C&B
I've just been posted ( passed my initial training in Bournemouth ) to the new centre in Swanwick and am probably looking at this October to start my training, April 05 before i can talk to planes all by myself! applied to NATS in October '99 so it will be 5 years or so from now before you'll be doing all the things you read about in the glossy advert.
Having said that, it's been great from day 1 and the real bonus is that, in general, the guys you meet along the way have the same sort of outlook on life and will probably become great friends.
Expect around £1100 per month to train but this is supplemented by £100 per week subsistence allowance which, if you can find someone to receipt you for
, you can easily live of with a healthy liquid diet.
At the moment you will probably never see the aircraft you talk to as there is a dire shortage or radar controllers so get used to the idea of living near Southampton or Prestwick. there are other control centres at Manchester and West Drayton but by the time you get to the coal face they could well have been intergrated to Swanick or Prestwick or bought out by wal-mart ATC.
Hope you make the right choice for you but in my humble opinion, regardless of all the current issues, you'd be missing out on a great career.
Best of luck
P45