The post aboves just reminded me to ask about visiting swanwick area centre, how long would a visit last roughly and also it is possible to get a visit to the college? it'd be nice to have a look round and maybe get a chance to have a talk with some current students there.

I was thinking of making my trip down to fareham for stage two even more productive by possibly arranging some visits for the day after or something.

thats exactly what I was thinking. When is your stage 2? I was meaning to phone them last week about it but never got round to it so will get it done this week.

roar00

as long as it takes. if you hate it 10 mins otherwise you can stay for aslong as you want till you get bored.

I pity those who work there, they're stuck with rather more than ten minutes of it! ;)

Hi everyone. Is anyone booked in for the PM slot selection tests at the London Hilton Hotel on the 18th?

Three days to go and i'm beginning to feel the pressure already. These forums are a godsend though, they have answered a lot of questions for me and have eased my nerves a great deal. I was told by a friend who is an ATCO that the worst thing you can do is panic when the tests begin, they key thing is to be patient and just answer everything to the best of your ability, rushing is a big mistake! I think for the next three days i'll be trying to recite the pre-learning material...

Lozzo... I am! :)

Me too. :)

SHL website being annoying
 

Hiya guys!
I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. I have using the SHL website to try the checking and maths tests as they recommended in the email when I booked my stage 1. It has been very useful, but I have been having problems with one, where it won't give me my final test scores 'due to a server problem'. Admittedly, it has been a few days since that happened, but as anyone can imagine, it's very annoying to do a test and get to the end to be solely told 'computer says no' :ugh: :mad:(I hate Little Britain, but it remains the only way to describe what the site does!).

So, has anyone done the tests and found the same problem, or do they know if the problem is sorted. Failing that, does anyone know a website that features similar tests I can try? If the website worked on a Mac computer, that would be even better!

My apologies if other people have asked-I imagine being a regular member on this thread sometimes must be like a regular case of deja vu.

bobbin,

Look here on page 109:

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/265...ml#post4691108

bobbin,

Your problem with SHL might have been their scheduled maintenance. I've just pulled this off the NATS recruitment site:

That would explain it-thank you Gingerpaul! :ok:

Gingerpaul-woah, thank you kindly! I must have missed that.
In case anyone else wants to see the links without skipping back, here they are:

I've just run through a few practices and they're still not giving answers.

anyone else got there stage 2 on the 27th March?

Not me, had mine last Fri (13th)... and now we wait again...

ZOOKER,

I don't know if you've noticed but I think there's something wrong with your keyboard. All your posts seem to be in funny colours and sizes. :p

Hi all, booked in for my stage 1 tomorrow (AM). Big thanks to all contributors, the info in here has been really useful :ok: Just wanted to double check - is there anything essential to bring other than a form of ID, i.e. calculator or anything like that? Best of luck to everyone else applying.

Hi Medgar,

Best of luck for tomorrow! You can't use a calculator in the tests so don't worry about taking one with you.

Go in with an open mind and just relax...they're multiple choice so you won't have to explain anything (just yet!) and so long as you've learnt your stuff, you'll be fine.

You can PM me if you have any other questions if you like...I'm online for a bit.

Cjayne

questionnaire
 

Just been invited to complete the personality questionnaire following stage 1, but after all the posts about it im nervous to do it!
Except being yourself of course, any advice??

Try to be in a quiet place where you can concentrate Emilie - not too many disturbances. Answer honestly with what you feel, not what you think they want to hear and you'll be fine.

Good luck!

thanks for the advice CJayne, ive just completed it and did my best to answer as honestly as possible. What i found difficult was that on some of the questions there was no answer "most like me", or a few answers that were like me, and none "least like me" and vice versa.......anyone find that too??
Im really worried cos i answered as best i could and didnt try to choose the answer i thought NATS would want, i just hope i get through!

emiliemarsden_24, I had exactly the same problem. Then I'd usually ponder it and think what a friend would choose if choosing for me in that case or what my first thought was. It's not a perfect test but if you were honest and consistent you will be ok. Good luck.

Stage 3
 

Anybody out there going for there stage 3 @ Glasgow on the 30th March?

Gordon

ZOOKER,

The question is will my newfound powers of observation and perception actually be relevant to what Air Traffic Controllers actually do? :ok:

To anyone in London this afternoon doing their Stage 1,

I'll see you later. Fingers crossed for some easy cubes. :}

See you later gingerpaul, I'm sure it'll all be fine! :ok:

has anyone got there results from stage 1 on the 10th of march
im now bitting down to the knuckles

Just found you guys on Monday evening - many thanks to all the contributors, it's been such a great help with preparations! All the best for this afternoon....

...NATS here the Dappa Don comes .... :ok:

Mach Number
 

I've got a quick question about the Mach number? I am currently studying for stage 3 and I am just trying to get it into my head.

1) Why is the mach number used over the ocean for transatlantic flights?
2) What are the advantages of using it? As I hear it is far more accurate.

Gordon

Hi
 

I was wondering... i jus got a sample data checking practice test off this forum and it says on the top of it

"Answer as many of these questions as you can in 15 minutes"

how many do you have to get right or what happens if you dont get through it in the 15 mins?????????????

Oh yea and about that test... is it on the computer or printed????? cuz i find it easier when i print it and do it by hand:O:O:O:O

Stage 3 Glasgow
 

Hi Gordon

I'll be there in Glasgow on the 30th! How's the preparation going?

Stage 3 Glasgow
 

Sauce ball,

It's going ok but I'm starting to become aware that it's a week on Monday and I'm getting quite nervous. Yourself?

Gordon

Multiple replies again so look for your name....

Abz217: No-one seems to know what the 'pass' rate is or if you're marked for how many you got right out of the number you answered (accuracy), or how many you answered and how many you got right (accuracy and speed). This thread has much speculation on this matter - my best advice would be to answer as many as you can correctly and hope you pass... Tests are all done on paper with a question booklet and a separate multiple choice answer sheet to be filled in.

Gogz87: I got a chance to visit Oceanic Control at Prestwick when I went for my visit so hopefully this makes sense! I can't believe Mach number is 'more accurate' than any other unit of velocity since they are all related (and can be interconverted). However, it's easier to sort out the spacing of aircraft over the ocean when using Mach number: the minimum longitudinal separation for aircraft on the same track is 10 minutes flying time. If two aircraft are going at exactly the same speed, if aircraft 1 enters the track system at 1410 and aircraft 2 enters at 1420, everything will be fine for the duration of transit across the ocean.

However, if the speeds are different, you need to be able to calculate what gap needs to be in place at the start of the journey to ensure there is still at least 10 minutes between the aircraft at the end. You do this as follows (I've stolen this from a good page on the internet about Shanwick/Gander operations - Gander / Shanwick Oceanic - IVAO):

Slow followed by fast: Add 1 minute to the standard for every increase of 0.01 Mach number of the second aircraft.
Example: M0.80 followed by M0.84 requires FOURTEEN minutes at ocean entry same track same level.

Fast followed by slow. Subtract 1 minute from the standard for every decrease of 0.02 Mach number of the second aircraft. The minimum is 5 minutes at Oceanic entry.
Example: M0.84 followed by M0.80 requires a minimum of EIGHT minutes separation at ocean entry same track same level.

Hope this answers your question...

Well, that's stage 1 done! Didn't seem to go too badly, now the annoying wait for results!

Someone had to leave for not having any ID, hope that wasn't you gingerpaul! So something for others to remember there!

All in all I thought it was a little disorganised to be honest. ATCO started chatting a bit early and we didn't get to see the video at all (not that I was too bothered).

I got through 35/40 on the numbers checking and all 40 of the letters, 33/40 on the cubes and 47/50 on the diagramming, hopefully all ok! The motivation paper was ok - although wish I'd revised speed-distance-time more...

Is stage 3 now all being done at Swanwick?

JonathanB,

I had my driving license so it wasn't me. I didn't even notice anyone had been asked to leave. I was too busy chatting to everyone. I was surprised how many people hadn't properly revised the various tests though. Most people didn't even know what tests we were doing, despite the NATS practice test being available! Oh well...

I got into the low 30s on both numbers and letters and missed at least 10 diagramming questions out. However, I think I aced the motivation paper and finished the cubes. The guy next to me and I compared answers after each exam had finished and we got the same answers for most of the aptitude stuff so at least one person thought roughly the same as me!

Like you say, it's now a waiting game. At least I might get to enjoy a bit of the recent sun now! :cool:

I also meant to add that I asked whether the tests are negatively marked and the guy said no, which surprised me considering the career path we are in the process of being selected for.

I must have been in the same group as you two, gingerpaul and Jonathon. Yeah I noticed a few people didn't have a clue what to expect from these tests and a couple of the people I were speaking to really didn't read the pre-learning stuff properly! I'm surprised how many of the motivation paper tests were nothing to do with the pre-learning though, a lot of em were about common sense and mathematics.

Wow Jonathon, that's quite a lot of questions you managed to get through. On the checking, everyone in the front two tables didn't get past early 30s from what I heard and saw, so good going! I especially didn't get as far as I would have liked to in the diagramming questions, but I tried to just make sure every question was 100% correct and I wasn't rushing.

Also yeah, I was a bit annoyed we didn't get to watch the video. Also, what happened to the stage 1 personality questionnaire? I'm pretty sure the .pdf leaflet NATS e-mailed mentioned it.
Good luck to both of you on the results!