Hey all. Just been offered the Trainee ATC job at NATS! Bit of a dream of mine. Also wanted to enquire what people did about accomodation in Gloucester. I noticed that Global ATS offer accomodation in Cheltenham and was wondering if many of the trainees take them up on that?

Hi guys, i just wanted to ask, if successful can we choose whether we want to be tower, approach or area controllers? Thanks

Unfortunately it is business need, but the college you’re sent to will determine what training you receive. If you have a preference towards tower, train at Gloucester. If you prefer approach or area, train at Whiteley.

Also, applications close this weekend - definitely recommend applying if anyone is considering it!

Will it be possible to negotiate the college? My preference is to be tower, so Gloucester seems to be the right fit for me.

There’s a bit of wiggle room, I was asked my preference between locations when I got my offer. Just be aware that it depends on the location’s capacity and start date availability too. :)

Amazing. I’ve got my assessment day next month so fingers crossed if successful I’ll try for Gloucester 🤞

How do you know they're closing this weekend? I can't reapply until 22nd June, if this is the case I am absolutely gutted...

If you take a look on their social media, applications are set to close Sunday at 10pm. I’m sure they’ll open again later this year as this has been a really short window for it.

Wow, that's insanely short, I swear it was open longer last year. I suppose I'll have to wait for the next round. Shame about the 12-month reapplication rule, I was 40 days short.

Be proactive and contact them if you find out that you're successful; give a decent reason for the geographic training preference beyond "towers are great" and you'll hopefully be in with a good chance of getting what you want.

Stage 1 assessment
 

Hi guys, I did my stage 1 assessment for NATS TATC on Friday and have yet to hear results. Anyone in the same boat or if it just means I was unsuccessful? I can take the heat so comment anything good/bad on what to expect if anything.

Hi, I have my stage 3 assessment centre on Thursday, does anyone have any last minute tips? Mainly for the interview and group discussion.

I saw on reddit that they have paused stage 3 assessments until September/October so maybe they have also paused stage 2 assessments? I got the invitation for stage 2 about 5 mins after stage 1 when I completed it 2 weeks ago, so I'm sure if you had failed they would have told you immediately.

I have mine the following week, would appreciate some tips after you attend yours. Best of luck!

Sure, good luck to you too!

Booked my Stage 3 a bit ago, got it next week. Best of luck to everyone else in this recruitment wave!

Stage 2
 

I passed stage 1, found out about 5 days later. I completed stage 2 on Saturday and was expecting to hear something this morning. The majority seem to get results seconds after but I seem to get mine days after. Anyone also in the same boat? How long before you heard your stage 2 results?

Commute
 

Hi all,

I am lucky enough to have been offered a place with NATS and subject to medical and security clearance will hopefully be starting college in September.

If I am sent to Gloucester I will have to rent a room.

However, I live around 1h20m from Whiteley. Does anyone with experience of the course think this would be a doable commute factoring in the amount of study required etc?

Not having to shell out for a room in the week would make my home situation a lot easier, with a mortgage to cover.

Thanks in advance!

I would strongly advise you to rent a room nearby.

When I did my course at CTC 9 years ago, I rented a room in Southampton initially and I had no car. My door-to-door commute was at least 1h if the trains were on time - big if. I hated how much time I wasted on it daily.

I had no aviation background and the volume of theory that needed to be absorbed in a short amount of time was high (the basic course is about 3 months long including the exams). I nearly failed my basic course. What did save me though was putting in a lot of extra hours in the evenings and at the weekends with my colleagues (btw, nobody else I know lived further than 30 minutes by car).

For the next two courses I lived in Whiteley within walking distance from CTC, sharing with other trainees and it made a massive difference.

Don't underestimate the training, especially after you've made it so far already.

To be honest it depends on you. I get what rocketscientist is saying, i personally wouldn’t have been able to keep up with book work if I was doing an hour plus commute every day. Saying that, there was a few on my course and plenty on courses around me who did significant commutes.

Course is 8-4 and it leaves pretty much no time for actually studying what you learn so that is all done in your own time. If you know that you are disciplined enough to still put in the extra hours, commuting is possible. If not it’s worth getting a room closer to CTC. The money you spend on rent for 12-18 months in whitely will be paid back to you 100x over if you end up validating.

Hi! Congratulations for your success! How long it took NATS to get back to you? I am still refreshing my email following the last week interview…just want to end this, the waiting time is so painful :(

Thanks for the view points from both of you. I'll need to work out a budget but fuel would be £200+ a month to commute, so it may well be worth the few hundred more to stay nearby even if it is a struggle financially.

I had my assessment on the 23rd May and received a phone call on the 3rd June with the positive result. Reading back through this thread the waiting time seems variable so I wouldn't read into it too much.

Hey McBoo, congrats on getting the role!

Can I ask how you felt after your assessment day? Were you confident you'd passed or was it something of a pleasant surprise?

I've done my assessment day in the past couple of weeks and I'm finding it hard to gauge how I did

It's hard to say really, I thought I had messed up one of the online test resists but clearly not enough to be an issue. I was fairly sure this would have put me out of the running but was pleasantly surprised.

The interview and group discussion were as I expected and I felt they went pretty well.

When to hear back/ how to hear back
 

I sat my interview last week and haven't heard anything yet. I asked during the interview how long to expect and they said 10 days, I wanted to ask if anyone has had to wait longer than that?

I also asked how I should expect to hear back and they said via email, but from what I've read on this thread a lot of people have had phone calls? Maybe they send an email and then phone you after?

Hi - congratulations n getting thru stage 3
I have still not had mine if u dont mind me asking what is the group interview based around im scared tht it might be based on a topic. have zero knowledge off n then i might not end up talking much also when it comes to the interview is it assessed by 2 interviewers or one? n whats sort of q do they tend to ask are they related to ATC directly or is it more like "tell us about a time when u faced a challenge and how did u overcome it"?

Good luck with stage 3. They are clear at the start of the day that we were not to give out any details of the actual content of the assessment day - so that everyone has a fair and equal chance. Have a read through this thread for general info and everything you need to know in advance is in the assessment day invite.

Hey Afternoon,

I have made it through also, one of the key things they say in the session is to not post anything regarding the specifics of what happens in the assessment days, this is a very competitive role, so they want everyone on an even playing field. With that being said just be yourself and follow the instructions given to you during the sessions.

Good Luck, wish you all the best!

Hi everyone,

I am scheduled to start my training at Whiteley on 15th September. At the moment I don't know anyone else on my course. Just reaching out here to see if anyone else is also starting at the same time and would potentially be interested in looking for accommodation options together, as I've heard it's a popular option for trainees and can really help with studying for exams and general morale! Thanks :)

Is anyone waiting for the september/october slots to be released?

Laptop?
 

For the college training will I need a laptop to access course materials/study?

Mine is ancient and will need replacing if so.

No, you'll be given a work laptop on your first day. Stationery and everything will all be provided too. All you really need to supply is a bag to put it all in!

Hello everyone,

I am lucky enough to say that I’ve made it past stage 3 assessment for the TATC role with NATS! Looking forward to meet the new colleagues and work together on this great opportunity.

Is there a whatsapp group chat or any group for discussion? If not let me know how many of us are and I can set something up!

At the same time I’ll have my Class 3 Medical in September, which I am quite relaxed about as I am in a very good medical condition. Does anyone know what is the time between the medical check and the start date?

Also forgot to ask, is there a possibility that I can choose whether to train at Gloucester or Swanwick? It would be ideal for if I could become an Aerodrome or Approach Controller.

Thank you very much and best of luck to future candidates!

I would suggest you correct your grammar before you start your course. Using abbreviations such as 'u' or 'n' instead of 'you' or 'and' is unnacceptable in the ATC world.

Being a grumpy old man who focuses on the wrong stuff is also pretty unacceptable in the modern ATC world. Using abbreviations while texting on a phone/iPad etc doesn't matter. I honestly couldn't care less about someone's grammar, it's not like there is any verbatim learning at the college anymore or any need for an ATCO to write essays.

One "n" in unacceptable.

Hi, apologies for my late reply to this but wanted to pitch in. Currently training and I know a couple of commuters roughly the same time as you one way. Some stay down here in hotels, others do the drive daily and both manage fine. I'd also suggest renting a room if you can to save yourself the stress, as the workload gets intense pretty quickly. Just can be a bit taxing to do the commute.

Any WhatsApp Groups
 

Hello everyone!

Recently found out I passed stage 3 and was wondering if there are any WhatsApp groups for those in training/waiting to start. Thanks!