Visits to Glasgow & Prestwick
 

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting here - thanks to everyone who has posted previously, this thread has been a huge help in the process so far. I have my stage 3 in Glasgow on 11th Feb and am hoping to arrange visits to an aerodrome and an area control centre before then (preferably Glasgow and Prestwick).

Does anyone have any info on the best way to arrange these? Any help would be appreciated - contact details would be fantastic or just a point in the right direction to find contact details would be great also.

One final question - does anyone know how to claim expenses from stage 2? I have emailed HR about this a couple of weeks ago, but have had no reply yet...

Thanks,

John

stage 3
 

I sooooo worried now - i got stage 3 on 11th feb. Any advice or pointers would be great - studying all this time to get a no horrible.

p :rolleyes:

glasgowgirl... I know that feeling well. Check PM's

HELP!
 

hi all, im totally new to this so please bare with me!

i applied for ATCO training 3days ago and have been invited to tests on the 12th of February, however, I've not recevied an email from NATS with any confirmation or any clue what to study, if you can study for the tests! just wondering if someone could give me a heads up on how long all your emails took to come through and what i can study? absolutly dreading these tests so would really appreciate some help! thank u!

p.s congrats to everyone whose already gotten throughhttp://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/smile.gif xx

Hi Clairey Fairy,

The email that you should have got from NATS which said that you were invited to pick a date for the selection tests (and had a link to the online booker) also should have contained another two links - one to the document you need to revise, and another directing you to some practice tests online. The stuff that's contained in those links is all you need to get through Stage 1 (and a bit of hard work too, obviously!).

I got an automated confirmation email from NATS as soon as I'd booked my Stage 1 date with the time/date/etc on it, and this also had the same info links in it.

Bit strange that you haven't had that through - have you checked your correspondence history on the NATS website (the same place you went to start your online application)? It contains all the emails sent to you by NATS, just in case you miss one in your inbox.

If all else fails, I'd call HR (01489 616090) and double check everything with them.

As for the tests and preparation, have a good look through this forum and ask if you're still unsure - everyone's pretty friendly.

Good luck!

Yep, I am doing my stage 1 on the 23rd this month. I am in the PM session. Been a Christmas of reading lots, and doing endless SA and Sequencing questions. Not sure I can get much better at it and anyhow I have run out of practise papers now so I will just have to keep reading the NATS stuff.

thanks paper clips for your help although it didnt do me much good! i havent had one email through from them, when i applied online i chose my test time and date there on the website after id registered and havent had one email from them, nothing confirming my tests, no links for practice tests etc. thanks for that number, i'll give it a call and see if i can get some help there!!

thanks again:)xx

Hey Clairey Fairy,

Did you manage to get a hold of HR? Is there anything in your correspondence part of the website to confirm everything's ok for your Stage 1? Silly question, but is your email address on the website correct?!

Anybody know any good ways to learn the names of all the different plane types, I know the obvious ones but I hear that I might be shown pictures of planes and asked what it is?

Anybody who has had there stage 3 get asked on the make and model of planes??

Thanks

Hey guys, firstly congrats to everyone on doing so well!! I've got my stage 1 on 16th Feb in London, any advice would be much appreciated, been reading through the posts on here and they have been really helpful, but must say starting to make me quite nervous!:bored:

Only advice I can give you is what others have already said...learn the document you've been given back to front (you don't need all the info for stage 1 however, you will need it for stage 2 or at some point later on so you may aswell learn it now). Brush up on distance, speed and time mathematics questions.

Most importantly, don't get too nervous. There is no formal interview, and yes there are tests but nothing you wouldn't have expected as you're given examples to practise.

Be aware of making silly mistakes in the tests...i.e. they are multiple choice. One of my colleagues who is now training to be paramedic used to be an assistant ATCO in the forces. My colleague tried 3 times for NATS and was unsuccessful each time and they believe that one of those times was down to marking one question on the multiple choice paper against the incorrect question number. A small mistake which cost him dearly because all subsequent questions were then totally wrong. (I don't know why they didn't pass 2nd or 3rd time round...).

Good luck! You've got a few months ahead of you where you'll be waiting for results on different parts of the application process and personally, I find that the worst bit!

Just a quick question...

I know there are some mathematic questions in the stage 2 motivation paper and am wondering if it is acceptable to use the same rule of thumb as the pilots do for descent i.e.

3 x height/5 x groundspeed

or do we need to be a bit more scientific in our calculations?!

Thanks muchly!

stage 2
 

Hi everyone!!
this forum is great, i see a lot of friendly atmosphere!!

I just got into stage 2, i´m taking it on 22nd January, is anybody going that date too??
I´d truly appreciate somebody could give any advice,

I don´t have the first booklet they send for the stage 1, may anybody send it to me, please, please??:sad: (correodemou at yahoo dot es)
hehe, i think i´m asking too much, i´ll invite for a beer!, if we meet

thanks in advance, and good luck to everybody at any stage!!!

aphelio:

Stage One booklet can be found at http://natscareers.co.uk/docs/test_materials.doc

Advice for stage two is don't panic during the computer based tests! Everyone goes away from them feeling like they've messed them up. Go through the stage one booklet, if you weren't sent it, and also look at this which I was asked to learn for my stage two. HR suggest you spend between 8 - 10 hours learning the booklet.

That is the only preparation you can really do. The structured interview, as has already been mentioned, is a set of questions HR asks everyone. They will not explain what the question is trying to get you to say, nor will they respond to your answers. All I will say is just think of the type of questions they will ask you, do you have examples in your life where you've demonstrated leadership, teamwork skills etc.

Rules of thumb
 

CJayne,

In atc, there are quite a lot of "rules of thumb", however in your motivation paper at stage 2, they will be looking for exact answers.

Just use your dst formula and you'll be fine.

Cheers

Kev:ok:

For anybody wanting some pre college learning materials I've scanned the quick reference guides handed out at the start of each course. Take the information on these cards with a pinch of salt as things are frequently revised at the college, but these will give you a rough idea...

Area

Aerodrome

Approach

Quick question for any pilots/valid ATCOs
 

Hi everyone,

I have my foundation oral board in two weeks time and I was wondering if anyone can answer the following question for me.

"How does a jet aircraft expedite descent?"
Please no smart ass coments like "chucking the nose down!!!"

I would be grateful if someone could give me a technical answer.

Cheers

Kev:ok:

I have a question about this now that I think about it. I have no problems with the Speed/Distance questions, and have found a few sequencing and cube tests to do and they seem fine also. But I am struggling a little with the motivation document. I can answer most questions family members put to me from the doc, but not verbatim i.e. I get the jist but it isnt word perfect. Are they looking for verbatim answers, or is it mainly a multpile choice exercise at S1?

Understand that you need to know this stuff verbatim eventually, and the more I practise the closer I get but I am stressing a little over it and it would be useful to know the format for S1 and S2 (just in case I dont impload at S1 :)).

Cheers

Expedite descent
 

1967kev,

From an operational point of view if I am asked to expedite descent I select 'FLCH' mode (FlightLevelChange) which closes the thrust levers and gives best ROD at selected speed... for increasing ROD in this mode I would increase selected speed... even further 'expediting' would involve deploying airbrakes/spoilers, basically dumping lift from the wing and therefore dropping out of the sky (in a controlled manner) usually however a speed increase would suffice unless above the descent path or to avoid! (The spoilers make it slightly uncomfortable for my pax, so I try to avoid their use.)

In short I would assume the answer they are looking for is to increase indicated speed (IAS) (or to maintain high speed) .

Hope this helps!

With regards to your answer to CJayne regarding Descent questions in the NATS process and using SDT formulae rather than rules of thumb, as an example for her to practice, what info would be given:-

Flight level, speed and distance?

Can you remember an example?

Cheers

Whitelighter,

It is all multiple choice. The verbatim learning is what you have to look forward to at the college.