From college to qualified controller

[atcsstudent]

Hi you all!!
I was wondering how long does it take for a tower controller to be qualified?
I mean how long do you stay at college, and how long are you OJT before becoming totally qualified?
It seams now that in Spain some AFISOs did their course (7 weeks), and now are doing another course (7 weeks again) and at the end of it they will be qualified controllers after more or less 2-3 months OJT. Are our managers going nuts? Do any of you think this is good for safety?... I am stunned, something's going wrong in Spain and if we don't stop it it will spread all across Europe.
Thanks in advance.

[Glamdring]

In the UK the Aerodrome course lasts 5 months. OJT at a unit can take anywhere from 3 months to 2 years depending on the airport.

[OutaCntrl]

about 9 Months OJTI where I work, can be weather dependant!

[Quintilian]

I did:
18 months in College (including 7 weeks summer leave)
13 months OJTI (TWR+APP)

Mid-sized Norwegian airport.

[chevvron]

Wonder why the Nats Aerodrome Course lasts so long nowadays; back in the '70s/'80s it only lasted 10 weeks, ending with passing the rating exams, then you would go to an airfield for 'unit endorsement' which (for me at Glasgow) lasted about 5 months (ATCO cadet training for UE took second place to validation training for qualified ATCOs who were actually posted to the unit, rather than just seconded like Cadets)

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<they will be qualified controllers after more or less 2-3 months OJT>>

But will they validate? Whether a controller validates is up to the controllers training him/her and not the managers.

[atcsstudent]

"But will they validate? Whether a controller validates is up to the controllers training him/her and not the managers"
I'm sure they will, but we still do not know who will validate them, because nowadays it's only an AFIS, it was a controlled aerodrome a month ago, and now AENA wants it controlled again.
And the worst of all is that none of them have gone through a selection process... incredible!!!

[chevvron]

So are you saying that, having 'downgraded' to AFIS, AENA have now realised it was a mistake and want to go back to ATC?
Or maybe AENA saw this as a way of reducing the cost of OJT for ADV/ADI validation training - surely not!?
In the UK, a FISO (Aerodrome) without prior experience has to undergo a minimum of 40 hours training before undergoing a validation board, with only 4 hours per day counting towards experience. Of course most ab initios take much longer than 40 hours before reaching validation standard.