Once you pass your medical is the visit for the
 

CAA Class 1 Medical certificate required? The reason I ask is because I am out of the country and each of these trips cost me a few hundred pounds each.

Thanks for the help

depending on your location you may find a local CAA approved Doctor. Worth checking with the medical branch before booking any tickets

DIAF,

I assume you're talking about the NATS medical and subsequent CAA Class 1 medical for becoming a trainee ATCO. If not, disregard what is below.

Not sure what is going on with expenses right now, but you may have to pay expenses for your NATS medical (I didn't, but I was checked before the change in expense rules). However, once you have passed your NATS medical, NATS will pay for you to have your Class 1 - as far as I know, this must be done at Aviation House, Gatwick for your initial one - after that, you can have them done wherever you like. However, you don't need to have your Class 1 before you start at the college (you only need to have passed the company medical) - once you are living in the UK and training at the college, you can have your Class 1 then.

Hope that helps a bit.

When I was at the college last year NATS sent all of us down for our CAA medical at the same time. It was about 2 months into the course.

Zooker,

I can only assume that it is cheaper to have new recruits tested at NATS in house facility, if it is more stringent than the CAA one you are pretty much guaranteed to pass the Class 1 at Gatwick during your time in college.

Bottom line, money saving!

I wonder how many people fail at the in-house one and are therefore not offered a training course (job). This obviously saves the ££££ charged at CAA medical.

(I know what I am trying to get across - sorry if it doesn't make sense, am at the end of a long night shift)

The NATS initial medical is more rigourous than Class 1 as you are being considered for a job offer and the company wants a reasonable assurance that your eyesight for instance is not going to drop out of tolerance before NATS has got a return on their investment.

The Class 1 is the regulatory requirement to get a licence.

Thank you for the help!!!

In addition to Paperclips comment, I believe it also depends on individual circumstance for e.g. if you have previous medical history that NATS and the SRG want explored then you will have to have your Class 1 before college commences.

Not always true,

I was at NATS college without a medical and therefore also without a NATS pass for about 5 months before my medical was sorted.

I'll admit, not the norm.