extalex,
I know how you must be feeling today. I still remember that Saturday morning, way back in 1979, when my dad brought me a cup of tea in bed and a fairly fat white envelope with the 'NATS' logo on the bottom.
It took 5 years after 'A' levels to get to that day. Was it worth the wait?.......You bet it was.
I joined 39 Course almost straight from university, having done a joint honours in Geology and Geography. The workload on that course was fairly high, but nothing compared with the intensity of the training at CATC Hurn, (as it was then).
The course members were fantastic, as were the instructors, and it was a really enjoyable 3 years. I know a few of the ladies and gentlemen who will be training you, and they're all smashing folks.
During your training, you'll have good days and bad days, everyone does, but to yourself, and the other course members who you don't know yet, have fun, and give it 150%. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Hi extalex,

First time posting. I'm also in 243, starting on the 21st March. Can't wait!

VictoriaH,

Oh brilliant! When did you hear the news? I'm still waiting for my medical details to come through.

ZOOKER,

Thanks for the words of advice! It's been a long journey getting here, having applied in 2011 but been totally worth it! Looking forward to starting a new chapter - I know I won't look back.

Alex

@Timpsi

Yes but since i doubt they looked at the rest of the application before stage 1 I suspect they might do it then

They phoned me on Wednesday and they only had 2 days for medicals. I was hoping to have handed my notice in at work before then but they'll just have a weeks notice. It'll all be very rushed as I need to find a place to live as well!

VictoriaH,

I've sent you a PM :)

Alex

@timpsi

I think the online test are on a regulated system as the tests aren't done by NATS themselves but I think a computerised program. Maybe give it a bit longer :/ They won't have forgotten about you..

@vc21
 

Yeah I know! I emailed the company in charge of the testing and was told that my mail had been forwarded to the test administrator. Still no answer though and it's been 3 weeks now. It's just strange that someone got their result at 2am after completed the test.

Well, I'll wait a few more days I guess :)

Stage 3 results
 

Hey everyone, just a quick one, I was wondering if anyone else who had their stage 3 interview a couple of weeks ago had heard anything? I know a couple of you on here have had good results quite quickly, but I've not seen or heard anything else. I know they said up to 3 weeks but I'm getting more and more anxious by the day!

Stage 3 results
 

@jamesrafferboy

I had my interview on 25th January and haven't received any news yet either.

PC Plod to ATOC
 

Evening ladies and gents,

I'm seriously thinking about changing career paths, a friend suggested becoming an ATOC a while back, Ive been thinking about it for a few months now and its becoming more and more appealing. I recently went to visit a control room an Prestwick, the working environment and people who work there were really nice folk, this just added to my desire to jump ship. I have a few questions which id appreciate if come decent chap/chapette could answer...

Whats the time scale like at the moment for applications? (I read that there was a freeze in applications)

How did you prepare for each of the stages? (any hints and tips/ books/ online sites/ same tests/questions)

Thanks in advance

@Papa_viki

I think they have recently opened up to applications again as they're advertising quite a lot on their Facebook page. There has also been a surge in Assessment days (Stage 2) with them having two dates every week!

As to the proccess, I'm not actually sure how long as there's people on here who have been waiting for 1+ years for their Stage 2 but also been newbies on here like me who applied end of January and already have a Stage 2 booked in for beginning of March.

Most of it seems like a guessing game with how long you have to wait but if you're interested then you should definitely go for it!! Good luck!!!:ok:

So I finally received dates for Stage 2 and it seems that they have put on two assessment days per week over the net 2 months!!

Anyone else booked in for 4th March? :p

Its not been 3 weeks since i completed my stage 1 tests and havnt heard anything after I took those. Since other people seem to be having a lack of feedback, I wonder if it is something their end with emails not being sent or something?

Yes! Just received the good news this morning, having been offered a conditional place starting in April. Hopefully there will be no issues whatsoever on my medical. Being a bit superstitious I didn't want to post here anything before receiving my interview results, nevertheless now I guess I'd like to thank the other members who provided useful bits and pieces :)

Just received the news this morning as well! Starting in April too!!

Congratulations rocketscientist! Unfortunately I received bad news this morning from my feb 11th interview :( No real explanation why so lots of pondering to do since I felt it went pretty well! Oh bugger.. on to the next one and I might be back in 2 years time!

Best of luck to you who made it!

Plod to atoc
 

@vc21 congratulations on getting through to stage 2.

How did u prepare for each stage? advice from people on the forum? Speak to existing employees?

Hello all - first time poster here. I'm currently at Sixth Form doing A Levels and I hope to apply to NATS when I'm around 19. I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions!

1) Is >this< app an accurate representation of the kinds of tests that are taken during the selections process? This is only because I wanted to try and familiarise myself with the kinds of questions asked in order to give myself a slight heads up. Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated, sometimes the tests seem so daunting only because I have no idea what to expect.

2) Has anyone applied who has ever-so slight hearing loss? Now I know on the website NATS states hearing loss should be no less than 20-something in each ear (paraphrasing, correct me if I'm wrong) and I am slightly worried as I do suffer with SLIGHT hearing loss in ONE ear. I am not at all "deaf" in the ear and it does not affect my life at all but it is worrying me, so if you are someone who applied and also didn't have perfect hearing, please let me know.

3) Not a question but just a plea for any helpful advice you could give me that I could ponder on for the next year or so. What do the online stages entail? If you failed stage x, do you know why? Had you prepared? What's the actual interview like, and what do they like to hear?

Thank you so much for anyone who is able to help me out. I read this forum quite often and it makes me excited for when I'll finally be able to apply :-)

I have a -30dB loss in one ear at 500Hz

It hasn't affected my controlling but was a fail on the NATS assessment, but isn't on the CAA regulations to hold a medical.

Before I joined I got my own Class 1 (just to be sure) but when I spoke to OHS at NATS they were fairly relaxed and pointed out 500Hz is outside the range of a regular human voice

As for the APP, the cube matrix look exactly like the one NATS gave us (back in 2008)

Thank you for that, whitelighter. I'll be seeing my ENT soon for a general check up and I'm going to bring this up before the hearing test, so that should clarify things.

Oddly I recieved an email saying that I needed to complete the stage 1 tests otherwise my application would be withdrawn, if I go back to the link where I completed them it still says I have completed them...

Just sent them an email but wondering if this is the reason some people have not had a response yet.

Waiting for stage 2
 

Hi Everyone,

I have recently passed the stage 0 & 1 online tests, it was quite hard with the time limits so I didn't finish each section! For anyone still to complete this I found it useful to practice spatial reasoning and aptitude tests in advance so I downloaded some e-books on my kindle (the ones I bought were by Richard McMunn) and I practiced a few other aptitude tests on other websites too.

Now I am wondering how long it will take to receive an invite to the stage 2 part. Looking at previous posts It seems this varies anywhere from a few weeks to over a year! Has anyone else recently passed stage 1 and how long did it take to receive your invite to stage 2? The email I received said "We are not currently holding any assessment dates. Once we have dates planned we will send you an invitation to register."

And for anybody who has sat stage 2 already (FEAST and DART), are there any books you recommend or online simulators to practice on? Any useful resources would be much appreciated.

Thank you!:):)

@norse12

Well done for passing the initial tests! I passed stage 1 on the 30th Jan, and received the same "We are not currently holding any assessment dates. Once we have dates planned we will send you an invitation to register." They then emailed me very shortly after with some dates in Feb and had my Stage 2 on the 19th so I don't think you will have to wait too long although like most people say on here it really is a guessing game!

As for prep for the FEAST and DART tests, I have to agree with the majority on here in that there is not a great deal of prep you can do. The FEAST is just an extension of Stage 0 and 1 tests, I would look over headings and bearings and brush up on mental arithmetic.

DART is just a more complicated and realistic version of the Gateway game on the NATS careers website. Any other multitasking games would help with this but can't recommend any sorry!
Games - NATS

Hope this helps and if you have any more questions about Stage 2 don't hesitate to ask :)

@Brentmeistergeneral

Thanks for your post, it sounds like it all happened incredibly quickly for you! Fingers crossed!:)

Hello brentmeistergeneral! I was just wondering if you could read this wiki page on the FEAST test (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEAST_test) and let me know if it's still an accurate explanation of what you had to do? Thank you in advance :)

@ norse12
Hope you hear from them soon and all the best with Stage 2.

Hello pufut, yep that is pretty accurate from what I can remember. The 'ball on the wall' test and 'flight strip' test were not in there though, everything else is pretty much spot on. There is also a ridiculously long personality questionnaire at the end.

Ah that's great info, cheers! No I haven't applied at all yet. I'm currently doing my A Levels and hoping to apply as soon as I get my results in the next year or so. In the mean time I'm doing as much preparation as possible! :)

I read your previous posts about what you are doing, just after I posted my reply! :O hope you get the results you want and good luck with your application :)

@Brentmeistergeneral
 

Wow, that was quick! Did you pass? :)

I finished my stage 0 and 1 online tests on 20th of February, so I hope that it won't take that long now! Fingers crossed. I have passed both FEAST and DART (with Eurocontrol) before so I hope my abilities are as good now as a year ago!

Let us know how you did!:ok:

Hey, congratulations! Are you looking for housemates? Same question for anyone else starting in April :)

Stage 3 success
 

Well Evie it looks like being the last two people to be interviewed turned out to not be so bad ! Have you ( or anyone else given a start date of April 13th) started looking at accomodation ?

feel free to reply - Calum

Here... although for some reason a bit nervous regarding my medical (I'm perfectly healthy afaik), so can't make 100% certain plans yet, I have indeed started to look for accommodation. PM me.

Stage 3
 

Congrats calso700, therocketscientist and evie16! :ok: Any tips for stage 3? Also, did it last the whole day or did you finish early?

@vc21 Good luck with yours tomorrow!! I'm still waiting to hear about more stage 2 dates. Fingers crossed for you!

Thanks. It does last for the whole day, I think we finished around 3pm, but most of the time is spent waiting for your turn or waiting for the others to finish. Bring something to read if you're not very chatty (like me :) ).

I haven't done anything extraordinary to prepare, just the same you'd do for any competency interview. Also I think we're not allowed to say much more than that anyway.. good luck with your interview!

Congratulations guys! Looking forward to meeting you on the 13th 😊. I'm looking for accommodation too trying to find somewhere close by to avoid much of a commute.

Alex

@therocketscientist

Thanks for your post, all the best for your medical :)

Stage 2
 

Another 315 mile road trip done and all checked in watching Evolution waiting on my 7:30pm table at TGI's. Table for one. On Mother's Day :rolleyes: What's the Billy No Mates equivalent of a Gooseberry?

Relaxing night before my Stage 2 tomorrow (third time's a charm ey?).

Anyone else down tomorrow?

Hi Conc1845
I'll be next month.
Anyway, best wishes and good luck!!!