@Funky.
I did a LOT of preparation on the information I had. I did an MPL last year, I have a friend that has recently been through CTC as a cadet, I have a friend working with BA and a friend working with Monarch. None of them knew that the test would be at that level nor that i'd be required to know specific formulas. I will now go out and buy GCSE/A-Level Maths and Physics book and work through them until next year but it's a long time to wait. There is no way to prep for stuff you just don't know is coming up. I work a full time job and I can't just re-do my entire Maths/Double Science GCSE and AS Levels in the expectation that something MIGHT come up. They are not assessing my ability to pass AS or GCSE they are assessing my ability to work with numbers. Telling me what i'm going to be assessed on doesn't stop them making the same assessment.
To suggest that I should just chalk it up to practice is ridiculous. I paid £250 for an assessment and I felt I did not do as well as I could have due to not being provided with enough information. Personal situations change and in a year I might not be lucky enough to even be able to attempt this due to family/financial commitments. It should be a fair and open process for everyone first time not a case of do it twice to find out what i'm being tested on or be lucky enough to know someone that went a few weeks before and get some insider information. What other tests in this world work on the basis of not telling you what you are going to be tested on. The paperwork we received prior to attending didn't mention anything about a verbal reasoning test... I just don't think it's being done right.
In terms of the weighting, I wouldn't call it a weighting but I imagine they pick the guys they want based on their interview. However not meeting the minimum standards in any area will probably rule you out completely. I was told, by BA and OAA that they do have a minimum standard you MUST meet in some of the tests, what that is however, I don't know.