You mean they don't......;)

He would have been correct if the year had been 1909 (look it up, fact fans), but 94 years later? :}

Frankly, I think that that was a rather ingenious answer - now why didnt I think of that! HF radio indeed.....!

Anyone who has recently completed stage 3 or been through it:

At stage 3, in the interview 'with an ATCO and a HR assessor' what is the difference between these? The selection process PDF says stage 2 is also where an 'HR assessor' interviews so is this a repetition or different - in what way?

From my experience..

The stage 2 HR interview is a set of structured questions which are set out, written down and have to be asked in a certain order. The assessors don't enter into conversation with you and you are marked on a scale for each question that is asked.

The stage 3 HR interview is more like a proper interview, dicussive and chatty and more like a conversation than the first one which is similar to an interrogation! :)

I would concurr with Timelapse there. Stage 2 is structured, so everybody gets asked the same questions - and there isnt really any interaction with the HR assessor.

In stage 3, the questions that you get asked depend a lot upon you. Both the HR assessor and ATCO interview you at the same time, so they are both assessing the answers that you give to one or the other of them. Many of your questions are likely to based on information that you have already given them, such as your online personality questionaire, so are individual to you. Also, depending on how you answer a question, depends on the question that follows - so you could say that it is quite a dynamic interview.

Hope this helps - best of luck!:ok:

Very much so. A lot of the questions we ask depend on the answer you gave to the previous one.

Further question, upon reading the first several pages of this thread, many have cited a 'Learning Styles Questionnaire' - in the stage 1.

What does this comprise of - is it similar to the personality questionnaire at all?

Thanks for replies

Stage 3
 

So, I just found out I got thru to Stage 3, does anyone know the pass rate for Stage 3?? cheers

Don't start worrying about statistics... and definitely not at this stage! Just concentrate on your qualities and the reasons you WILL get through.

You don't want to know percentages, you really don't.

Stage 3 "pass rate"
 

Charlotte,

Timelapse's spot on!

It was explained to us by the H.R. and ATCO interviewers at the briefing before the Stage 3 Team Task that there was no pass rates!!! .... basically, if you're good enough you'll get through. Just dont give them a reason to fail you!- Visit an Area and areodrome facility, Learn all the notes backwards, maybe read one or two A.T.C. books, Find out about N.A.T.S. history, background, mission statement, future plans etc., Be able to back up your H.R. interview answers with relevant examples........
...... above all, be positive and focused and you'll do fine!

Besta Luck,
Chedchenko.

Just found out am through to stage 2 Woohoo! just wondering whether the stage 2 is in london or somewherelse? Cheers
Stephan

Stage 2 is at CTC in Fareham, near Southampton.

Could anyone shed any light on how long the security checks usually take? :confused: Thx in advance.

The only way you find out when they're done is if you have something of interest. Do you have something to hide?

Evening all,

I have my Stage 1 test next month, and I received my confirmation email.

I carried out the practice tests, got 100% for the first two questions, but only got 2 right in the third question, Diagramming.

Does anyone here know where to get other similar questions from to practice?

My other question, if I eventully make it to the college, I am aware that there will also be a requirement to study at night/weekends etc.

Do I need to study at weekends at the college, or can I travel home again?

Thanks.

Studying at weekends will definately be a necessity at times whilst at the college. This won't prevent you from travelling home as long as you set yourself time aside to study when you are there.

It's changed since I was at the college (long, long ago, back in 1998, before anyone else comments.....:} ), but I used to study for a few hours Monday-Thursday evening, then have Friday evening and Saturday off and resume studying for most of Sunday.

agree with gonzo... i did maybe 3 hours each evening mon-thu, then went out fri night/sat morn spent sat recovering/playing evo/watching trash on tv then did a bit more on sunday. personally i think the key is going over what you do each day... and finding out exactly what you do and dont understand asap. theres little success in cramming down there and i used to be a master at that :suspect:

thanks guys.

I just dont want to balls things up at the very first stage, so any practice on the diagramming side of things is a must for me. I will also be reading the motovational paper which they sent to me via an email link.

ALso, I have read on here there is a computer based test, as well as a Maths test. Can soemone describe breifly what type of questions there are on each test.

Just want to give it my very best shot. If I fail, and I can say i put my very best in, then I wont be 'too' disapointed!

If anyone here has recently gone through the stage 1/2 process, can they PM me, be good to have a wee chin wag as it were!

Thanks.

Thanks JonG, Not that i know of :uhoh:...

I think the amount of study required is very much down to the individual.
Some worked every night and most of the weekend, most followed a pattern something like Gonzo/AJ and others did practically nothing until a week before exams.
All of the styles worked (and failed!!) for different groups of people during my time there.
My view was always that I would have been very unhappy to fail something due to lack of work so worked very hard from Sun to Thurs. Friday night was blowing of steam(beer) night and Sat was a day of whatever I fancied.

It's one year since I reached the final stage in Glasgow and was unsuccessful. I'll be reapplying at the end of next week.

Is there anyone else who'll be applying for a second or third time this year?

I'll be reapplying for a second time in a couple of weeks, but then I didn't get past stage one last year :(
Been glued to this site during that time, thanks to everyone for your helpful posts.

Stage 2
 

Hi guys,

First of all I would just like to thanks everyone who has posted on this thread, as its been really helpful.

I have been invited to stage 2 interview and was wondering if anyone had arranged a tower visit before their 2nd stage interview or did you arrange a visit after passing the 2nd stage and before the 3rd?

Anyone know how to arrange one? PM/post please:ok:

All, I would not take yahoo's info re college life too seriously. The only students I've seen who do a last night study session and went out 3 nights a week INCLUDING WEEKENDS either failed the basic course, or took a few attempts at more than one course..... None of it is easy, and it never gets easier. You just have to get your head down, do the work, and do a few hours study most nights, and a lot more in the days coming up to an exam. It is all do-able of course so don't let me make out that it is impossible, it's just intense! I'm sure there's many reading this more than happy to agree.............

maybe yahoo is the human form of his name... can quickly skim everything and come up with the results?? :suspect:

I would agree with two things.. everyone's different, and it is intense.

Some people just absorb information and can readily remember it, others study in different ways. It's all about how you work..

Personally I put the work in every weeknight and had most of the weekends off (except for the weekend before my oral board..and before a few exams). My theory was that if I put in as much work as I could and failed then so be it, I'd tried my best.. but I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip if I could help it by doing a bit more work.

Don't forget too that the pass mark on the theory is 70%, which is what most universities use as their top-grade mark, not their pass mark.. so depending on what you're used to getting in exams you might have to adjust your style!

Yahoo,

I'd wager there are very few people in the world who can absorb 80 pages of MATS 1/2 info word for word and reproduce (a selection of) it by only studying the night before.
This is what you have to do to pass the written on advanced these days.
Also, if you haven't failed anything, then you would have spent about 9 months at the college in total - things are more condensed these days.
From 211 I can think of 1 person who passed that did CONSIDERABLY less study than everyone else (still much more than yahoo suggests) but he had one of those crazy memories.
The rest of the mere mortals were left to slog it out:(:(
Excellent advice for the interview though:ok::ok:

mere mortals? :E don't remove the mystique snelly...

although i have just put my ankle in a cast so maybe i am :ouch:

i think the point that is being made overall is that it is a different kind of learning to what most will have experienced before. having done chemistry at uni, i had a (wrong) conception that i knew how to study. the college is a fast-moving place where an awful lot is crammed into whichever 3 month course it is. the last thing you want to do is get behind as it is awfully difficult to catch up from there. everyone has a different approach and indeed circumstances (weekends at home etc) but the core aspect of weekday study i would consider essential.

its probably a hell of a lot more than you learn in a lot of degrees in probably a quarter of the time. hopefully all you applicants will get to have this lovely experience :E

AJ,
So, "having done chemistry at uni", you declded to hop along to the College of knoweldge, -good idea!
You are correct when you say it is a fast-moving place. It's going at about 18.5 miles per second, - but then again, so is everywhere else :uhoh:

Whilst I know that a degree is by no means a requirement for NATS - nor should it be - personally I doubt I would have passed the selection process without it, simply because of how much I changed during my time at uni..

So I don't think it's fair to suggest that getting a degree then moving into ATC is a poor career choice which you are doing in your sarcasm zooker..

Apart from anything else, it's a very useful backup.

2 days after I add him/her/it to my ignore list, Zooker is (deliberately no doubt) causing trouble again.
Can't say I'm surprised.

Indeed - yawn.

Timelapse,
I said it was a good idea! -Now run along and take lots of pictures,-very quickly :}

smellysnelly,
If you have added me to your ignore list, why are you reading my posts? :E

Curiousity got the better of me and I removed you (from my ignore list) to read the inevitable drivel you were spouting.
I proved myself right and was once again disappointed with the level you once again dragged me to.
Enjoy listening in.

Smellysnelly, you've found out the most important aspect of the 'ignore' function; resist the temptation!

'All apllicants i would strongly suggest that you get at least one ATC visit in before your interviews.'


Have to say i agree that this is a good idea.
On the confirmation email for stage 3 it actually says, 'it is not neccessary for you to visit a unit before your interview.' however, one of the first questions in my ATC part of the interview was, 'what preparation have you done for today?' when they learned i hadnt visited a unit i had to explain myself.
Thankfully for me i had a reason why i was unable to visit and it didn't affect the interview but even though it states you dont have to visit a unit i would definately suggest you do so.
I actually think its a slight test to see 'how interested' you are in ATC.

During my interview I was asked some questions that were directly related to ATC situations. I´m curious about the pro´s take on one of them, not related to the interview but how one would handle the situation in real life.

"Two aircraft are approaching head on but on different FLs. The lower one requests a climb that would mean that it would cross the others FL. What would you primarily base your response on?"

I sometimes have a tendency to overanalyze things and therefore try to go with my first thought which in this case was to look at the distance between the aircraft since that wasn´t given in the question. I figured that if they are very far apart it´s safe to issue the climb, if they are too close I´d wait until they´d pass each other. How close is too close? I don´t know, I´m just a wannabe ATCO :)
They only wanted my short answer without an explanation so I don´t know what that question was looking for, could be whether I could think of something logical at all or just go blank.

Anyways, I can see that such a situation is farily complex (or perhaps not) even if one knows the distance and closure rate of the two aircraft. I´m assuming that a FL change is not done at the same rate as a normal climb since the pilots don´t want the transition into and out of the climb to be too abrupt, perhaps a sedate twist of the VS knob to give 500-1000 ft/minute? Since that is unknown to the ATCO in advance what do you base you decision on? A very large marginal of safety? First separate laterally, then climb?

Sorry if this is too OT.