- 7x34/?+65-3= you have to work out the missing ?.
As for Stage 1 on the day, the booklet you download and read will just tell you the very basics of ATC etc but as with others on here a lot of the questions were time x speed x distance..okay multiple choice answers but you still have to have a good idea. The test with the 3D box shape is okay, what I found was if you are running out of time near the end of that paper just start ringing anything.....for instance 3 out of the remaining 10 is better than nothing.
The Numeracy test was hellish all time x speed x distance questions so really get a grasp on that one before you go.
best thing you can do is just make up your own examples and try and answer them....things like
Example:- An aircraft is flying from point A at 420mph on a heading of 265 deg for 37 mins, it then is told to turn left onto a heading of 213 deg and decrease speed to 330 mph for 13 mins......how far has it travelled to reach the airfield at point B.
the questions about the symbols is okay, you just have to make sure that you do the ones at the beginning fast so you can have more time to concentrate on the latter ones.
The best piece of advice.........enjoy the experience, if you panic about it it will just cause you more anxiety.....I tried, never made it to stage 2 but cest la vie.
Hope this helps