CAA Medical
 

Dear Pat42,

Hmmm… just a bit shocked how the test prep material did not correspond to the current tests. As for their professionalism this time around… I’m sure it was just a once in a blue moon thing as the last time I went through all of the stages they were highly professional. Just with it combined it was a bit more noticeable if you understand what I am getting at…. Ah well here’s hoping my commonsense got me through it this time.

Thanks

Capt Jay Jay,

In response to your above reply… I would like to state a few things. The aviation paper… was not difficult… the questions regarding principle of flight… were not a problem in the slightest. As for having interest in ATC… I would say I have a very strong interest which was rubbed off from a very young age from my Grandfather who was an ATC and also from my friends who went on to become pilots or winch men. So the interest has always been there from my first visit to Leuchars Air Show when I was 7 and my first visit to an Aerodrome in my early teens.

As for the maths… I have good mathematical grades don’t get me wrong but any sort of mathematics I have been used to in the last few years is that of working with financial figures like I said. As the saying goes… you lose what you don’t use. I was just merely indicating that given a bit of notice I would have spent an hour or two doing some maths and would have had it all fresh in my memory hence why they give out practice material as it’s there to help you freshen your memory on things. I’m also sure that I would not have been the only person there that would have had the same thing considering the average age in the room was about 26 meaning people could have been out of education for up to ten years and may have never needed to use any sort of Maths since.

I don’t think it is very nice to classify your grade as a “lowly B grade” as its still accepted and so is a C which indicates that NATS finds that level acceptable.

If I wasn’t capable of the job I would not have made it to the third stage and be told I was capable of the course work but it was a bit risky spending 750K for my training for me to run off to RAF if I don’t like it as I had met the grades for most trades in RAF and they knew it was an option for me.

Basically… the message I put was me saying how the practice papers did not correspond with the tests to come up as they were suited for the previous layout and if anyone that has attended lately felt that there was a lack of relationship between the two. My department would never think of issuing its students module booklets and teach them things that have nothing to do with their module tests (mind it has happened at some institutions before!). I just feel that when you only get 3 chances and its plenty of people’s dreams that it can be rather miss guiding.

I know the reply was rather long winded but had to be as your reply was very on-sided and very criticising (not the constructive type). Little bit less one sided criticism doesn’t go a miss.

But I do agree about it should have been easy to do the Maths paper.


P.S. Your 747 is flying a little slow there ;P !

Stage 1 - 25th Jan
 

I had my stage one assessment on the mon 25th and remember them saying that we should have the results by the end of the week. Just wondering if anyone else has theirs yet??

Also does anyone know how to log on to the NATS site to track our applications? On the nats site itself it says it doesnt recognise my e-mail, but on atcocareers there is only the option to apply and not log-in. Any help on that would be appreciated.

Hope we dont have to wait too long!! Can't wait to become an Atc (fingers crossed)

Hi Lemony,

Im not sure about logins for NATS now. I remember a few years back you could use it but im not to sure if you can now until stage 2 but don't qoute me on it.

When I did my first stage 1 test a few years abck I do recall that I did have to wait several weeks to do it. I don't think SHL run any of the tests now except the online test and therefor it will be down to HR to do them. There seems to be alot of stage 1's atm so I assume that everyone at yours will be waiting for another working week.

I know the anticipation just kills you! The very best of luck to you!!!!

Watching the skies,

All understood. Well done on getting through to Stage 3 last time, here's hoping you get all the way sometime soon.

I'm still nail biting over results to Stage 1, not yet received!!!!

Jking, RE: medicals,

ATCO's now have to have the new European Class 3 medical. I believe its almost identical to the the the old class 1 and ATCOs who previous held a class 1 were able to switch to the euro class 3 by renewal... not sure what the situation would be for you though seeing as yours has expired. Probably best to give NATS occupational health a ring as they'll be able to answer.

I might be wrong but I think NATS reimburse travel expenses if you do have to go to Gatwick (again, best to check with OH).

lemony,

Hi, I also had my Stage 1 on 25/01, @ 1230 - no results received yet.

Guess we may have to wait the full 15 working days eh!

Hopefully no news is good news?

Watching the skies,

Just thought - I have to admit that I was also dissapointed there was no basic checking, had been revising that until I was super speed with 100% accuracy..

Slipped my mind that they didn't test me for it until I got home!

Results of Stage 1, 2, 3
 

Hi Guys,

Don't think too much about the time it takes to receive your results for Stage 1,2 or 3.

My Stage 1 results came AFTER 15 days, purely because in my opinon the number of people who take the Stage 1 assessment.

My Stage 2 results came through after around roughly a week

My Stage 3 results came in around 2/3 days

Never think too much about timescales, SHL tests they get you to do, if your good enough you'll make the cut. Wish everyone the best of luck!

Scrotchidson :ok:

El_Zar
 

Sorry ive been off the forum for a while as i failed stage 3 last year, its now time i can apply again so been routing through my pc for the files, will try and upload them all again for you and post a link for anyone else that would like them.
Please be advised that this info is from the stuff given by NATS so it may not be up to date.
Good luck with your application for Eurocontrol.
Good luck to all who have NATS tests coming up, hopefully see some of you in the future, will complete the online application today !!!

Yeah it was gutting alright... its a test where like you said 100% can be easily gained... I think thats why I was totally gutted about it lol. Would have improved my chances.

Yeah thats about the same as me.

Mind.. I got my stage 3 results on same day... was traveling from Fareham to Newcastle... got the text message saying that a message was sent from NATS... and then not one phone worked at getting on the net... was devastated when I got home! (think deep down I knew what it would be though!).

Achhhh welll..... less of the stage 3 talk... roll in those stage 1 results!

Just wondered if someone knows the best way of getting from Swanwick railway station to the NATS centre?

Looks like a walking distance, but I don't really want to get lost, so I thought either a taxi or bus would be a better solution.

If any one had a previous experience in travelling there by train, I will appreciate any advice.

Aren't they located at 4000 Parkway ?

According to the map they have sended with an invitation, I should rather go over the motorway bridge and head to the right. Sorry if I misunderstood you though.

Anyway thanks for the advice, I'm gonna be there 2 hours in advance so I may just take a walk to calm my nerves down, but the way google maps showed me looks a bit tricky! :}

I think the safest way will be to take a taxi, though I will have to hang around for quite a bit there. If anyone from here is planning to be there much earlier u can let me know.

Stage 1 Maths
 

Got my stage 1 in a few weeks and only thing I would say im not the best at would be the maths since it was about 10 years ago I last done anything on it.

I would like to know if the maths I found on this site AT-SAT math help - Air Traffic Control - ATC - Aviation ( the guy gives a link in the 3rd post down ) is in anyway relevant to the maths i'll be doing at stage 1.

Thanks.

Hi all,

Does Nats ever hold stage 1 exams on weekend or late evenings?

Cheers.

Walking from Swanwick railway station to CTC takes about 25 minutes. As tooomek has noticed the pedestrian friendly route isn't straightforward but it isn't quite as bad as it looks on the map. I'm not sure which map HR send out but the council produced Whiteley Walks map is the one I'll use to describe the way to go because it shows the footpaths. It's available on line at http://www.whiteleypc.info/Parish%20...eley%20Map.pdf

The station is bottom left on this map and CTC is the building just to the right of the toucan crossing and pond almost in the middle.

Turn right out of the station then right at the top of the hill and across the railway and M27 bridges. Turn right into Rookery Avenue and follow the footpath which initially runs beside the road and then turns left between the houses. At the footpath T junction turn right and follow the path past the nature reserve on the left. You need to take the first tarmac path on the right which is a narrow path which runs in front of a row of small terrace houses. This brings you into Berber Close. Turn left and then right and follow Berber Close to the roundabout where it joins Rookery Avenue. Turn left and follow Rookery Avenue all the way to the roundabout outside the Solent Hotel. Follow the path round to the left of the big roundabout and cross Whiteley Way at the Pelican Crossing. Turn left and follow Whiteley Way. At the junction with Parkway cross over and keep following Whiteley Way. Just past the toucan crossing the path turns right, keep following it over the bridge. At the far side of the bridge go straight ahead onto the gravel path to the left of the wooden gate and then onto the small path which leads into the CTC car park. The main entrance is straight ahead.

@eglnyt, thank you so much. I appreciate your time and effort to explain that! That helps alot.

Google maps way fallows the main roads therefore it seemed to be a lot of walking, but yours is spot-on.
That means I'll have a nice walk in the morning! :ok:

Wish me luck!

regards.

Hey guys. I have my stage 1 tests this coming Monday and have just read on here that basic checking is now not included? If so, will it just be the motivational paper, spatial reasoning (sense a fail there) and diagramming.
Also, does anyone have any information/examples of the speed distance time questions they ask you? As in school the only units i ever used were metres, seconds m/s etc. and im guessing these avaiation questions would be in mph?
Any sort of help would be greatly appreciated :)

Check the post I made a few up, I'm pretty sure now those examples are roughly the same. I am a lot more confident on the maths now after doing the questions.

Stage 1
 

Hi, I too have done stage 1 and got the "dear John letter" no big deal it was the experience. However, I studied the booklet, I bought a book about ATC and studied that, I was somewhat annoyed that the there was indeed a "maths " section....okay so loads of people are saying "its not really hard maths" but for people who have been out of education or employed in fields which require a certain level of arithmetic skills to be under pressure to calculate maths t/s/d equations when there was no mention from HR to study this was disappointing. I am not looking for sympathy or anything, I made a mistake by poor preparation but it would have been nice to know that there were a substantial amount of maths questions. I was indeed expecting basic checking!!!.

On another tangent, the whole process by taking the SHL test thing on a computer system that has an operating system using Windows XP in this day and age shows that they have to update the recruitment process.

I will know better for another 12 months time.

all the best to those who get through the various stages this year.

me age ( 38 ) and a dunce :)

Keylock,

Check out www.speeddistancetime.info, they are practice examples for the RAF officer selection, but I found them quite helpful in preperation for NATS selection as well.

SHU66Y,

I felt exactly the same! It was really quite gutting that there was no indication of this at all! And I had did it all once before and the sneeky lil devils changed it all but handed out the same old practice material... but like you said... roll on next round!

Hello everybody!
 

Shu66y

I'm sorry to hear that HR didn't mention details about changes, I hope it's not done on purpose:suspect:, but it seems that they miss out a lot of info. I've noticed myself that, the info-links given in order to prepare for the tests by SHL are exactly the same as in 2008 when I initially applied for the first time. The only difference is on the motivation paper, which has been updated if not outdated...:E Anyway, I'm sure that you'll be better prepared next time :ok::ok::ok: I've applied for stage 1 at the end of this month, & it's my second attempt, fingers crossed I hope I get through this time as I've been studying hard :8.
Since the whole process has changed, I'd like to ask about the online tests prior to stage 1 that NATS sends to candidates via e-mail.
Are they relevant to the recent practice tests that anyone can do online by SHL?
To be more specific, I've read several threads refering to a basic checking test & a numeracy test the results of which are not issued to applicants before stage 1. I did some of these free tests online, & I didn't come accross any basic checking test, please correct me if I'm wrong, I only did an abstract test & a verbal & numeracy test. The latter (numeracy), being the hardest, as it contained 39 Q's in 42min, with diagrams, pie-charts & tables, percentage rates & so on!
I found this rather difficult :ugh: So, can you remember approximately what the NATS online test consists of, does it encounter basic checking & the numeracy test I've described above, or am I just worrying too much about it? Is it also true according to rumors, that the online test is a kind of deal between NATS & SHL, for free trial testing by candidates, regardless the results, which may or may not be taken into consideration along with the rest of the tests at stage 1.
Thank you very much in advance, I'll sign in as soon as I've got more news about my application.

The good thing from this is that the people in charge of getting us from A to B are professionals and if the aircraft developed a problem with one engine shutting down and it only had enough fuel for flying a total distance of 145 miles, then at least we could wave at those on the ground at the airports we are flying over to reach our fuel limit/distance.

If I were in the left hand chair up front, i'd get the bird down on the first available runway or M1 junction 24 regardless of my fuel state.

older and wiser for next year :)

CAVOKAY7

HI there!

The online tests are the same as the ones in 2008 that we did.

1st set is basic checking on up to 8 letters or numbers (only letters or numbers in each sequence not mixed).
2nd set is arithmatic.

The dont do basic checking for the stage one test anymore.

Only diagramming, spatial reasoning, a maths test (with Speed, Distance & Time equations), and the NATS paper which has changed slightly too as there isnt alot of questions on the booklet they give you to read... most of its the SD&T equations again.

Hope this heads up helps you out.

GOOD LUCK

Shu66y,

I did the same thing and thought... regardless of distance plane can go... get that bird down pronto!!!!! Lol.

But in my case... younger and wiser :P

Watching the Skies
 

Thank's a lot for the info, all the very best to you too. Cheers:ok:

& something else!
 

Could anyone please advise, about reasonably priced hotels near the CTC where I can stay overnight before the exams? Hotel name & address would be just fine if one can remember :ok: Thanks in advance !

Perhaps not directly relevent to the tests, but might be an interesting topic for conversation... I'm not sure that you would always want to aim for the nearest runway in this situation.

If an aircraft encounters trouble at cruise altitude somewhere over England then its likely to have a lot of options as to where to land. Often the nearest suitable airfield will be the best idea, but not always. Usually in an emergency it will the be the pilot's choice rather than the ATC provider. Sometimes the aircraft might need to burn off fuel as it may be overwieght for landing (a transatlantic passenger flight will take off with a lot more fuel on board than it can safely land with). In other instances, for instance if there were a total loss of power, then a further afield runway might present a more controlled descent profile for a gliding aircraft. Where there is a bit more time to play with and options are available other factors might also come into play such as the availability of appropriate maintenence facilities at various aerodromes - there's little point landing a problematic a/c at an airfield that isn't equipped to fix it if it can safely reach an alternative that is. Finally (and this is where the ATCOs might get a say) it could also be worth thinking about how much of a problem an a/c is going to cause if an emergency landing leads to runway closure - if an a/c can safely make and land at either Heathrow or Stansted then you are probably going to want to send it to Stansted, purely because if the worst case scenario occurs and a runway needs to be closed you are going to cause less disruption (and less of a resultant safety issue to other birds in the sky) by directing the a/c to the less busy runway.

Interview 1st Stage
 

Hi guys, recently joined this site! I have my 1st stage interview at the end of march and I am tryin so much to be really prepared. I am reading the NATS guide and making notes, I was thinking about also refreshing my brain with some maths becuase I have been out of practice for so long, with Pie Charts and percentages that's just goin to kill me.
By reading alot post, is there anyone like me who has had no experience in aviation before? I am reading the guide though and finding it all really interesting and i really wana give it a go.

Also what is the first stage like? is it jus tests? is there one on one interview? group tasks?

Thanks in advance :)

Hotels
 

I stayed at the Roundhouse Hotel in Fareham last Thursday before my Stage 3. £40 basically when I booked online and it comes with a bed (which is a plus) a TV with Freeview, bath, toilet, Free Internet and breakfast in the morning. It also has a pub downstairs but I doubt anyone would want to be there before an assessment!

It's about a 12min drive from Swanwick and prob less from CTC

I'd highly recommend the place! (I should get commission for this!)

Scrotch :ok:

Hi, im staying at the premier inn at fareham for my test its only1.5 miles away

Stage 1 in Prestwick
 

Hi guys,

Is anyone doing their S1 test in Prestwick at the end of the month? Is 1 month enough to prepare for the tests?? I want this more than anything so I want to be as prepped as possible. I guess you all do though:-)

I just received an invitation for the online selection test before attending the S1. What kind of questions are there? I tried to find out from the website but it wasn't very clear...or I am blind...

Anyway, good luck to all of you out there!! :ok:

Hi there, I did my stage 1 at Prestwick....I don't know how your going to get to the place, up until the last week I was told it was in Freeson Ave. Its not shown on googlemaps, but if you want some advice....if your arriving at prestwick airport i'd get a taxi to the place.....make sure you arrive at least 20 mins prior to the time slot as you will have to get through security gate.

The Online SHL test needs to be done on a PC with Windows XP, IT WILL NOT WORK ON MORE RECENT OPERATING SYSTEMS.

Now, whether the results of the SHL test is a final fall back for NATS to see how you get on with stage 1, I don't know. I found the SHL test a nightmare....you can use a calculator and pencil to work out the answers but be warned you have approx. 20 seconds to answer the question and the questions are somewhere along the lines of:- Example:- 7x34/?+65-3= you have to work out the missing ?.

As for Stage 1 on the day, the booklet you download and read will just tell you the very basics of ATC etc but as with others on here a lot of the questions were time x speed x distance..okay multiple choice answers but you still have to have a good idea. The test with the 3D box shape is okay, what I found was if you are running out of time near the end of that paper just start ringing anything.....for instance 3 out of the remaining 10 is better than nothing.

The Numeracy test was hellish all time x speed x distance questions so really get a grasp on that one before you go.

best thing you can do is just make up your own examples and try and answer them....things like

Example:- An aircraft is flying from point A at 420mph on a heading of 265 deg for 37 mins, it then is told to turn left onto a heading of 213 deg and decrease speed to 330 mph for 13 mins......how far has it travelled to reach the airfield at point B.

the questions about the symbols is okay, you just have to make sure that you do the ones at the beginning fast so you can have more time to concentrate on the latter ones.

The best piece of advice.........enjoy the experience, if you panic about it it will just cause you more anxiety.....I tried, never made it to stage 2 but cest la vie.

Hope this helps

Scrotchidson & Ginnersam
 

Thank you for the hotel info, I believe the fareham premier-inn is the most reasonably priced choice, :ok: so Ginnersam, I guess the credit goes to you mate:ok::} cheers :D:D:D

SHL on vista
 

Would recommend getting a test date well in advance, then booking Travelodge Portsmouth - got my room for £25 a night, bargain.

They've got a bar also if you want breakfast etc.

Another quick note about the speed/distance/time questions. They are all devised so they are relatively easy to work out (you won't be asked distance for an aircraft travelling at 438 mph in 23 minutes, the question would probably be distance for 400 mph for 20 minutes... you get the idea).

Easy Jet from from Belfast to Glasgow but Glasgow Airport is a good distance away from Prestwick. Would require you getting a bus from the Airport to get on a train from Queen St Station (right next to the bus station) to Prestwick which drops you off at the Airport.

I agree that Ryanair wont accept anything other than a Passport even for Internal.

Easyjet... are supposed to only take Passports or Full Driving Licences HOWEVER I just flew back from Bristol on Sunday and a lady never had any ID on her and they accepted an employee card with her anme and photograph on it. If you have any sort of card with your name and photograph on it that is supplied by someone like a library or learning institution then you should be able to use it (I know they did accept that sort of thing years ago anyway).

I would call up just incase and get someones name who says its ok with a call reference number.

Hope this helps.

P.S. To get from Glasgow Airport to Glasgow City is not that long and nor is the train. Just make sure you have about 1.5hrs- 2hours before test so you can spare time getting lost!!!!