FAQ: NATS upper age limit for cadet

[roundthebend]

Hi

So far I've not found a definitive answer to the question...."how old is too old to join NATS?"

I'm 28, I feel I'm in my absolute prime for learning - I am currently a teacher of sorts, have a mature attitude towards learning, and I believe I have an uncanny ability to learn anything when I put my mind to it.

If I was to miss out on the age factor, then I think NATS would be making a rather rash decision. Of course, I need to apply first and see what response I get...but I wondered if I might need to call HR first to persuade them?

[rolaaand]

There was an upper age limit that used to be 27-28ish,but i'm not sure how the new government anti-ageism legislation affects this if at all. Best call HR.

[SilentHandover]

According to our website, the only requirement as far as age goes is that you must be at least 18 at date of application.

[roundthebend]

According to our website, the only requirement as far as age goes is that you must be at least 18 at date of application.

That's what I was hoping.

I registered on the application section a while ago, just tried to retrieve my password and I got an email that reads:

Dear Richard John

Your log on details are as follows:



Yours sincerely


Recruitment & Selection
HR Services
NATS

That's exactly what I received (ie no username/password details)....the fun begins here!

[rolaaand]

roundthebend-having read the other thread you started about nats recruitment I would doubt whether your age would be a factor.nats needs lots of people through the door every year. I guess that the new legislation affects nats as well as all other employers,however recruiting a 55 year old to start an intensive training course would seem silly. At 28(same age as me) you're hardly over the hill.nats had a policy before this legislation that allowed people over the age limit to be accepted for training if they had previous experience as an assistant,some of these people made the grade,some didn't,same as everyone else.
It's a great career,all the best with the application:ok:

[foghorn]

The upper age limit used to be 29 inclusive on first application unless one had significant aviation experience (which was undefined, but seemed to be other ATCO or commercial flying experience).

Not sure if this is still the same - from what has been said above it looks like they might have removed the upper limit due to the new age discrimination legislation.

[ADIS5000]

I joined the company last year and at that time the upper age limit was 30 years old on commencement of training; unless you had previous controller or assistant experience, in which case the age limit was waived.

Regards, ADIS

[roundthebend]

Thanks chaps and chapesses..(and any other gender I've missed!).

[ILS 119.5]

When I went through the system (1985) the age parameters were 18-26 for direct entry and if you had previous experience such as an ATC assistant then the upper limit was 30. However it was found that a lot of the older (30ish) cadets were failing and I believe that the limit was then lowered. I disagree with that theory and believe that the failures were due to the training system at the time. If I had my time again I would not have bothered training as an ATCO and gone straight into a flying career, its easier and pays more.

[roundthebend]

The training may be easier, but I know people who are recently qualified fATPL and they haven't found job hunting very easy at all. From the "wannabes" forum you get the impression that finding jobs as a pilot is about brown-nosing, buying your way up the ladder, and applying for hundreds of jobs just to get your name out there.

I'm not looking for an easy life, but I've recently qualified in another profession only to find that the market is saturated with qualified people already. I'm self-employed but it is near impossible to earn pittance let alone a decent income. If I have to put in a few years of extremely hard work to get into an industry that has demand for qualified people, and that pays a deserving amount then I'm interested. It's taken me a while to realise that ATC could offer that and more (aviation too).

ILS 119.5 - unless you're very old why don't you start training to be a pilot?

[ILS 119.5]

roundthebend

I did after 5 years as an ATCO. Luckily as I already had a PPL I did an IMC and IR ratings whilst on my cadetship and the rest funded by a major airline.

[roundthebend]

Well done to you. So are you now flying professionally, or controlling?

What made you become an ATCO if you intended to be a pilot?

[45 before POL]

At 28, Nats would not be concerned about your age. Their main aim is to get a higher success rate, my course went through with 8/28 over 30 and only 1 of 8 failed whereas a higher percentage under age 30 failed. So over 30 does not mean you are more likely to fail. If your thinking of joining, go for it...it can take about 3/4 years to go through training and validation depending on whether you go aerodrome /approach/area(area geneerally takes longest) so 28 now ...29 start course, Area controller by time you're 33! :}

[brummbrumm]

I believe that under the new age discrimination legislation NATS will no longer be able to restrict the age limit for it's applicants.