It's a lot more than one year of intense training, often up to 3 or more, depending on where you are posted to at the end of the course. I'd put the workload up there along with a medical, science, or law degree.
It doesn't stop there though. Each year there are competency checks, emergency training and a bi-annual medical examination, (which becomes an annual event after the age of 40). There will be further examinations on new airspace/procedures as they are introduced. There are some excellent controllers, who for various reasons, (often no fault of their own), have failed to validate at units they were subsequently posted to later in their careers.
And for BwatchGRUNT, I found the paperwork, and yes, I failed the aptitude tests by 5%.
Last edited by ZOOKER; 4th Feb 2017 at 20:13.