I understand that this may have been stated elsewhere in the thread but as we have all been made aware in the last few pages, the details that HR are sending out are in fact quite out of date.

Some who have been through the process a while ago may have indeed had a structured interview. More recent candidates have not.

I just wanted to clarify the issue.

Stage 1
 

Hey guys! Long time lurker and new poster here. Had my Stage 1 with NATS yesterday (29th June) and just wanted to let people know about the experience if they have their’s coming up.

I was on the morning session which started at 11am. I arrived at CTC about 10:30 and was told to wait in the canteen area just behind reception. At about 10:50 a woman came and registered us all (think there was about 20 of us) and gave us our candidate numbers before taking us off into the test room. There was no ATC talk today, we just went straight into the tests.

The first test we got was the motivation paper, which if you’ve read the booklet front to back you should breeze through no problems and have the opportunity to go back through your answers. A few of the questions aren’t in the book but are fairly straight forward. First test is 20 minutes and I think it was 30 questions.

The second test was the cubes!!!! Good God!! I knew these were going to be hard and I did as much as I could to prepare but this was tough! 20 minutes and 40 questions. The time on this seemed to fly by and I only managed 27 of them which I don’t think will be good enough but we’ll see.

Diagramming came next – 20 minutes and 50 questions. These weren’t as hard as I thought they’d be but still wasn’t pleased with the fact I only managed 37 of them.

Next the dreaded D/S/T paper which seems to have caught people out – Some questions were solid, others pretty simple. All in all not too painful! 15 minutes and 20 questions.

And that’s the day over. Started at 11am and think we were done by 1pm and sent on our way.

Just the 15 working days to wait now. Not too confident as I think I let myself down on the cubes but we’ll see what they say.

I suspect the reason that the emails from the application system are out of date is that they are in the process of moving to a new system (I assume they're ditching GTIOS).

There is no interview at stage 2, just computer based tests. :)

hi long tym since ive been on this
 

hi everyone
i applied for my nats stage 1 lyk ages ago and couldn't get the right dates for myself. Can anyone tell me what the dates are for the next stage one if anyone has booked round about now????

i applied ages ago and had to have my application withdrawn because i couldn't make the dates. i wanna no what the dates are before i have to go through the whole procedure again.


many thanks
Abz

Abz, the application process is currently closed until Monday 6th July (presumably while they switch systems), so it's probably best to wait until next week and then contact HR. Alternatively you can register your interest to be notified when the process is open again on the natscareers.co.uk site.

Abz,

Usually HR are willing to 'suspend' your application if there are no suitable dates at that time, and then reactivate it when better dates appear - if you need to do this once the new system is up and running, just give HR a call.

Cheers for the info. Have my stage one tomorrow, so going through all the stuff again, making sure S/D/T time is all clear.
Are you are allowed calculators in the exam, or is it easy enough to work out in your head?

Best of luck!!

cdunn
 

No. No calculators are allowed. One guy in our group had one on him and the lady took it away. Yes, they are possible to work out in your head and you get some scrap paper too. Being comfortable with division will help. Good luck for tomorrow!!

Cheers for the swift response! No psychic tests for you either then the other day??

Psychic abilities are not required to join NATS. Ditto X-ray vision, super strength, the ability to talk to animals/the dead etc.

Lol. If you mean the personality questionnaire then no, we didn't have to do that on the day. Just be ready for the D/S/T paper and there'll be no shocks. It's not easy and on the cubes, don't be too proud to spin the question booklet around to make it easier for you.

Where am I going?!
 

Hey peeps,

I am little confused so I wondered if anyone could set the record straight!

I have my Stage 2 this coming Friday (slightly nervous!) but need some help on how to get to the test centre.

I know it is at the Corporate and Technical Centre as I obviously had Stage 1 there. However, on that occasion I was given a lift to the centre by a friend. This time around I will be getting the train there. Now I know there is a free shuttle bus at commuter times which I have been told by HR I can use. However the timetable they've sent me stated that the bus goes from Parkway to CTC and vice versa. Now I am under the impression that CTC is the Corporate and Technical Centre right? (even though it confuses me with CTC aviation that I have previously applied too!). But its address is stated as being 4000 Parkway. So where according to the bus timetable is Parkway?!

I need to get from either Fareham or Swanwick train station to the Stage 2 tests at 8am but am a little confused as to where exactly this bus departs from.

I know I could just take a taxi but being unemployed at the moment and travelling to these tests from North Wales I need to save the penny's where I can and if there is a free bus then I want to take advantage of it...

Can anyone clear this up for me? :)

Cheers,

I assume the bus timetable refers to Southampton Airport Parkway train station (which is arguably easier to get to than Swanwick or Fareham stations).

Indeed it does. The timetable also marks services which stop at Swanwick rail station, but I can't remember what time they are at.

If you get the train to Swanwick, it is no more than a 10 minute walk, if you cut through Whiteley estate.
I may be wrong but I dont think the free bus will be running to get you to CTC by 8am. What time going by the national rail website can you be at Swanwick station for?

Just get the train down to Southampton parkway (from Waterloo if going via London) and jump on the free shuttle bus. When I LEFT the centre after the test last week they were running every '15 min but that was 4-4.30pm'ish. Early morning before 8am I could not advise you.
Give them a quick call to confirm.

Corporate and Technical Centre
4000 Parkway
Whiteley
Fareham
Hants PO15 7FL
General Enquiries: 01489 616001
HR Enquiries: 01489 616090

Stage 2 Bus
 

Hey All,

Thanks for the replies!

I can get to Swanwick train station for 7.42am or Fareham a few minutes earlier providing the trains are running on time (I am coming from Guildford). The tests actually start at 8.15am so have a little time to play with.

Is walking from Swanwick station realistic in 10mins if you have never done it before and only have a rough idea of where you're going?

The timetable I was sent from HR is as follows:

Depart Parkway for CTC - 07:50 08:10 08:40
Depart CTC for Parkway - 15:45 16:15 16:40
Depart CTC for Swanwick Station - 17:30
Depart Parkway for Swanwick - 08:40
Depart Swanwick for Parkway - 15:45 16:45

I guess I should just get a taxi as I don't want to be turning up all hot and flustered for what is going to be a tough day after already leaving Guildford at 6am and travelling down from North Wales the previous day. I'm just being a cheap skate really!

What do you think?? :)

Cheers,

yes it is a 10 minute walk , going by car from Swanwick is about 3 miles, as you have to go all around the houses, but I think a taxi may be the best bet. Perhaps walk back after you have finished.

A 10 minute walk from Swanwick station to the CTC is rubbish, I know you can cut through Whiteley, but it's still quite a way and some big roads to cross that will be busy especially at that time of the morning. Allow half an hour and you'll be a bit closer

I know it's an avoidable expense, but I think a taxi would be your best bet