Frustrated.
I also took my stage 1 today , didn't get past the first paper.
Paper was not what I expected, I suggest anyone taking it brush up on general knowledge question's. Distance from point A to B etc and also to take a look at working out equations such as Speed into miles per minute and also other control centers in Europe...
I really was disappointed today , having flown down from York. The lady at the counter was very abrupt and didn't offer any sort of answers to the questions I asked her after she told me I hadn't made the cut. Simply saying " Just apply again in a year" .
I'm 90% I did the test paper questions accurately and correctly , and can only put it down to when i altered a few answers , I rubbed out the circle and then re-circled the correct answer, perhaps I was meant to put a line through the incorrect answer but again, this wasn't mentioned to us and when I asked her to double check, she refused.
The whole thing was an utter sham to be honest, I wasn't entirely happy about some of the questions in the test due to some of the answers not being in the booklet at all. Having revised the booklet for over a month now, putting in the revision for at least 2 and a half hours a day I must of gone over the booklet at least 50 times.I would of appreciated if the correct information was given to me in the first place.
It felt like I was given a 2005 revision booklet for a 2012 knowledge test. My father is a controller and has being for over 30 years and even he was telling me the information is completely outdated which brings me to ask why on earth are they testing you on information that is invalid and no longer exists , for example " The ATC college is in Bournemouth" which it clearly isn't and giving me info on FIS,RIS and RAS when that's also outdated and now named something completely different, some of the questions are very vague, asking you adjacent places to a certain area, but not giving you the adjacent direction N,E,S,W. So you merely have to guess. I cant seem to get my head around the whole thing.
The test that I undertook today had at least 12 questions that are not in the revision booklet or even hinted at you to look at if not more, as you can understand I'm really not a happy chappy.
After spending around £200 on flights, £20 on cab's, £15 on train fairs and £60 on a hotel, never mind food and whatever else , to spend 18 minutes in a room and to be told I was not good enough, what a kick to the teeth, when I was getting tested on information that I had not received. I feel like I was tested under false pretense's and I will be fighting to claim my money back due to a massive amount of negligence by NATS recruitment team. I revised what was given to me, yet it still did not give me the answers to the questions in the test, and I was given outdated information.
I'm not sure if the tests are different for each group, but mine today was a load of ...
This was my opinion of the whole 18 minute ordeal at Novotel.
Around half my group also left at the same time as me, after a quick discussion in the lobby we all were asking the same questions, "Why are we being asked that, when we are given the outdated versions to revise" and "That wasn't even incorporated or mentioned in the booklet".
As for the rest of my afternoon was spent in Southampton Airport waiting for my flight , but hey-ho it could of being worse, one of the girls had a 9 hour train journey back to Glasgow.
As for the rest of you I wish you the best of luck,
The one thing I would suggest , brush up on all the nitty gritty details that you think you wont get tested on, because you will.
Ill let you all know how I get on.
Bainzy