Hey, one question. Did you two apply for Eurocontrol?
Because both of you are too old for EC.

eurocontrol. you are allowed to apply if you are under 32 and over 20.

But not as an air traffic controller. You are not allowed to be older than 24 years of age on first october,2014.

Want to become a student air traffic controller? If so, you must:
not yet be 25 years of age on 1 October 2014;

The tests we are going to take (feast test), are from eurocontrol Isn't it possible that cyprus has different age criteria than other countries? The age range is the one I mentioned. for instance, i read in this forum that 18yearolds are allowed to apply. we are not. You have to be over 20 and have a university diploma.

Sorry, maybe that was a missunderstanding, but i thought you meant eurocontrol as an ansp and not a test of eurocontrol.

Every ATC schools have their own rules.
In ukraine we don't have age restrictions, but we're part of Eurocontrol!
Going to have FEAST I 23 january.

I finally got a reply from Eurocontrol, and the good thing is that they said that they have processed my application and they have sent me the form for the optician to fill out. On the other hand how ever they said that their next selection tests are in 2013, which is literally a year away! And that is such a long wait!
Well now I will have to see if I pass the opticians test, one thing I am thinking is if they will even tell us if we passed that or not??

this test is only a basic test. so if you are able to see something,you will pass the test. i wasn't able to fill out everything and they said it's not a problem.

i don't know if you know it,but if you pass the interview,you have to pass a medical and there you will be finally tested.


but as you said, one year is a very long time. and the next course starts in 2014,so from now,it's 2 years.

Hey guys. Who had FEAST test at eurocontrol, tell me please, which preparation tool is most effective, feasttest.com or skytest?
Just got information, that feasttest is almost similar as at eurocontrol, is that true?

look at this and forget your training tools.

Hello. First of all I'd like to thank you guys for the thread. Was a nice "book" to read. Second, while preparing is not encouraged to be used, I do think it's normal for a human being to know what's he's facing and wanting to give his best.

I don't know how ATC are in Maastricht, but I know a few here that aren't born with what EUROCONTROL wants them to be born. They developed the knowledge step by step.
I took a preparation test from the Internet ( payed for it, don't hate because it's my money ) just to see how it is and it's about how we see ourselves. If I rock this test( which is easier in some parts, but harder in others - like you have 15 secs to do the cube compared to 40 secs at original FEAST ), I will be more confident in myself. That doesn't mean I don't have what it takes, because usually tests are harder than the actual job/thing/etc. That's just my opinion.

Anyway what I really wanted to ask is if the FEAST wants to see our logic and response speed or if we can take a problem to the end.
Let me give you an example, and I will take my beloved cubes.
40 seconds for 1 cube, if you finish 3/4 of them all in 20 seconds each compared to finishing 4/4 ( all ) in 39 seconds each. Which one is better?

Don't get me wrong, I like planes, wanted to be a pilot ( but decided not to ) and my aunt is an ATC for 15 years and I like what she's doing ( actually helping people ), so after rocking the psychology exam ( according to them ) and after having my ego fed with a lot of "you're smart" stuff, I won't let a silly test and some cubes tell me I'm stupid, because I'm not. I don't need much practice, all I want is more information about the test so I can make a battle plan.

I'm sorry if what I say is not much help to others, just been reading this for quite a while and thought I'd say my story :)
Good luck to all want-to-become ATC-ers and thx for the info.

Steve.

the more you train for feast, the higher are the chances to lose the training.

How long does the first part take to pass it? I mean, explanation, training(if exist) and the test...?1,2,3 hr?

around 2 hours

thx paraskevoulla,good luck with the test

Well I did take into consideration all your warnings and I won't prepare for it. Instead, I'm going to work my brain a bit with those cubes. Going into practice mode and I'm going to strive to get 100% (got 80% max once, was so happy). There shouldn't be anything wrong with doing so vision exercises to stimulate my neurons :)

On-topic: In my opinion, the most important thing you should have is the confidence in yourself. If you go to FEAST with thoughts like : "my parents will be so mad if I fail", "my whole life depends on this test", you are 90% sure to fail. Like someone said on this thread, he started bad, but then chilled, found his happy place and managed to go through with it. I'm going to try to do the same.

I don't know if that is such a good idea because you have a training phase. i think they want to see how fast you can learn new things and how much you can better yourself.

i know it's not eurocontrol, but in germany, they don't want that you are perfect at the beginning, but they want to see that you try to become better and that you learn from your mistakes.

so if you are perfect from the beginning, they have two possible solutions:
1. you are very good
2. you have trained

but in the end, it's your decision

As an ex SATCO with Eurocontrol it annoys me so much that these companies are taking peoples money offering 'help' for the FEAST test.

Honestly, people reading this just take the advice to rest well and prehaps dress well to the feast test and see it as an enjoyable day of puzzles. If you have what it takes to work in Maastricht as a ATCO you will pass the feast test. Be warned though passing the feast test does not mean you have what it takes to be an ATCO (in Maastrict).

I truly beleive that with enough practice you will be successful at any test so you can train yourselve through the feast. But whats the point. You will find yourself failing at some point and be in my situation (and I did not use any training method). Having spent a lot of time that could have been spent developing another career. In my case this equated to 6 months waiting for the course to begin, 9 months of the course and then 4 months after trying to secure another job a total of 19 months that could have been better spent. Bear in mind some people fail right at the end of the course some 2,5 years after starting. I have the greatest respect for EC but they will chop you and tell you not to come in the next day.

These money grabbing feast test trainers make me so mad I would like to set up a free website offering training (I have a background in software development). I won't though as I respect EC too much to screw up their selection (and fear of them sueing me, hehe)

I reiterate BeTs advice
Rest well, dress smart and know some background info on the company.

Well how can you say that if you take the FEAST by practicing, it's useless, because you might ( most likely ) fail the training ?
The ATC job is %1 of what this exam tests. I might have other skills and learn very fast. A test can never tell ME that I am not good enough for something. Until you haven't tried and see live what happens, you can't say I don't fit there.
Don't underestimate the human will and the brain.

And again, I'm saying all of these, because I have a relative that is an ATC for 15 years and she went to her exam with thoughts like "meh, lets give it a try, can't kill me", yet she's very good now and compared to me at her age back then, she's not as smart and intelligent as I am. So who says I can't learn in a very short time everything and be successful at this job?
Also, you can take FEAST first try, without any practice, that doesn't mean you are going to be a good ATC even if you pass all the training.
Everything is relative.

Yes,you are right, the test can't tell you 100 percently that you dont have the skills.
but what do you think, who has better chances to pass the training. someone who had to train for it and didn't have the self confidence to do it without training or someone who is spontaneous,tried it and passed it?

you have to bear in mind, in reality, you don't know what is going to happen so you have to act spontaneously and you have to make the right decisions SPONTANEOUSLY!
and that is the reason why they don't want you to practice for it(some things such as english,describing things etc are okay but not the exact tasks!)

and dont think they will not see if you have practiced for it. the chances are high that they kick you because of that. or they raise the bar. because how could they compare you with someone else?



and the example with intelligence is stupid (in my opinion.)
do you really think you are better at multitasking or something else then someone who is not as intelligent as you?
there are some specific skills which you have or don't have. if not,then you are not able to become an air traffic controller to work with such a high workload.

FEAST I passed successfully!

@ Elafrican:

You can do what you want and say what you want - its your life and your opportunity.

You have a group of people on here (both successful and unsuccessful) Eurocontrol trainees trying to offer unbiased and helpful opinion.

If you would like to ignore it, feel free. It will not bother any of us :ok:

Lets see if you make it to the other side......

I wager not.

2 quick questions
 

1)at the ''planning ability test'' which aircraft have priority.. the faster one or the one that is closer to the runaway?

2)At ''reaction by rules test'' the ''same button'' is for the forms that have the same shape regardless the color (if the rule is is sorting by shapes) or for the forms which have the same shape AND color?

i am talking about the official feast test and not for the training sites online

Thee highest priority give to the faster aircraft. Don't pay attention to the closest a\c.
And about rules. You shoud press match when the color and the shape the same!
green triangle green triangle "match".
We had it in Ukraine.

You will get your instructions. Do what they tell you and you will pass it. The more you know, the higher is the chance that you are stressed because you think you have to keep so many things in mind.

I understand that you want to know as much as possible about the test,but it makes the test useless. Being spontaneous is a very important skill.

thank you very much

thank you for your advice,you may be right

ATC Training Passrate
 

I am getting fed up of all these dramatic posts describing the high failure rate of ATC training. I was told from high officials that 98% of the FEAST candidates which passed the FEAST tests as well as the psychological test PASS the ATC training. Some people are quoting numbers such as 50%. That is highly unacceptable and if it is true, all ATC schools would have gone bankrupt by then.

So please, don't post any discouraging posts. I'm about to initiate ATC training at Skyguide next April if I will pass the medical exam, so some psychological support is highly appreciated.

There is a difference between passing the training being a good atco.

Keep in mind that(for example) muac has a very high workload.
And these numbers such as 50% are official numbers,published by eurocontrol itself.


I know that it's not what you want to hear. But i think it's better to be prepared, that many fail the training insted of thinking"i passed the feast so i will not have any problems with the training".
;-)

Ivanofski,

your 98% may be true for the basic training, even though I think it is a high number for that as well.

However, I have started training almost 5 years ago (and happily qualified for about 1,5 years, yay) and I can tell you that of all the people who started basic training, quite a bit LESS than 50% have made it to fully licensed ATCO.

My ab-initio course started with 8 people, there's 3 of us left, all licensed.
There was a big group (over 15 people) of which just over half made it out of basic training.

So you shouldn't take any of these numbers as trying to be discouraging, but more as a realistic way of how things happen.

In any case, if you have what it takes to do the job and you dedicate yourself to the training, you will most likely make it. Almost everybody is going to try their best to help you get to the end of your training, but you'll still be the one who has to put in the (huge) effort.

Hey guys.
An one question for those who pass DART! How do you find hard this kind of test for you. Cause, i can simply control more than 20 a/c in simulator ATC training, but in this test it's quite hard to just control 5-7 a/c... and now, i'm a little worried...

But what is the major factor that leads to failure? Is it determination?! I'm that kind of person who invests a great deal of time in studying and always did extremely well in any exam. I'm also an ATC enthusiast so I don't lack motivation as well. I'm highly afraid about the aptitude that many people mention, because its something that you can't do anything about it.

That's the difficulty, probably, the aptitude bit. Either you have it or you don't. And since it is something that you cannot do anything about, you really shouldn't be afraid of it, but just accept it whichever way it goes.

The fact that you show a lot of interest and motivation will already get you quite a way towards your goal.

I've heard on numerous occasions that with an infinite amount of time and money, anyone can be taught to control aircraft. This would however not make you an air traffic controller, because that requires a skill set that either you do or you don't have... which is also why there is a set limit on the amount of time you can spend in each stage of training.

No amount of preparations for feasttests and similar will give you this skill set, and if they don't notice the lack of it during the interview, it will probably get found out quite quickly during training.

FEAST 2
 

Hey, guys!
Can't smb inform me what do I have expect at FIEST 2, cause it's DRT, and what else?
Thanks!

Hello everyone!

I just passed the Feast part 1 and I can only tell you, that none of the programs (Skytest or feasttest) is helping. I also had a lot of friends who failed the test (6) even though they`ve practiced a lot. One of them didn`t pass the Learning and applying rules test, 2 of them failed the english and the rest failed the Planning ability test. It is very true.. you have it or not. None of the programs can help you. By the way, the real test is different than the preparation tools.

Good luck to all of you taking the test!

Hello mate,

Jus wanted to ask, how long it takes from your very first day of test till the actual time u start your training (of course if u pass it).

I am currently employed but looking for a career as ATC, so if i do go for the exam have to apply for the leave or to make some other arrangements!

Your reply would b really appreciable..........

What are the differences between real DART and prep tools?
 

Hey isa 17,
please be as kind as to let us know what the differences are between the real test and the preparation tools (Skytest and Feasttest.com)!

Thank you!

Hello again.
A couple of things I want to say. First I want to acknowledge some peeps here that said some true stuff. You were right, no preparation in the world can make you ready for becoming a good ATC, or even for the test. I was very amazed to see that they differ by a huge amount. The only problem was that when I read all those 56 pages and everyone said "you are going to fail if you practice " and etc., it made my moral go down... So I apologize for being so offensive, didn't mean that. I just had the impression you want to discourage people.

edit: Nvm then, if some might find it misleading I won't say anything. Do as you like. Just wanted to apologize to certain people.

Take care and good luck at testing.

From what I've heard, the differences are important enought to count. Maybe the principle is the same, but the real test is like being live compared to being recorded.
I have some questions about Dart:
1. Have smb. noticed that sometimes the final result is smaller than all subtasks result? Why is this happening?
2. What means exactly distance to checkpoint minimized? I mean, how can I improve it?
3. What other tools are recommended for preparation, besides those 2 mentioned in the previous post?
Have a nice day!

@Elafrican. I don't know what you used, but I disagree. And I think your post is very misleading.