Ok, just to avoid any arguing or what have you, it sounds like there is some mix up about numbers of people and stages of assessment. The 3000 is a rough estimate of how many people applied in total for the latest FPP, that is not to say that all of them got invited to assessment at the FTO. EB747, it does sound like your estimates of numbers are a bit off. 240 sound sounds likes a very reasonable figure for the number of people invited to FTE for assessment,I believe the OAA number was in the mid hundreds, and I can't speak for CTC. EZY FR, it sounds like you are suggesting that OAA and CTC were a bit cavalier about who they invited forward to assessment. As far as I know, every application is scored against a set standard (the same for all FTOs). If the applicant meets this standard, then they were invited to the next stage, it was an entirely objective process no matter which school you applied to.
Don't worry about the numbers so much. It goes without saying that this is a very tough selection process and you will be up against several thousand other hopefuls. Spend your energy concentrating on what you can do to make yourself stand out.