Congrats to all those who have passed Stage 3 :ok:

I have mine on Friday....there any tips or advice you think might be helpful?

Am starting to get nervous. I really really want to pass and never actually thought I would get this far!!

pugwash
 

Well done, I was feeling your pain when you were waiting for the results, it's a horrible wait.

I also have my medical on the 11th, HR told me when I phoned that I was pencilled in for the Feb course, that was the same day they told me I was through.

Booked mine for the 29th of September...

Was that chap called Gary Oswald? Something like that, wasn't it...?

Stage 3
 

I have had no questions regarding what or when I would like to do anything like Pugwash either Mark.

But I will let you know when I know.

Advice for Stage 3 – I suppose think of more than one scenario for each behaviour then you have the flexibility in the interview to change your scenario when the questions are worded differently - be yourself and remember if you have a shocker what is the worst that can happen? (Unless you live in Wales that is)

stage 3
 

I recieved a telephone call just before the e-mail to tell me I had passed. I then talked to HR about when the courses will start and they said the next one is November and then February after that.

Stage 3 advice
 

Jochi, the advice by pugwash is spot on. Try and have at least two scenarios for each skill and you may find you can adapt them to different questions if they throw them at you. Just stay relaxed and be yourself and you should be fine. Try looking at the post on page 172 of this thread by Madhouserjd, I found it very useful.

Medical
 

Does anyone know roughly how long the medical lasts for?

Allow at least a couple of hours and you should be ok.

The Gatwick medical should be about the same, although I was there for nearer 3 hours (and they didn't even need to do all the tests for me as some of mine were valid from another medical!)

stage 3 on 11th
 

Hi Jonjonjon,

I've got my stage 3 on the 11th as well

Stage 3
 

Well done Mark and Andrew, unlucky Dave - at least you won't have to break your bet just yet.
I passed stage 3 aswell (Lee from 31st July)

Best of luck with the medicals.

JonB

Does everyone have a NATS medical AND a CAA medical at gatwick to get into college?

Cheers

Jim

The NATS medical is a company medical and also drugs test. It is practically the same as the medical which you will also need to have at the CAA at Gatwick, if not a little more rigorous.

Once the NATS medical at Swanwick is passed (you will know on the day), then they will send you to the CAA at Gatwick. This is required to issue your initial UK ATCO Class 1 medical certificate after which NATS will renew it for you annually.

Even if you have a valid JAA Class 1 medical (for commercial flying licences) you will still have to go to Gatwick for the ATCO medical (although it's practically the same examination, some tests may be within validity from your JAA Class one - e.g. audiogram, ECG, spirometry etc.). In the good old days NATS had an arrangement with the CAA to issue the initial themselves, but sadly this is no longer the case (since the previous head of NATS medical department left after the move to Swanwick).

The Class 1 medical is renewed every two years until you are 40.

Correct.

(I'm so used to the JAA Class 1 medical that is renewed annually!)

Do you need a grade C or above in English Language or Lit?

Hey folks, my flight down to SOU is today, for my stage 2 tomorrow. Anyone else got theirs at the same time?

Any final tips or tricks?

hi there
 

I sat my stage one test on friday 7th august!

If anyone is going for their stage one heres an insight of what you need!]

, the best bit of advice i can give you is..................paper one is questions on the 30 pages of material that you need to study that NATS sent you in an email, and make sure you DO study it, as i can assure you that everything is in the paper!....................................

Paper 2 is diagramming, where you are given a box diagram with different shapes on them and you have to figure out which answer is correct from a choice of 5 there are 3 box shapes and 20 questions for each shape so make sure you get this tip top!.....................................

Paper 3 is what you get in the NATS link below the SHL link in your email!.......this paper gives you a box of 4 shapes arranged vertically and each box has different instructions on, once you have follwed these instructions you should have a different arrangement and again you are given 4-5 answers to choose from! you have 60 of these to do!........................................

and the final paper is numeracy...........on this paper make sure you know your speed,distance and time calculations as this is pretty much what the paper is all about for example:- a plane is travelling at 450mph he is at 35000ft and decending at 1200ft per minute, how long will it take him to get to this altitude and what is the distace he will have travelled in this time! this is an easy example of the questions in the final paper!

I hope this has helped you and apologies if anything confuses you! I have tried my best and am just wanting to help people that need advice!

ATB and i hope you do well

Darren :)

Daley
 

On the NATS Careers website it states you need 5 GCSE Grade C or above including English and Maths. I would presume it means English Language rather than Literature.

If you are successfull in getting through to college, you will at some point have to be assessed on your level of English Language. ICAO states you have to have a minimum of level 4 in the English Language in order to obtain a Student Licence. Hope this helps!

Suffolk...
 

I had to provide evidence of GCSE certification and I've never had mine at all! Did you get given a Record of Achievement folder when you left school? (Mine was like a brown faux leather folder thing with paperwork in from school). If you did and if it has anything in it to prove what GCSEs you obtained, HR will probably accept it as proof...if not, write to your old school and ask them if they can confirm what GCSEs you obtained. If that fails, it's back to the exam boards and that turns out costly, about £30 per letter of confirmation (they won't re-issue certificates)

Birdincontrol

I have been asked to submit mine. I sent off for confirmation from my old school and they have sent me some prrof back. Trouble is, although I have a 'c' in English Lit and a '3' in Oral, I only have a 'd' in English Language.

I'm really worried that this is going to rule me out! :{