Hi, Kimberley
iam also new here just like you.. I have booked my test in july .. iguess you have already taken your test by now. how was it.. how did you prepare for the spatiality tests , i am actually having trouble in this preparation , if you could provide with any link to that , i wud highly appreciate it..

I wish good luck to you and hope to see you in ATC

Hello, Ricky
I am glad you have provide dso much detail, itis really helpful thanks
I jsut need a little help as far as diagrammtic tests are concerned , i am having problem in preparing them, is there any website from where i can get some practice , i am in Canada , so can guess how important it is for me, i will travellung all the way to UK to take this tests.. i still hev 3 weeks so if any body cud help me that wud b great

Thanks

Hey , Smiley
I also have stage 1 on july 14 , wil see u there ,.. i also hav the same issue about diagrammtic practice tests can you cum on msn so we can help each other in preparing , iam in Canada u can reply on my hotmail??
THis could help us both..

Imran, there are some links early on in this thread... seriously, go back and find them (they've been reposted several times) rather than keep asking!

Hey guys and gals,

I admit I already asked this question before but found no answer here, before or after that, so I'll give it another (last) try :)

I took the FEAST test three years ago and passed it. Before the test we were told that once you pass it, your result is final and you cannot do it again as you would have an advantage over first-time applicants.

Hence the question -- do my three-year-old results count or shall I do the test again?

Called HR and got the answer I expected - even those who fail Stage 3 later on and go for a second attempt the next year do the FEAST again, therefore, I will do it again, too. So far so good. However, the HR lady said she would check with her bosses and call me back (only) if anything was different. To cut a long story short, she did call about an hour later when I could not answer the phone and when I called back the answering machine told me everybody had gone home already. Sure, I can call again tomorrow, but I'd feel a bit like an idiot. :(

Sorry for reposting the question and thanks for your opinions.

Pavlina


P.S. In Eurocontrol thread I found the following sentence, which obviously applies for Maastricht but still... "If your score for Feast is above a certain mark you do not need to take the Feast tests again. You start at stage 2."

Hi Imran,

no I havent had my tests yet, I am also very worried :uhoh: I havent seen anything online to do with those tests but in the email that you get sent they provide you with a link where you can download things such as the cube etc to practice. How are you getting on with the booklet they ask you to learn?

Hey Guys,

I know this question is asked all the time throughout this site so I apologise in advance but im getting confused as to whether things have changed or not in the last few years and some of the answers are a few years old so was hoping for an up to date answer so here goes.....can someone who has recently completed stage one list the actual tests that you do in stage one and tell me a little bit about each one if its not too much trouble just so I get a better idea and understanding of how to prepare etc thankyou Kimberley :)

In response to the 'newbies' in this thread having just embarked upon the application/selection process, can I (like the others!!) strongly recommend that you read the thread in its entirety!? :cool:

Call me old fashioned, but when I began the selection process, I read all 100 odd pages of this entire thread and then had no questions to ask others! Funny that! :rolleyes::hmm:
Theres a wealth of info on this thread, anything referring to stage 1 is of high relevance as that stage of selection has not changed recently, whereas stage 2 and 3 have.

Surely it is indicative of motivation and interest/enthusiasm to read the whole thread and find out loads of things like what others find the hardest, detailed accounts some contributers have given and intermittent advice on what the stage 1 tests include.
Not meaning to have a go, but it is pure laziness to simply ask questions without putting in the effort to see if the questions have been answered previously.

To all those with stage 1s soon, I promise you, if you can be bothered to read this thread you'll find everything you need, and if not use the search function, or PM others on here, (most people reply, although some members seem to ignore their Inbox's for some strange reason! :confused:).

Oh, rant over! :cool:

T250,
yes it is wise to read the majority of the threads which I HAVE DONE but if you re read my thread then you will see that I was clearly asking for an up dated version of what happens in stage one as some of these threads go back a couple of years and I was worried that things may have changed ok!!!

Rant Over

Stage 1
 

Kimberly653: Stage 1, as far as I'm aware consists of the following:


- Basic checking [finding a matching string of numbers/letters among five such strings and choosing the two that match, e.g. see below...]

a) ABCDE b) ABDCE c) ACDEB d) ABDCE e) ACDBE

[Obviously you'd choose 'B' and 'D']


- Diagramming [following sets of instructions to rearrange the order of symbols. The '.pdf' NATS should have sent you will contain examples of this.]


- Spatial Reasoning [The old cubes. Looking at a net and choosing the correct cube which could be constructed by using the given net. Again, see the '.pdf' for examples.]


- Motivational Paper [Multiple choice, based on the Word document NATS should have sent you. Nothing too major, but best to learn it properly. It is called a motivational paper after all!] :ok:


There may be a very brief personality thing, but don't quote me on that. Sometimes they have it, and sometimes they don't. Also they used to have an ATCO there on the day to give a brief talk and to answer any questions. They may have done away with that, but again, I'm not entirely sure.


I will reiterate what has been mentioned previously in terms of reading the ENTIRE thread to become thoroughly informed of the selection process.


Best of luck!

Hello ILS RWY27L,

Just want to say thanks for your last post (and to everyone else who takes the time to post in order to help us wannabe ATC's). I have been through the thread and got all the answers I need. I think as the thread is getting bigger it might be an idea as people complete a stage to summarise what happend. For example, my stage 1 date is 24th July, I will be sure to let people know what happend during my day to give an up to date explanation of that stage. From my understanding of the thread it seem's the thread does get a little confusing as NATS have changed their process here and their, nevertheless, not an excuse to be lazy and not read through it.
The only things I am worried about regarding is stage 1 are the Diagramming and Spatial Reasoning. I have searched the internet to find suitable training material but can't seem to find anything. Does anyone have any reccomendations? or as my friend suggested, invest in a DS Lite and Brain Training game... he wasn't joking and it's got me wandering wether too or not... what do you guys think?

K4S

:)

Hi Kimberley
the link which Nats has sent me has only one example of each aptitude testE.g 1 for matching Numbers & figures, 1 for diagrammatic and 1 for cubes , this does not provide anything to practice and more over this 1 example is literaly confusing not enough details as to how to do it.. as far as ATCsection is concerned i am going through ti every day and marking the details whci are important , as I had ATC experience of 13 years in my homeconuntry when i moved to Canada in 2002 so i have fairly good idea what ATC is and what is required of an ATCO .. you can contact me on my email imranhasan65 on either yahoo, hotmail or gmail so i can give you more details .. I am arriving at London on July 12th .. so we can still hav a day before test if you wish..
Kepp in touch

stage 1
 

Hi Kimberley

It sounds to me like your going about things the right way, reading the thread and then asking questions to ensure all the info is up to date, this forum is usually very friendly so I don't know what's been going on with the responses to you, as I've said before, good luck with the S1.

T250 you seem to always have something negative to say, what stage are you at? It would be interesting to know as you seem to say a lot but add nothing!

This thread is probably too big, but then there is a lot of information of value in it. Im with T250 on this one, a lot of people post the same question expecting an immediate answer... when in the vast majority of cases the answer is within the thread quite a few times, and quite often within the last 10/20 pages.

By all means ask the questions, but be prepared to do research too. I suspect the majority of people do actually read the thread from start to end, I can appreciate how long that can take. Think the thread was on page 8 when I started selection...

Anyway, good luck to all applying, the job makes the effort worthwhile :ok:

To all Stage 1'ers
 

I agree with the "others" on here to read all the pages, it is worth it. With regards to cube tests, i couldnt find many either, there are a few diagramming tests around. However i felt that getting the brain working on ANY spatial awareness tests will help, the more you do the more your brain will get the idea of what is expected.
Imrankhan - I hate to be negative but i felt that the diagramming tests are explained really well and relatively easy to do if you follow the instructions given and take each box and its "function" symbol 1 at a time.
Please click on my username and look at all my posts, you will find one labelled Stage 1 this has a link to ALL the material i could find and you can download more tests, MP3's of the NATS material and many other useful bits (well i think so anyway)
Good luck to all

Moravcik25
I do sincerely apologise if what I said is construed by yourself to be so, although I'm sure many of those who frequent this thread feel the same as myself, in fact I know they do. :cool:
I was merely trying to point out what I would have thought its obvious when looking at this thread that its common sense to read what is already written before barging in with questions which are likely to simply be repeated in a few weeks! :ugh:

Kimberley653
Oh dear, are you sure that you've read this whole thread?? If you had surely you would have seen through your 'reading' that a few pages back, the member 'workman01' stated that yes, stage 1 has changed, and he wrote what had changed!! :ugh: I even asked him myself to go into more detail!
Or did you miss that part? Is so, let me quote it for you, just to illustrate my point! :hmm:

Page 172 of this thread (workman01)
So yes, the process does change, but even so, its all on this thread, you just need to look for it, obviously you hadn't! :\

Thanks for all the kind PMs and emails guys, I wasn't looking for any thanks from any of you. I'm still more than happy to answer any questions and help out. (Tip....read the whole thread! It gets you used to reading MATS Pt1.)

A bit of a shame that Recruitment didn't actually say 'thank you' for the past few years, but never mind, eh? :}

S2 practice tests
 

Can anyone kindly jot down a list of websites which have helpful stage2-lookalike tests? I know there are a few international air traffic services websites which offer free similar tests, but only succeeded at finding a couple (one of which is NATS). Test coming up on Monday!

Thanks a lot!
Nick

Ok, I've just spent 15 mins or so having a quick look back at this thread and have found the post with various practice tests in it.

HERE

You're the man!

I must have missed that one thread :8 Thanks pal

Guys, I have my stage 1 on monday!
Scary stuff. I am getting quite nervous now, the thought of tests which you cant prepare for is daunting! I have memorised the booklet in 2 days since my last A Level exam was on wednesday and its lodged in my head now. I must have read it a good amount of times!

I know this may sound odd, but I have not had the chance to put my academic achievements anywhere yet, alongside any other more in depth information. I have read that you get a more searching one, is that still the case?

I have just done that ATC quiz from another website for personality and it said I would be an "excellent" fit according to the 20 questions! Bit of an ego boost before Monday anyway, because Ill need plenty!

1mag1n3
 

1mag1n3: please check your PM box.

1mag1n3
 

Don't get too hung up on academia, the academic requirements for NATS are pretty standard. I found that knowledge was only a small part of stage 1, things like spacial awareness and diagramming are things you can either do or you can't. This was even more true of Stage 2 where no knowledge was required, it was purely a test of cognitative ability. Some people can do the stuff, some people can't.

What was the stat on here before? 90% of applicants fail stage 1?

To answer your question NATS will ask you for more comprehensive personal information if successful @ Stage 1.

interview
 

what do you think guys, for that question "why do you want to work (for nats) in England" mentioning as one reason that you (the interviewed person) could not see insured the your and your prospective family's future at your homecountry is a "good" idea or not? if i'll be on the interview i would not want to use it like a pitiable thing, but that's a true thing. or rather it's just one of those why i'd like to work and live there.

CAA Medical
 

Howdy

Another poo question im afraid. I know NATS pay for the CAA medical but do they also pay for your travel expenses or is that coming out of the old back burner?! Am i right in saying that it takes about 1.5 hours?!

Cheers dudes

happy.paul,

Indeed - CAA Medical takes about 1.5 hours although depends on how busy they are and if you pass everything first time.

NATS should pay for your travel expenses as this is part of your training/job requirements. If you can't/won't go to Aviation House before you start at the college, NATS send you for your medical while you're there, so you should be fine. Best call HR to double check though!

S3 July 6th
 

Hi, have any of you guys got your Stage 3 interview on July 6th?

stage 1 test
 

hi
yes i spoke with HR on Friday and the lady was very helpful , she told to go to SHL site and click on testing , there you will find all the tests with examples and practice for allspatial testing that NATS is asking for .. try it it is good, i started today on SHL, but there website was down toady so will hav to start tomorrow again.best of luck.

Hey guys, just got back from Stage 1.

Quite a tiring affair I have to say. Quite a strange format compared to whats been said on here before.

First, we had the motivation paper, followed by the cubes. A short break was then followed by the diagramming test and then a maths paper.

The lady then gave us a personality questionnaire, however said this was not going to be assessed and is only being used for the use of NATS data collection. It was 98 questions, and I was last to finish, and last to leave. I took my time seeing if it did count to passing or failing then I gave it an honest and good shot!

Was simply a few hours of tests and nothing else. Like being sat in an exam in college:p

No presentations, or time to ask any questions to any ATCOs. Shame really...

I am not too confident about my performance, so I think it could go either way with regard to getting through or not. Ill wait and see anyway.

1mag1n3
 

which part of the test caused that you think this? i hope that you'll be fine. how was the diagrammatic test? that's the only thing i'm worried about on stage 1 and 2.

Stage 3 results
 

So I had my Stage 3 a little under two weeks ago and am yet to hear anything. I thought I would have heard by now, but has anyone else waited this long and been given the green light?

I am working on the assumption that no news is bad news in this case :{

'whitelighter': Give HR a call. That's quite a long time they've kept you waiting, I have to admit.


'1mag1n3': You mentioned you did a mathematics paper? Sounds like they might have brought that back in then. Back in 2006 it was 4 tests in total; Spatial Reasoning, Diagramming, Basic Checking and Basic Arithmetic. In addition there was the Motivational Paper and the (then) 240 question paper-based OPQ.

Although things change a lot these days it seems. I wouldn't be surprised if they alternate the Basic Arithmetic test with the Basic Checking test.

Best advice is to cover all bases by doing thorough preparation in all areas! :ok:

Hmm, I think its probably the enevitable no thanks but I will leave it until Thursday and if nothing heard give them a buzz on Friday. I think they still say up to 15 working days to find out, but I think passes usally find out quicker than this.

Its a bugger, but I will try again next year for sure...

Looking back, I suppose I didnt do too badly, but I just dont feel that I will make the high grade.

The maths was just basic S.D.T and height problems. Although I have just finished the further maths A Level, this is totally different! Mental arithmetic is tough under pressure.

To give you an idea of how I did;

Motivation- I answered all of them with about 2 or 3 guesses.
Cubes- I answered 29/40 confidently without guessing the last lot. I think I answered 31, but not to confident for those last 2.
Diagramming- I answered quite a lot, as I worked quick but I cant remember the time given and the exact number I answered. I think about 40 out of the 50 given.
Maths- 20 questions, I answered 17 confidently, with the last 3 being educated guesses.

Personality- Who knows?

I sure hope I do pass, it would be a hellish feeling to get onto stage 2!

'whitelighter': Don't be so sure! If I were in your boat I'd be holding out the maximum amount of hope possible! :ok:

Best of luck!

Hi guys,
2/3 years since i last applying for ATC, but i am going to my stage 1 next month, getting some prep done at the moment.
Has much changed since 2007?
Last time, i got to do a questionaire online, but i wished i had done it in the middle of the day rather then just after getting up from a night shift :ugh: lesson learnt.

Anyway, any help would be very greatful to get my though stage 1 again this time.

Many thanks,
Stuart

Whitelighter,

I waited the 15 working days and then still had to wait an extra weekend and a day for my stage 3 results, and the news was good - as the saying goes no news is good news! (Sometimes!)

I get the impression it's a pretty small dept at HR that deal with a whole shed load of applications, sometimes things do get held up. Good luck! :ok:

Hello
I hav my stage 1 in mid July, I hav also learned the Atc leaflet which Nats has provided but cant find anything to do practice on cubes and diagraammtic , can please forward the other website where u did yr atc test, so atleast i can be comfortable on that side, i will appreciate this.
thanks

Imran if you look back through this thread or use the 'novelty' search feature you'll find what you seek. Show some initiative!

ImranKhan, Everything you need for stage 1, NATS send to you. I don't know why you need 9 posts asking the same thing, if you read the thread you will find the answer to your post is only on the last page, post #3603.