What he described is one part of three in the computer tests. I shouldn't worry too much about the maths sums if you don't have time (prioritisation and all that). You cannot prepare for it so don't stress too much and just relax. It's supposed to be hard to see how you react under pressure.

Medical will be after stage 3 and before training. Eyesight(very thorough), hearing, urine (only testing for drugs, not booze) and some nasty breathing ones. If you be male then you get your bits felt by the doctor - not the highlight of the day but it's over pretty quick.

Any questions, feel free to PM me

I'm trying to think of a reason why it would be necessary to get your bits felt by the doc to become an air traffic controller.... and erm I'm stuck :ugh:

mpplp, there is a course starting in July they tried to get me on to that one about 4 weeks ago (Because I would be finished uni then), but I had put on my form cant start until September so I got out of that one.. not sure if they are still trying to fill the July one.

You book the medical as usual on the candidate booker, I was offered dates for about a 2 months after I heard, hence I'm going in the Easter holidays..

Goodluckage, if you do get through, and are starting in Sept, lemme know, or anyone for that matter :ok:

rich

There is a very good reason why a doc should 'feel' your bits.

If like alot of people you don't feel your own, then you could have a very nasty shock when you are diagnosed with a late stage of testicular cancer.

I checked my own, and I'm still here to tell my tale.

Another thing the doc looks for down there is a hernia, that's when they do the old 'cough' routine.

They check almost every aspect of your health, so an examination down under can be important. I presume the thinking is that if NATS are going to spend the £250,000 (not sure about the figure) on training then they want the maximum info possible before offering employment.

I also am very midly asthmatic and was concerned about that aspect of the medical - my peak flow/FEV1s are very good though (have Class 2 medical at the moment for PPL) so I reckon I should be fine.. I just hope they don't make you do the same run-around-the-building-for-10-minutes tests that class 1 pilot medicals get.. If so I'd better get practicing :(

The reasoning behind that sort of test, I believe, is to test your breathing when confronted with a situation where the amount of oxygen you need or can take in is changed, like in a depressurisation.. and I would hope that wouldn't apply for ATC.

My class 2 doc said I shouldnt have a problem with class 1 (for flying) anyway so I'm quite hopeful that it won't be a problem, if I get that far!!

I've not had an attack or anything ever and have never been hospitalised because of it. I think as long as you're not likely to have any problems operationally, your asthma is well under control, and a doctor can send a note which supports that then you're likely to be fine, but I'm only hypothesising.. I've read that it helps if you have a note from your GP at the time to explain your history.

Has anyone had any experience with asthma first hand in an ATC medical? Do they just check peak flow/FEV1?

£600,000 is the figure the going around the college.

I heard it was £600,000 too! Why they're investing that in me, I'll never know! lol

As for the medical, it's not too bad. It was suprisingly less difficult than I had imagined it being. Just try your best in the interviews, not worth worrying about medical as there's nothing you can do!

I really can't wait to start...I was told a start date of 21st June for the course! Why did you put off starting in June Richy?!

emm few reasons really, for one I would miss graduation ceremony at Uni, which I felt would be a bit unfortunate, and secondly I already had a ton of things planned for the summer ..

I did put on my application that I wasn't available to work until September so there was no problem really when it came down to it :) (apart from the one phone call that made me feel like I had to chose June or nothing :hmm:) hmm.

Rich

I couldn't wait! My graduation ceremony is at the weekend I believe so should be manageable! Anyway...I'll be around at the college...hopefully...when you start!

NATS interview on Friday the 9th March
 

Hello to everyone who was at the interview (stage 1) good luck too.

want to get some information about ATCO
 

hiii
this is brijesh from india, i have indian passport and i want to know that shall i get admission into nats. plz let me know, i m waiting for ur favorable responce. u can mail me on [email protected] as well.

Bbhagwagar,

As part of the NATS application process you are required to produce proof of residency in the UK.

I don't think you have to be resident in the UK. You'll need a permit to work in the UK though. NATS recruit controllers that live abroad too.

You have to be able to live and work permanently in the UK.

Im so upset. I just found out that i haven't even made it to stage 2. I'm gutted. I really thought I had done well on the tests, the mental reasoning tests were fine, the knowledge tests I knew it all as I studied my ass off and I am an aviation anorak. It's such a shame NATS do not give feedback as I cant think how i would do differently. Even if it was a numbers issue where they needed to cut some people at the outset, I would like to have been told that. Best of luck to everyone else.

Just to assuage your concerns, there are no 'quotas' or similar at work. If everyone at the first stage passes all the tests, then everyone gets to stage 2.

Silver Lining
 

The good thing about NATS is that they allow you to apply 3 times.

The thing I would be concerned about if I were you is running this race again next year [or even sooner- I dunno, ya probably COULD!].

Stage 1: get a few books that teach you to use your brain a little better in these tests/spend some dosh on those practice tests...even use shl if you want!

Spend your free time in aviation, you learn so much by just being in the scene. Even try working in aviation if you can.

But most importantly use your time productively with a focus of that final hurdle in stage 3, where they will ask you 'what you have done for a year?'...

...think of it this way- you have a year to get things right, not just for interviews but for college too.

Hey Gonzo I have a [stupid] question,

Sorry to direct this question at you, but if anyone else can help... feel free to chip in:

Lets say in a 40 Question test you get through 30 questions and you are 99% sure that ALL of THOSE are correct!... The invigilator says a dreaded "2 minutes left", and you think- as it is an MCQ you have a chance to get 2 or 3 MORE questions correct of you just GUESS the rest.

Candidate A:
This person got 29 correct in the first 30 Q's...THEN got 8 wrong in the last 10. He obviously just guessed them- we do not want somebody who blags and guesses the answer... Plus, really he only got 77%

Candidate B:
gets the same score up to the point when the invigilator says "2 minutes", but then carries on as normal and spends two minutes on one question and gets it right, scoring 30 out of 40 = 75%

So although this person got a lesser score, still scored quite well, and out of those he attempted got a whopping 97%. He didn’t try to blag his way through but was more concerned with doing his job well or not at all

I would assume that the MCOR sheets [or whatever you call them] are scanned by a computer/reader, but do HR analyse any information/data or is it a simple pass/fail scoring system.

If its the ATC test you are talking about they are not negatively marked.....at the moment!

latitudehopper, Gonzo is correct there are no Quotas however if NATS get short on numbers for a course they have started to look at "just failed" candidates. Unfortunately for you this is being applied to the failures from stage 3 but you never know how desperate they will become.

When I did my stage 1 in January, we didn't do the aviation knowledge exam.. I was told that this would be done in stage 2 (which is in a week and a bit).

Is this the same for anyone else? It seems from the posts above that the knowledge exam was done in stage 1 for some people and stage 2 for others.. If that's the case, how will they differentiate when stage 2 comes around? Unless everyone has to do a knowledge test in stage 2 from that lovely PDF regardless of what they did in 1?

"The day will consist of a Motivation paper, a personality questionnaire, computer tests, and a structured interview."

Buuut - I've already done an online personality questionnaire! :ugh: :ugh: :}

Seems that only so much preparation can help. We were told we'd have the motivation test in stage 1 at the beginning, so I learnt it really thoroughly, but then that never actually happened! Bizarre. It's all a big test, isn't it :P

No- I know that there is no -ve marking. I'm saying do HR analyse the way in which the applicant approached the tests/what they decided was important for a result.

This is the first time they see how you react in a relatively stressful and time-demanding situation... And are likely to see a bit of your TRUE personality in your approach. Seeing as they delegate part of the day to personality questionnaires
I would be surprised if they do not look at HOW you answered the brain tests!

For instance, candidate A scored a better score but I think we would all chose candidate B as a more suitable candidate.

So from a HR perspective should you guess the remaining questions in order to have a chance to pick up a few points, or is it better to do the best from what you attempted and get a higher relative percentage?

EGMC,

I have to say that I don't know. However, you could look at it the other way: Candidate A used his initiative and knew he wasn't going to finish all the questions if he worked them out, given two minute left, so he guessed them; while Candidate B steadfastly refused to change his plan in the face of overwhelming evidence that he'd not finish all the questions.

It's been a few years since I did the tests myself, and I remember I finished most of them, but I guessed the last few if I was running out of time.

As far as I know, it's just a straight total up the marks, rather than weighting any particular questions.

Agree, don't over analyze...they won't know you guessed them:) !

Timelapse, there are two different knowledge tests, one at stage 1 and one at stage 2.

Aha thanks - makes sense! Sounds like the first one got omitted then on my round for whatever reason :O

Good point Gonzo,

Sorry 'bout all of that... it WAS a little pedantic I suppose anyway, but I just remembered feeling very paranoid about my approach in that little waiting period.

The two pdf motivation booklets were very similar, so it would make sense to merge them into one test, but when I did them [Oct&Nov], I sat two. One at stage 1, the other at stage 2... the second one had a few more DST calculations in them... right at the end too! [when your brain was already frazzled!]

Never apologise for asking a question!:ok:

Just been sent an e-mail from NATS HR asking me to complete the Personality Questionnaire, which is meant to take 40 minutes. Sounds like it will be something similar to last years Stage 1 Questionnaire.

SHT6Y

SHT6Y - It's great fun! Enjoy every second of it..

(It's horrible)

It's worth spending the time doing it, as I went for my first stage tests last Thursday. Did the online personality test on Tuesday evening and have had an email this morning inviting me to Stage 2.

The dates for Stage 2 are 26th March to 5th April, so the sooner you do it and find out, the more time you will have to prepare for the next stage - assuming you get through!

Actually, I'd like to ask a question myself to anyone who has recently been through the process for Stage 2.

Is the structured interview an HR one or does it involve ATCO's?

When I last went through the selection process, you had computer tests, HR interviews and also one with ATCOs. It's not clear from the email I've been sent what it will exactly involve...

Thanks

That was nasty!

Indeed.


Which of these 4 essential ATCO qualities is the least true of you... :ooh:

HR only.

The ATCO/HR interview is at stage 3

That question didn't come up for me... :hmm:
Wonder if the questions are generated based on answers which we put into the 'Learning Styles' questionnaire at the initial tests.

What I mean is the questions for me were all similar to this..

Which of these is the most and least true of you

a) I'm motivated
b) I work well in a team
c) I am calm under pressure
d) I take control of a situation

Tough stuff!

Doh, sorry - with you now.

I know what you mean - they were like fail/fail answer options!!!

Yeah exactly.. Lots of stuff repeated but worded slightly differently too, probably to catch you out.
Well, good luck! I hope you get kazzy01's turnaround time and not mine ;)

btw, if anyone wants someone to study with for stage2 tests via MSN or something then feel free to email/pm me (mine is on the 26th)

Hi,

I too have been fortunate enough to get through the stage 1 tests, and the fail/fail multiple personality questionairre, and have the pleasure of the stage 2 tests and interview in a few weeks time. Does anyone have any words of wisdom on what to expect and how (apart from reading the document they give you) one should prepare?

Thanks!
Gemsound