Got my stage 3 coming up soon, can anyone who's been recently tell me how long it took and how much waiting around there was? I know the email said it should finish by 16:00, but they said the same for stage 2 and that ended up being significantly quicker.

@j0sh Yes 18/19 year olds do get on the course so don't let that put you off but make sure you have some experience of visiting a tower or control centre by the time it gets to stage 3 to back up your application. Most students are between 18-40 so quite a variety.
However to be honest I would say you don't need to take a year out for this. Firstly the application process can be a long one but you only need to take a day out for stage 2 and a day out for stage 3. And secondly because a lot of the people who get onto the course with NATS are actually successful in their second or third attempt, and you have to wait 2 years in between application attempts.
So by all means submit an application now (NATS are recruiting at the moment) but don't put your life on hold for this. Go to university if it is a course you are interested in, organise a tower visit if you can, gain some life experience, and just keep plugging away with the NATS applications alongside this. Hopefully you'll make it first attempt, but most people on the course had a couple of attempts before being successful! Good luck!

Nats Stage 3
 

Hi Guys,

I passed my stage 3 on the 4th of August and have been booked in for a medical on the 3rd of October and have been told (all things going well) that I will be starting in Feb.
Has anyone else heard anything from these dates or is expecting to start feb?:ok:

Hey, I passed my stage 3 last week, also told I'd probably start in February. Haven't booked my medical or done any of the paper work yet though.

Hi Tim, I was told that I will be starting in Feb as well! Congratzzzzz!!!!!!!!

By the way, do you, by any chance.... Want to share a house during the course?

Stage 2
 

Thanks to all on here your comments have been really helpful! I have my Stage 2 Assessment on the 6th September so if anyone has any other tips they will be much appreciated :)

MNAsantos... Yes I do, what on earth made you think that! ;) I don't know how to private message on here so if you figure it out let me know! Also if Sinope reads this, he can do the same!

Hi all, thought I'd check in as I've just passed the stage 1 assessment and received an email to say I've been invited to stage 2 (although there isn't any dates yet).

Does anyone have any insider info as to when new dates might become available?

RadHead.

Stage 3, you'll be there until 16.00 ish or those we've interviewed in the past have been. Learn your info packs and research what you can off the internet, youtube, phonetic alphabet etc. Show some initiative........ good luck!!

You can send me an email and we can start looking for a place.

Hi, I've been a long time lurker on these forums (over 5 years) but now that I am finally graduated from University I decided to bite the bullet and apply for NATS.

I just completed by Stage 0, it's 1:30AM atm, but I am wondering how long it takes them to get back to say whether I can do Stage 1 or not. I thought it was automated and instant. Can anyone shed any light?

Edit: Nevermind, I got a e-mail at 6:01AM confirming I passed stage 0 and a invite to stage 1 tests in case anyone else is wondering. I guess the system automatically marks the tests at specific times (like a cron job).

Hey,
Took the stage 0 test yesterday and got the email to say I had passed. Deciding when best to take stage 1. Does anyone have any tips for completing stage 1?
Thanks

Hi everybody


I am doing my stage 2 assessment on the 30th September. Really looking forward to it! :) Let me know if anyone else is booked onto the same date

Hi storey23
Can you send me an email or PM?
Mc

Hi, I think I'm going to book onto the same date. Really apprehensive, just hope I can memorise the info on time.

Go for it. Once you've booked on, it'll really spur you on to knuckle down and revise

In the exact same boat as you here, finished my Stage 0 last week but too busy with work to get time to do the Stage 1. I would guess if we manage to pass that we'll probably get a later date, but at least that may give us more time to study the booklet / balance our workload with our current jobs.

Afternoon all, i have not long since left the Phase 2 assessment stage (and the fact im posting this at 1300 means i was unsuccessful). However i hope to provide a bit of an insight for those of you who are hoping to take your phase 2 soon.
Firstly the General Knowledge test, i cant stress enough how much you need to learn the booklet they send you, there is only about 30 Multiple choice questions and they aren't too stressful.
Secondly is the FEAST, my stumbling block. This test for me was horrendously hard, with a large variety of different subjects being tested. They seem to go for information overload, in which you have to recall bits of information such as; listening to a conversation and picking out specific info, Random numbers generated and you choose between 4 options, Different shapes with different colours and filtering, Spacial awareness to name a few. Bear in mind these are all against the clock, but also each question changes ie. The shapes have different colours, the question could be turn all green diamonds into blue boxes, however by the time youve read the question you have about 2 seconds to select the correct answer.
I would suggest to anyone going for this to give brain training games a go, and make sure you brush up on your maths abilities ie. 2 Planes @ X Mph covering X Miles, how long until the meet etc.
On the selection i have just done (12 of us), 2 failed the General Knowledge test and 5 of us failed the FEAST. This is before we done the DART test, so i dont know how many will pass overall.
You do not get any feedback on areas you failed, and are simply escorted out of thee building straight away, so be careful if like me you have to wait for a flight!
All the best to those who are entering the selection phase.

Hi guys. I hope you don't mind me asking as it's a bit off topic but I'm looking to apply next year and I've got a question about what happens should you be successful:

NATS make it clear that you have to be prepared to move anywhere in the country should they offer you a job, but what happens in practice? Are you asked where you'd like do go and do they try and accommodate this? Do you have the opportunity to transfer to another location later on if a position opens up somewhere you'd prefer?

Many thanks.

Thanks for sharing your experience, really helpful! Hoping to do my Stage 1 this weekend.

They will send you anywhere, regardless of your preference so don't apply if you aren't prepared to be posted anywhere. There's occasionally opportunities to move to a different unit but it is rare.

You might be asked, and if you're very, very lucky you might get what you asked for. It's based almost entirely around where the "business need" happens to be at the time.

Don't go in expecting somewhere convenient, when they say you should be prepared to move to anywhere, they mean it. If you do get something you'd like, that's great but don't count on it unfortunately.

Hey guys,
I've just gotten through Stage 0+1 and got an email saying they will be in touch but there are no planned assessment days currently.
Anyone in the same position? How long do you reckon it'll be before they will hold another day?

been watching this thread for a long time now so decided to make an account.
I have recently applied and failed on stage 1 tests :( on the NATS website it says you can only apply once but I thought you could apply 3 times with 24months in between what is the case here? is there anyway to apply before 24 months as I failed the online tests not the FEAST or DART tests or is it any bit of application you have to wait 24months?

thanks for any help and good luck guys

If it says on the website you can only apply once, then I guess you can only apply once. If you really want to know the answer then ask HR

Lukie100 Without sounding too inconsiderate, in all fairness if you have failed the Stage 1 tests, then the likely hood of passing FEAST is very slim as it is like Stage 1, only 100 times more difficult.

Yeah I thought if I couldn't pass the stage 1 then further on would just be even worse.
Was annoying as stage 0 tests I found fun and easy but just the diagrammatical tests I jumped straight into without fully reading instructions so lost a bit of time working it out.
Just remember to do the examples first and make sure you understand them guys if anyone plans on doing them

I wouldn't say the FEAST is a 100 times harder. They are different tests. The Stage 0+1 test, you really do need to pay them the respect they demand and not to skip the instructions. Likewise with the Stage 2 as the instructions are paramount. They are also a chance to take a break from the test itself.

Don't be put off, give it another go in 2 years. You'll be that bit wiser.

Yeah will do cheers, I'm not going to give up that easily. I'm waiting for email back from NATS Careers to see if the application process has changed to one application (as website now says) now so will post on here when I find out incase anyone on here wants to know if it's changed

Can anyone give an idea as to how long the application process is taking at the moment? I've read back some more through this thread and seems it used to be very slow, but is now better.

I wasn't planning to apply until next year as I've got a house that I would need to sell prior to commencing training (should I be successful), but if the application is taking the best part of a year then there's no need for me to wait.

Thanks.

If NATS have really reduced you to only be allowed to apply once, this seems like a poorly produced blog post. Second time lucky for trainee air traffic controller - NATS Blog

Bold added by me.

@Flamin Squirrel

I started my application in April and would have been on course in December if I could have left my current job earlier. I did have to wait 6 weeks for the final interview stage though. It can be as little as 4 months if all goes well but you are at the mercy of the college as it's them that give the dates.

I know someone who has been told they may be on a course date late Feb but don't quote me on it.

I personally wouldn't sell my house before or during the application process as it's really difficult process with no guarantees.

Could you not rent it out if you were successful?

djblu1980 thanks for the info. House wise it's... complicated! I won't bore you with the details. I've started the application process at any rate; I'll figure something out.


Have people bothered uploading their CV during the initial application? Is there any benefit? It doesn't seem essential as it says you can just use your profile details.

I failed the old-style stage 1 the first time around; I didn't have a clue what I was going into. It's always worth trying again if it's something you really want. I did, and I've been with NATS for nearly 4 years now ;)

What is the dress code for the stage 2 assessment day? The email said 'smart', but i was wondering for people who have been to an assessment day recently whether people were wearing suits or not?

Thanks

Also regarding arrival time, I have 2 emails that contradict each other. One says to arrive for 8:00 am, but the other says to arrive 30 mins before the start time (which is 8am).

What time does everyone recommend to arrive for the assessment day, is 7:30 a good time to aim for?

When I did my stage 2, most people wore suits. People were arriving from about 7:30 to just before 8:00, probably best to lean towards earlier.

I had my stage 2 recently, passed the paper and FEAST test. Unfortunately, I was not invited back for a Stage 3 assessment after the DART test. I am absolutely gutted

There are only two ways of arriving on time, either you arrived exactly at the time or ealier. You don't want risking arriving late, it will cost you all your hard work so far.
Go dressed with a suit. In my case I wore chino pants and a shirt, but in stage 3 I wore my suit (guess I didn't want to use the same outfit)...

Well I bit the bullet, applied and I'm through stage 1. Unfortunately, there are no dates for stage 2 at the moment. The waiting game begins....