NATS interview process
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Gloucester
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If you applied now I wouldn’t expect you (if successful) to start at college for 9-12 months.
Worth considering hey

Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: Aberdeen
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same! i'm really excited

Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: Uk
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Hey, same boat aswell completed stage 1 and stage 2 awaiting date for stage 3. I know there is no upper age limit but I'm 39 just wondered if anyone else is probably in the upper age bracket?

Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: Italy
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Still showing as application under review, was it faster for you?
Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: United Kingdom
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I got the Stage 1 pass email, which included the link to sit the Stage 2 within 5 minutes of finishing Stage 1. I then got the Stage 2 pass email within minutes of finishing Stage 2, so for me it was near instant feedback but I dont know what's normal or to be expected. Fingers crossed for you! No news is still good news and you would think that if it were a rejection, they'd send it without much delay?
Join Date: Oct 2011
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I've just had a success email! Now to wait for a Stage Three date....

The emails imply that everybody who passes Stage 1 & 2 gets an invite to Stage 3 and that we're not competing against each other (yet...)? That's great, but what happens if more people "pass" than there are available places on the interview days? Could there be an extra stage of filtering before they send out invites? I hope not....
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Coventry
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SHL Test
What kind of personality would suit a NATS ATCO?
Are they looking for leaders or followers or a person good with numbers etc...
What kind of personality suits the role?
This is what they extract from their SHL test with 104 questions.
JH
Are they looking for leaders or followers or a person good with numbers etc...
What kind of personality suits the role?
This is what they extract from their SHL test with 104 questions.
JH
Join Date: Apr 2023
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That was my exact thought too! The email said words along the lines of you've passed and we will now assess your results and invitations for Stage 3 will be sent when we have capacity at the assessment centres. So I also wondered whether there is a further stage of filtering amongst those who passed Stages 1 & 2. I guess we will see!
Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: United Kingdom
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Scotland
Age: 30
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TATC Course - 6th June 2023
I’ve started a fb group (NATS Trainee ATCO - 6th June 2023) for anyone that is starting the course at Whiteley on 6th June.
thought it would be good to meet and potentially discuss accommodation etc.
If anyone else is starting the same course, let me know or feel free to join the group 👍🏻
thought it would be good to meet and potentially discuss accommodation etc.
If anyone else is starting the same course, let me know or feel free to join the group 👍🏻

Join Date: Apr 2023
Location: Durham
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I wasn't refreshing email after I took them - or noting the time, so can't be exactly sure but I've just checked and my stage 1 and stage 2 pass emails were about 4 hours apart. So pretty quick. I took both onthe same day. Stage one in the morning and two in the afternoon. It was office hours on a weekday - so not sure if perhaps they are manually sent and weekend might make a difference?
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Around
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It’s best not to try and second-guess the personality quiz though - it’s designed to find the same information out from different angles, so inconsistencies in your answers would be apparent.
And, honestly, if you don’t have the right kind of personality for the job then it’s best to find out before you start, before you potentially waste a lot of time and effort on something that doesn’t work out.

Join Date: Apr 2023
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Did you hear back? I’m in the same situation. I was invited to stage 1 tests on the 12th and completed them on the 17th. My application is showing as under review.

Join Date: Apr 2023
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Join Date: Apr 2023
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Same as you. From the moment I got my 3rd stage invite, no slots have been available. The email says check back periodically if you don't see any slots, so I guess that's all we can do!

Join Date: Feb 2022
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Also can't believe the comments regarding pay.
I can't even begin to guess what rust buckets problem is. And runway, by training at Global your experience during training, is likely to have been very different from the majority of other NATS trainees. In fact, you really need to count yourself lucky that you avoided CTC and the potential to hold for well over a year (even pre-covid). So to state that this guy should stick to Australia is downright ignorant at best. The huge majority of TATC's, SATC's and anyone considering the career will rightfully be concerned about the salary. Particularly with the rate that living costs are rising.
"Bear in mind there is a long list of people waiting to return to NATS who are happy and have been able to make their finances work in the short term for a suitable salary when qualified." - I'd bet that the returning trainees are definitely not "happy" with the salary. They will be happy to be returning but managing their finances definitely will not be a "short term" thing. The reality is that they will very likely hold, some for a considerable time. At this point they will not progress in salary past the SATC points (circa 25k p/a). Realistically it could be 2+ years before they reach that suitable salary. That's a long time to manage finances, particularly for those who have taken huge pay cuts, have kids, mortgages, credit card debts etc etc. Its a long list and everyone will have something that they need money for.
Dan Dare really hit the nail on the head. Trainees are hindered by the salary. It adds unnecessary stress to an already stressful period of time. The last thing you want to be thinking about the night before a sim summative is how you're going to pay this month's gas bill.
Let's break down some figures here.
Income whilst at CTC: £18k + £60 per week. Round this to £1300 per month salary and add £240 per month for the accommodation figure = £1560 per month.
Lets take some rough figures for expenses.
Accommodation in a house share = £600-800
Unless you are lucky, with so many trainees all looking for somewhere to stay, it's going to be difficult to get accommodation within walking distance to CTC so then you have transport costs.
Car insurance = £50-100
Fuel = £100-200
Food costs = £150-250
Phone bill = £20-100
Credit card/student loan/overdraft = £50-300
Realistically you could be looking at anywhere in the region of £970-1750 of outgoings a month. Now just imagine you have a mortgage back home in Belfast or Manchester or wherever else.. childcare costs.. car payments. And lets not go down the route of "oH bUT TheY cAN EAt LeSs Or WaLk EVeRyWhERe". These guys and girls are giving up years of their lives to train and validate. They put up with constant displays of complete and utter contempt from the upper echelons of management. Surely they deserve a salary that they can at least live on?
As stated above, the salary does go up a bit at unit. You'll be looking at £31k at the top bands after shift pay is included. That's currently as good as it gets for the 1-3 years it takes to get on-the-job training started and validate.
Rant over.. to summarise.. wind your neck in
I can't even begin to guess what rust buckets problem is. And runway, by training at Global your experience during training, is likely to have been very different from the majority of other NATS trainees. In fact, you really need to count yourself lucky that you avoided CTC and the potential to hold for well over a year (even pre-covid). So to state that this guy should stick to Australia is downright ignorant at best. The huge majority of TATC's, SATC's and anyone considering the career will rightfully be concerned about the salary. Particularly with the rate that living costs are rising.
"Bear in mind there is a long list of people waiting to return to NATS who are happy and have been able to make their finances work in the short term for a suitable salary when qualified." - I'd bet that the returning trainees are definitely not "happy" with the salary. They will be happy to be returning but managing their finances definitely will not be a "short term" thing. The reality is that they will very likely hold, some for a considerable time. At this point they will not progress in salary past the SATC points (circa 25k p/a). Realistically it could be 2+ years before they reach that suitable salary. That's a long time to manage finances, particularly for those who have taken huge pay cuts, have kids, mortgages, credit card debts etc etc. Its a long list and everyone will have something that they need money for.
Dan Dare really hit the nail on the head. Trainees are hindered by the salary. It adds unnecessary stress to an already stressful period of time. The last thing you want to be thinking about the night before a sim summative is how you're going to pay this month's gas bill.
Let's break down some figures here.
Income whilst at CTC: £18k + £60 per week. Round this to £1300 per month salary and add £240 per month for the accommodation figure = £1560 per month.
Lets take some rough figures for expenses.
Accommodation in a house share = £600-800
Unless you are lucky, with so many trainees all looking for somewhere to stay, it's going to be difficult to get accommodation within walking distance to CTC so then you have transport costs.
Car insurance = £50-100
Fuel = £100-200
Food costs = £150-250
Phone bill = £20-100
Credit card/student loan/overdraft = £50-300
Realistically you could be looking at anywhere in the region of £970-1750 of outgoings a month. Now just imagine you have a mortgage back home in Belfast or Manchester or wherever else.. childcare costs.. car payments. And lets not go down the route of "oH bUT TheY cAN EAt LeSs Or WaLk EVeRyWhERe". These guys and girls are giving up years of their lives to train and validate. They put up with constant displays of complete and utter contempt from the upper echelons of management. Surely they deserve a salary that they can at least live on?
As stated above, the salary does go up a bit at unit. You'll be looking at £31k at the top bands after shift pay is included. That's currently as good as it gets for the 1-3 years it takes to get on-the-job training started and validate.
Rant over.. to summarise.. wind your neck in
Good luck everyone!