I think they are just being very sensible about it. But did you not apply for JMC? Their limit is up to 27. I'm figuring CTC-McA will consider who might suit which stream of the scheme at a later stage, and it will be at that point that they might wish to decide you're too old (or young) for the EasyJet or vanilla CTC-McA sponsorship. Bring it on - if age is brought up in the interview stage ("ah, now I see you are actually too old to be considered by EasyJet or ourselves...") then I'll enjoy the chance to rehearse the arguments.
Anyhow, anyone been assessed this weekend?