NATS 227 Aerodrome
 

Hey folks,

If anyone has been provisionally allocated to 227 Aerodrome in March 2011 I invite you to join our Facebook group. You can either follow the link or search NATS 227 Aerodrome on Facebook. It's a private group so anyone wanting to join needs accepted by me. If it takes a few hours or days it's because I havn't checked my emails :P

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Thank yoy for caming me down, hehe.

Now I feel much better :ok:

I hope I receive the email soon. The 27th I am moving to my new job in Liverpool and I imagine it will be very complicated to attend to the stages in Swanwick (where I did those last year) while working...

Which place is the closest one to Liverpool? You can carry out the stages in Swanwick and where else?

Thank you!:rolleyes:

You can sit the selection tests at:

Prestwick, Fareham or Bournemouth.

Re: Stage 1
 

Hi all,

I recently received confirmation to attend stage 1 and thats all grand however once being nosey, i read on NATS and other websites that you have to be 21 to be let loose on your own with a radar licence. I am only 18 so does that mean i will be in training for 3 years???

This is all theoretical cause still have to get through the three stages, Im merely enquiring. If anyone can help I will be very grateful! :ok:

@shaunhftm
Any advice on what to expect in stage 2?
Any help would be appreciated thanks :)

libertine - I found the wikipedia page on FEAST to be very informative...

Stage 1 exam
 

Hi everybody,
I´m doing my stage 1 exam next Thursday at Fareham and i´ve got some questions. Is it true that in the motivation paper only two question come from the aircraft data we´ve been given? if it´s so, is it worth studying it? I´ve already studied some parts but i don´t know if it is better 2 spend time practicing cubes, diagramming, etc than revising that aircraft stuff...
Do you know what are the rest of the questions coming in the motivation paper about? Are they the speed/distance/time questions?
Is anyone doing it the same day? Do you know if the place is easy to find? I´m travelling from London but i´m Spanish so i don´t know where Fareham is exactly, i´ve seen it on a map but i don´t know how much time does it take to get there from London.
Good luck to all of you that are doing the exams!!!

As you mention it's a motivation paper so if you aren't motivated enough to at least try to learn the statistics rather than play the averages and bank on only getting 2 questions, then I suggest the job's not for you.

As said above,
it is a motivational paper. You will need to learn this information later on anyway so if you consider yourself motivated enough to start the training because it is a job you would like to do I would say you could never study it too much. On the other hand the cubes and diagramming stuff is a thing you either are able to do or you're not. Yes it can help you to do a few just so you get the hang of it on how you have to solve these questions, but I don't feel it will help you to keep on practising on these things over and over again.
On the other hand the documentation is only giving you a very rough information and the statistics are only a guide line, not fixed values.
I would say, for the statistics, make sure you know how different acft's compare to each other (speeds, altitude etc), what kind of acft you can expect for certain flight routes (with regard to distance, size etc).

In either way, you can never be motivated enough but as well make sure your motivating doesn't kill you on stressing yourself out on focussing too much on a certain thing.

Good luck

Stage 1A - Bio-data personality questionnaire! Sounds delightful!

I know its a bit soon but has anyone who took stage 1 at Fareham on the 18/10/10 had their results yet?

NATS phase 1
 

Hello, does anybody know how long stage 1 lasts?I mean, what time we're expected to finish all the exams. It's basically, cos i have to take a train to go back home. Thank you

phase 3
 

Hi people!:)

I´ve been feeling quite confident about the S3 that is coming really fast for me. But now I`ve read that people are studying nights and days for the third stage!? How do you prepare for it?? It consists of a group excercise and an interview, how do you prepare for these? Please give me some directions-I have my S3 on the 18th November in Prestwick! I only found that OK, so you can prepare by thinking about these situations, but that doesn´t justify the endless hours of revision that some people are doing.
What does the ATC Motivation mean? Do we have to learn the paper that was presented to us for the stage1 again? Or does it mean that we will just have to talk about how motivated about ATC we are?

Please help me (shaunhftm :p).

Thanks

I was expecting my result yesterday too as the lady said she would try and get them out by the Friday. Haven't received anything yet but am hoping for a reply early next week. Good luck!!

rok, I think that you are on the right track, I really don't understand the amount of revision some candidates think they need to do. All you can do to prepare for Stage 3 (apart from site visits and the like) is think about times in your personal or professional life that you have demonstrated the competencies outlined. The testing is over, it's now about how you work as an individual and in a team.

lpeacock

It is true that you have to be 21 to hold a radar licence, but you only have to be 18 to hold a student licence (which is what you will receive if you complete your course at the college.) To be honest, if you are only going through stage 1 now, by the time you have passed the assessment (fingers crossed!) been allocated a course, completed the course (between 8 -11 months depending on area or approach) and then completed your on-the-job-training at your unit ready for validation, you will probably be looking at 2-3 years anyway! It took me 2yrs 4mths from stage 1 to validation doing a tower and approach course and validating approach radar first.

Hope this helps, and good luck with selection!:ok:

Hi everyone, I'm still waiting to hear back about getting onto stage 1 but I'm just trying to get myself prepared anyway, in anticipation...

Does anyone know of anywhere that I can get some information on the different types/sizes of aircraft that I may need to know about at this stage and where they fly? Also just anywhere that basic aviation knowledge could be picked up.

This site has been a great help so far so thanks to everyone and good luck to those who have an assessment coming up!

Jordan

Thanks CJShields, you calmed me down:) So it looks that my English will be my biggest problem, I mean I´m good at it but it isn´t the same as being a native speaker.

Anybody else having stage 3 on the 18th november in Prestwick?;)

NATS Air Traffic Control Test preperation
 

Afternoon all,

Does anyone have any books they can recommend to me for the NATS ATCO selection tests?

Or if anyone has heard of any good books?

Thanks

I've been using the Air Traffic Control Handbook (9th edition) by David Smith. Has a LOT of info in it, although much of it won't be required until stage 3. Even if you just have an interest, it's a great book.

Greetings from Portugal :)

I have been invited to attend stage 1 and I think I'm going to choose Bournemouth on November 24th. I'm flying directly to LHR and so I would prefer to go to Whiteley because it's closer. Unfortunately, the first available stage 1 I can attend in Whiteley is on December 7th, and I don't want to wait that long :=.

I'm thinking about staying somewhere in the center of Bournemouth, maybe near the University. From looking at the map I would say that the College is 20 minutes away by car, which is great considering that the tests begin at 9 a.m. I intend to arrive at least 30 minutes earlier anyway, but I was just wondering whether this is the best option.

To those of you who have attended stage 1 in Bournemouth, do you recommend staying closer to the airport or is this fine? Also, after the test I'm going directly back to LHR, so I need to check out from the hotel before heading to the College. Will they allow me to carry a bag with my stuff, or if that is not possible, will they at least keep it somewhere while I'm doing the tests?

Thanks in advance!

Hey Dcoliv,

Taking you're luggage with you shouldn't be a problem, I don't think you would be travelling with a whole truckload of luggage.
About you staying in a hotel 20min away from the airport I wouldn't know what the problem would be with that.
Myself I had been driving from Belgium with my car and I had been staying over at a friends place in London so the day itself I still had the part London Bournemouth I needed to travel.
Seriously why are you worried about a 20min travelling time prior to your test?

Either way, good luck on your testings.

adeus...

Hey, thank you for your answer. Actually I am not worried! :) I was just wondering if there is a better plan for those of you who have been to Bournemouth. I have no doubt that I will make it there with plenty of time :ok:

Thanks :)

Dcoliv

When I went to Bournemouth I stayed at a Travelodge which is only 10 minutes drive away (Travelodge is called Cooper Dean)

Very reasonable price (39.50) for a double room, and you can check in from 3pm the day before. Very easy to get to and most importantly very easy to get to the testing centre from there!

Good luck!

anyone got their stage 1 results from the 18th yet?

turtleneck,

Thank you for your answer :) Meanwhile I realised that there will be a general strike in Portugal on November 24th so I won't be able to come home lol. So I changed to December 7th, which will be in Whiteley.

Thanks again

Thanks a lot, I´m studying hard, let´s see how it goes!!!

Are we allowed to use paper for the speed distance time calculations (Stage 1)? or do we have to calculate it mentally?

I believe we're allowed paper for the S/D/T test :ok:

One question
 

hey sambatc, thanks for answering!
I´ve seen in some previous posts from you that there are some extra questions that are not related to the material we´ve been given to study, is it true? what about cities distances, what´s that? my last question, do you know the structure of the motivational paper? I mean, if it has a certain number of S/D/T questions, then some other questions of aircraft and so on...
thanks!!

stage 1
 

Hi

I applied to NATS and did the online test and have been invited to stage 1 however the dates are only for the next two weeks however I feel that this is adequate preparation time, it said decline invitation, does that give later dates or just say i am not interested???

I would appreciate ANY advice on the test or anything related to stage 1.

Thanks

Lou


P.S I am 18 so say by some freak of nature I pass all three stages and the training course I have to be 21 to have my radar license so would I be able to work as an ATCO before being 21 or stuck in training?????

all I know about the "extra" questions is what you've just said - that they might ask a few questions about distances between cities.

I believe the first 2 tests on phase 1 are the motivational paper, and a separate one with numerical questions like s/d/t and headings

Hey Ipeacok,

Don't worry about your age.... Yes you have to be 21yrs old to be allowed to work on a full licence as a validated conrtoller on your own....
However, by the time you will be fully validated you will have reached the age of 21... Before that time you will be working under a Student Licence which does not have any specific age limit on its own.

Regarding the fact that you can only choose dates within the next two week I don't see any problems.... All you have to do is go through the 25pages you recieved and maybe to relax yourself you could do a few example tests on the internet. Besides the motivational test (this does not need 2weeks of studying/ if so you will be having many problems with the theory to come since you can expect around 3500pages in about 3months) , the is no need for study, these test are designed to check your abilities, you way of thinking, things you either can do or you can't.

Anyway,
Just book your test within those 2weeks, go through the motivational papers, look up some test example so you kind of now how they look, have a good rest prior to your test and try to be as relaxed as possible when you go do them.

Good Luck....

Hello all,

Does anyone know what kind of questions to expect at stage 1 regarding headings?
I've just done my online test so here's hoping I'll be booking my stage 1 soon...

Thanks,
Jordan

Questions for headings are very basic.
Flying this heading, turned left that many degrees, turned left an aditional that many degrees and right again that many..... what's the new heading....
So no worries about having to estimate headings if that is what you might be wondering....

Yes that's what I assumed it would be, just wanted to check incase there was something I needed to look up...

Thanks

woohoo passed stage 1. And I got 100% on the first 2 exams.

soooo happy

Congrats! :ok:

Do they always say the score in the email or do you have to ask for it?

Good luck for next stage :)

I asked for the results of the first 2 exams on the day. I havnt asked about the results of the second 2.

Nice work, remind me, is this your first time applying or not? I have a feeling you've applied before (like 200 pages back) but I don't remember :O