My condolences as well, davecrawford1234, if only because you are going to have to share the course with me :}.

Regarding the Area/Areodrome debate, I have seen Tower/Appr/Teminal/Area controllers at work and I quite liked what the Terminal/Area guys were doing... but, then again, it's all a matter of taste (though being able to look out a window would definitely be nice).

Anyway, that helped me decide.... well, that and the fact that my "other half" did not declare Swanwick/Prestwick "absolute no go" areas ;).

Hey DaveCrawford,

Incase you never knew already, this is Andy from your Stage 3 (The Andy who had to wait forever for his results :rolleyes:)

Good news on your start date. I got in touch with the other Dave and sounds like he's on the same course as you.

I think I will need to get my Class 1 out the way before I get my start date, but I think I will get the same course if you 2 are on it. Area was my preference and it seems thats what they are looking for at the mo.

Well, keep yer fingers crossed for me on Monday :)

Andy

Hi Folks

My wife is doing her stage 1 test on Wednesday and i've got a few question whilst she does the kids.

When do you know where you will be based, and is this based upon your course performance? We have 3 young kids so a big deal for us.

She already has a class 1 medical and PPL(130hrs). She has worked in OPS albeit at the weekend and GA, and been to Newcastle,East Mids and Heathrow towers for visits. How much if any would this help her selection?

If succesful what is the approx monthly salary during training?

Regards Tonker

Tonker,

I'm in the same position with a wife and 3 young kids.

Salary during the college is £10,100 plus accomodation allowance, this works out at around 960 quid a month.

You do get asked for your preferences for postings about a month before finishing but these don't mean much. I wrote a 2 paragraph sob story on how I really needed to get posted to Edinburgh and I got posted to Aberdeen :ugh: Which has made my life interesting. I'm now needing to get my house sold and move my family 130 miles north. But I can't complain, the job is a fantastic opportunity and I did sign a form saying I was prepared to move anywhere, Aberdeen is at least in the right country :ok:

Wages whilst training at a unit are, believe it or not, actually less than what you are on at the college. You get a wage rise but lose the accomodation allowance. I'm currently on 930 quid per month and it should take around 9-12 months for me to validate.

Did my Stage 1 today
 

Well, thats that done then. Good luck to anyone who was at the London sessions today.

Think mine went OK, was frustrated I only managed to answer 32 questions on the sequencing paper mind. The motivation and error checking also seemed ok, and I answered all the questions on both bar the last 4 alphabet checking questions. I have some doubts about the cubes though. Managed to answer 34 from 40 but Im not confident about it. Just horrible with the later expanded cubes.

Anyway, I shall bed down for the 15 day wait. Thanks to everyone on here for the help with test papers etc. really a very good forum

...a quick question on the checking for Stage One for anyone whos done it.
Do the tests take the form of the SHL practise ones, where you have a set amount of time to answer each question (for example 9 seconds) before the question moves on, or do you have a set amount of time overall, for example 5 minutes in which to complete the full amount of questions?

anyone in London for stage one on the 28th?

Area or aerodrome descision before starting college?
 

So am I right in saying from the above posts that the descision is now made before you start college? Seems a shame that as thought that previously the descision was made on "skills shown" etc. as well as business need. I know preference was a minor consideration! Surely by learning a bit more about the two in the first few months at college you and your instructors got a better idea of where you would be suited for.

Now seems more of a first come first served lottery/ deli counter as described by Gonzo.

So can I check what happens following validation? Presumably once you are trained at your first post be it somewhere in aerodrome (e.g. Gatwick) or area (e.g. Swanwick) does it then become like any other job as it were and if a post comes up at Prestwick or Manchester say I could move there. Does the mobility clause only apply while training at your first unit?

Haven't seen many decisions at the college being taken on the basis of skills shown. It's more of a random lottery all round !

A pay rise ! ;)

In theory. But the timescale is not specified. Few years if lucky. And it's more likely that if you're after a particular location they'll send there someone who failed to validate elsewhere instead !

Big Daddy

Redhub,

The mobility clause applies throughout your career, not just your training... just look at all the people at MACC who should be moving to Prestwick. Business need always takes priority, but I'm sure you can certainly request a move if you want one, but might get something else instead!

Hey Whitelighter,

I was the guy in the suit with a blue tie. I loved the cube questions! Hilton coffee tastes the best doesn't it? Now, just the wait! :ok:

Hi Whitelighter & ASWFlyer,

If you guys sat the test in the afternoon, then you'll prob know me as
'the motorcycle jacket guy' :)

Were any of you 2 thrown off in the first diagramming test? Neither the commands nor patterns resemble anything like that of the examples given by NATS.

Thats prob the one I'm most afraid of as I only got to do about 34, Time really just flew away. However I did make sure I kept an eye on clock for the other tests.

[Note to anyone planning on sitting there S1 - dont expect any warnings when time is nearing end]

For anyone awaiting results
 

Had my stage 2 on the 8th Jan and as of yesterday morning I hadn't received my results.

Last Monday I rang HR and asked how long the results would take and was told it would be at least 15 working days. However, one of the guys who took the assessment on the same day had received his.

So yesterday under the premise of requesting an expenses claim form I gave HR a ring again and also mentioned my results. This time the lady was suprised and told me I should have received them within a few days and that I would receive an e-mail that afternoon.

Within 30 minutes I had received the results (positive I may add :)) and also a phone call to apologise. I was told that I was showing on their system as passing but just not been informed as an oversight!

any info on my last post anyone?! I want to know what to practise!!

Hi mate,

Check out Nokio's post on page #22. That was a lifesaver for me.
Also beaware that time will fly by, and the examiners wornt alert you when end time is near, so keep an eye on the clock (usually found hanging on the wall).

The questions are all from a glossly book that you're not allowed to write on or mark in anyway. Answers are written on a seperate sheet. (multiple choice to the point of 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e etc).

Also beaware (well in ourcase) we wernt allowed to use the scrap paper for the motiviation paper even thru this contained all the maths questions, all 3 of them :P

Hope this somewhat helps you

[EDIT] Also remember safety first! In an emergency fly to the nearest airport! Areoplanes like to take off in the wind.

thanks very much Ghost, I will bear it all in mind!

Ghost,

I was the AM session! A lot of people never turned up. The lady said they were expecting 120!! I got hung up on the cube questions, and although i found none of them were like the NATS sample questions, the first lot of questions i found reasonable to understand.

The time thing bit me a few times, on the Motivation paper especially. It would have been helpful to have known when 2 minutes was left. But hey ho! Just the wait now... hope we have done okay!

Nats Medical Requirements
 

Hello everyone.. Great stuff to hear from everyone. Now I have really got an issue with this medical requirements. I have a weak eyesight. Now the requirement says that applicants who has had laser eye surgery should be able to prove that their eye sight were within the limits of +/-5 dioptres. Now I have a eyesight of -9.00 dioptres in both eyes and have decided to undergo a laser eye surgery. After the surgery I can see properly and I will have a 20/20 vision. In this case will my application be withdrawn as this wont qualify me for class 1 medical certificate and would be unfit for TATCO. Are there any other procedures to follow or I should give up preparin for the interview. I contacted the HR on email and have not got any reply yet. So i think anyone would could help here. It will be great..
Thanks

Wow laser will get your vision from -9.00 to plano? Thats amazing mate. (btw I'm currently a dispensing optician :P)

And if theres one thing I have ever learnt from job selection days is keep track of your own time. Maybe not as important at Stage 1 since the only mark people are making on your name is your test results, but its good practice.

Chances are if you have a few interviewers watching over you when completing a group exercise, and one states "You have 10 minutes, in your own time", then you can quite possibly pull an advantage over your fellow applicants :ok:... Just make a subtle gesture such as checking your watch or a clock and noting down the time, or starting the timer on your watch. Don't get hung up on checking it every few seconds and screaming "4 minutes and 46 seconds remaining guys!!".. but just get the point across that you are not waiting on a prompt.

Some of my previous employers even expect you to finish the discussion on-time without intervention, and then tell you off because they told you that you had exactly x-minutes :ugh:

Andy

good luck to anyone doing stage 1 in manchester in the morning. see you there!

Advice for Resitting Nats Selection Test (Basic Checking)
 

Basically I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice for the NATS initial selection stage, particularly regarding the basic checking test.

I took the test last year and found that I failed on the basic checking, I'm getting really worried now that I'm going to end up making the same mistakes as last time. Last time round I went at the tests really fast and probably answered around 34 on each test ( no idea how many I got right or wrong). I have been doing loads of practice tests at home and have been going for accuracy over speed, answering about 30 out of 40 questions and usually not getting any wrong, occasionally 1 wrong. However, I have suddenly become overcome with paranoia and am worried that whilst I'm getting every question right (more or less) I'm not answering enough in the time limit. If anyone has passed the basic checking test do they remember how many questions they answered and whether they went for speed (getting a higher score) or accuracy ( not getting any wrong).
Help is really appreciated as I'm really loosing sleep over this now.

Thanks.

Hi,

I will point you in the direction of a post I made about a week ago on this subject:

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/265...ml#post4659379

Start Dates
 

Hi folks,
those of you who have been successful recently, when are they looking for you to start at college?

think last time it was mentioned on here, start dates were April then July, just wondered if anyone knows the latest?
shugs

I was scheduled to start Area training on May 5th, but requested to be held back to July for Aerodrome.

Hi,

Just wondered where you get all the material to practice the "basic checking" stuff.
I have been trawling the internet but cant find much.

cheers

Thanks for the advice Birdie




'Just wondered where you get all the material to practice the "basic checking" stuff.
I have been trawling the internet but cant find much.'

Speaking for myself I have just been making them myself, by the time I've made up one or two I have long forgotten the answers to the first ones.

shugs,

At my Stage 3 last week the interviewers were telling us that there were some changes going on at the college and therefore not to expect a start date before September, if not December. The plan was to put us in a holding pool and then we'd be given college dates when there were some available, although no-one knew how the hold pool would be organised.

However, when I got told I'd passed, Nikki at HR said she'd just assigned all those to the April/May courses and I'm currently on the list for July (although that's obviously subject to change) so I'm not quite sure what's going on!

I think if your Stage 3 is soon (which I think it is), you'll probably get offered July too. Hope that's what you were wanting!

Just doing some final reading of hints & tips here...
Got stage 1 this afternoon in Manchester...

any clues to what technical questions they asked you? got my stage 3 11th feb

thanks aewaite17 and angry_muppet.

paperclip810, that would be fine for me, July time. the sooner the better to be honest, cant wait to just get started, although still have this S3 to do :{, hopefully all will be well though. bit of a pain if i was told i would have to wait almost a year for a place, but suppose if that's what it takes...

how did you find your last interview, as relaxed as everyone else seems to find it? have done a few visits and read loads, and the ATC's I've met seem to think i have done enough, but cant get ahead of myself.

same boat glasgowgirl, trying to think about stuff they could ask, although from what i have heard, it is basically just to check you know all the basics, and apply them, not sure though.
shugs

done my stage 1 in manchester this morning. was with the group who done those dreaded cubes first. found them easy to begin with but the last few burnt my head out and i didn't finish them all so guessed the last few.

found the basic checking and diagram papers pretty easy although again was pressed for time but managed to answer them all.

the motivational paper was a dodle, would be confident to say I got 90% on that. if you read everything they send you it theres no reason for that paper to worry you.

now for the waiting game. :zzz:

there was no ATC present this morning which was a shame, and the video they show you is the one of the NATS website.

the nice man there did say the training process costs about £750,000 :eek:

Hi all, me again! Can anybody tell me what format the checking takes? Is it a sample number at the side and then find the corresponding number in the 5 examples
OR
a list of examples and you have to find the two that are the same...

Or both even!! :}
cheers
MH

Madhouserjd:
The first one.

I did my stage 1 at Manchester this afternoon.
I can say this: I HATE CUBES :)

The basic checking was okay, you just need to work quickly.

The diagramming was okay too once you got your head around it.

The motivation paper was do-able if you read the booklet they send. Although, there are some questions regarding D/S/T and distances between European cities which can throw you.

Fingers crossed. If I don't get through, I know it's those darned cubes that got to me!

those cubes done me over this mornin becki dont worry about it

probably see you next year :ugh: haha

shugs & glasgowgirl - check your PMs.

cheers ghost...again! :ok:

russel and becki:

Believe me everybody hates the cubes, is like the computer test on stage 2... everybody thinks they do bad.... im sure you have done well, good luck

ATC selection test
 

Hi, im 17 turning 18 in march. Does anyone know whether i can apply now?