ATC Training costs

[JWJ]

I'm thinking of becoming an air traffic controller in the uk after uni completion. I was just wandering how much would it cost to train as one, i've heard the air force pay if you join them, how about in the civilian market?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

You need to look into this more deeply. You could apply to NATS to become a trainee controller and you would be paid whilst training. However, the first steps include interviews and various tests including a stringent medical examination.

It is also possible to pay for an ATC coursse at a private college but it costs an arm and three legs and you still need the medical bit.

There's a lot if information here: Air Traffic Controller Licensing | Air Traffic Standards | Safety Regulation (http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=43&pagetype=70&gid=819)

and here: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/43/a_guide_to_atc_licensing.pdf

I wish you luck.

[Pat42]

If you train with either the RAF (military) or NATS (civil) you will get paid to train and don't have to pay for your course. To get into both you have to pass fairly stringent selection and medical processes, but once you've done so you are pretty much setup for your career (providing you don't fail at training) - in NATS for example you are an employee of the company as you train and are then streamed straight into a job at one of their units upon completion of basic training, so no job interviews or any such hassle.

Think hard about which you are most interested in - to control for the RAF you have to join and train as an officer, meaning that you are entering into the whole way of life as a member of the armed forces rather than just finding a job. You may well be sent abroad on tour and have to work in active war zones. Civil and military control are completely different jobs and the licenses are not readily interchangable so its also worth noting that you can't look at them as alternate routes into the same career.

If you want to go civil then there are a few options outside of NATS. In the UK NATS operate all the area (enroute) control, as well as most of the country's major airports. You can pay to train privately as an aerodrome controller at a number of private institutions (check out ASTAC and Cwmbran) and then seek employment at any of the non-NATS airfields in the country. The downside to this route is that it does cost, and I don't think that you will be able to get a student loan to cover it, plus there is no gaurantee of job at the end of it. Google both those institutions for info on prices.

Personally I would go NATS and only look elsewhere if they reject you... but that's just me.