Excel/Oat Stage 2
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Dublin, Ireland.
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Excel/Oat Stage 2
Hello,
Im going to oxford this week for stage 2 of the Sponsorship process!!
Just wondering has anyone been to them this week that is willing to share any insight on what to expect?? Is it very hard? Im travelling over from Ireland. Its going to be quite a costly day out for me with the oat costs and travelling costs. Hopefully worth it tho!!
Any advice appreciated!
Im going to oxford this week for stage 2 of the Sponsorship process!!
Just wondering has anyone been to them this week that is willing to share any insight on what to expect?? Is it very hard? Im travelling over from Ireland. Its going to be quite a costly day out for me with the oat costs and travelling costs. Hopefully worth it tho!!
Any advice appreciated!
Join Date: May 2001
Location: England
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Obviously I don't want to give too many details, got to protect no. 1 first! 
but essentially they will test you on your basic maths, physics and hand-eye co-ordination. Just brush up on your GCSE stuff and you should be fine.
Is it easy? Well, if you don't score above 50% for everything then you got some serious work to do before you should even contemplate starting your ATPL ground studies. But OAT/Excel are not looking for average marks here. There is lots of competition. Out of 60-70 people being assessed/interviewed, 12 are to be sent to Gatwick for the interview with Excel. Out of those, 6 get through. So it's not good enough that you achieve above average marks on the tests - you need to be within the top 12/60 or 20% or have demonstrated exceptional skills/qualities on day 2 (group exercises and brief interview). If you do very badly they will ask you to leave on Day 1. My group was very sharp, with some very gifted people and only a few were asked to leave on day 1. If you are lucky enough to get to the second stage, be prepared for lots of waiting!
Also, we were told if you are serious about the scheme, you will need to have your class 1 medical ready by 15th October (absolute deadline). This is 9 days before the 3rd stage interviews. They don’t tell you if you’ve been successful at stage 2 by 7th October. 8 days to get your class 1 medical……..hmmm. So there’s potentially another £400 down the pan. All in all the selection process could cost me near £900 (and I just renewed my Class 2
) - money I could not even dream of spending a year ago.
I felt shattered after the two days but having said that came back with a lot of knowledge! and feel much better prepared now
but essentially they will test you on your basic maths, physics and hand-eye co-ordination. Just brush up on your GCSE stuff and you should be fine. Is it easy? Well, if you don't score above 50% for everything then you got some serious work to do before you should even contemplate starting your ATPL ground studies. But OAT/Excel are not looking for average marks here. There is lots of competition. Out of 60-70 people being assessed/interviewed, 12 are to be sent to Gatwick for the interview with Excel. Out of those, 6 get through. So it's not good enough that you achieve above average marks on the tests - you need to be within the top 12/60 or 20% or have demonstrated exceptional skills/qualities on day 2 (group exercises and brief interview). If you do very badly they will ask you to leave on Day 1. My group was very sharp, with some very gifted people and only a few were asked to leave on day 1. If you are lucky enough to get to the second stage, be prepared for lots of waiting!
Also, we were told if you are serious about the scheme, you will need to have your class 1 medical ready by 15th October (absolute deadline). This is 9 days before the 3rd stage interviews. They don’t tell you if you’ve been successful at stage 2 by 7th October. 8 days to get your class 1 medical……..hmmm. So there’s potentially another £400 down the pan. All in all the selection process could cost me near £900 (and I just renewed my Class 2
) - money I could not even dream of spending a year ago. I felt shattered after the two days but having said that came back with a lot of knowledge! and feel much better prepared now
