How to become an air traffic controller in the UK
The full NATS route to becoming a trainee air traffic controller — eligibility, the four selection stages, training, and what the job is really like.
In the UK, most trainee air traffic controllers are recruited by NATS, the country's main air navigation service provider. You do not need an aviation background, a degree, or a pilot's licence. NATS recruits ab-initio — it trains people from scratch — which is why selection leans so heavily on aptitude rather than experience.
What the job actually is
Controllers keep aircraft safely separated and moving efficiently. The work splits broadly into three disciplines: aerodrome control (the tower — traffic on and immediately around the airfield), approach control (sequencing aircraft arriving at and departing from an airport), and area or en-route control (traffic in the airspace between airports, worked from a control centre rather than a tower).
You do not choose your discipline. It is assigned during training, based on where the need is and how you perform. That surprises a lot of candidates, and it comes up in interviews.
The four selection stages
- Stage 1 — a battery of eleven online ability tests. This is the big sift and most candidates do not get past it.
- Stage 2 — an online situational judgement test and an online listening comprehension test, both virtually proctored by Aon.
- Stage 3 — a virtual assessment centre over Microsoft Teams: an interview, an air traffic control knowledge test, and observed retesting of the earlier ability tests.
- Stage 4 — a practical exercise, delivered over Teams or face to face at NATS's Whiteley office, in which you work simulated airspace across a series of short runs.
Passing Stage 4 may lead to a conditional offer. That is still conditional on medical clearance, security screening and other pre-employment checks, and it does not guarantee an immediate course date.
What to be realistic about
- Shift work, including nights, weekends and public holidays.
- Geographic mobility — you go where you are posted, not where you would prefer.
- A long training pipeline with genuine failure rates. People do wash out, including after passing selection.
- Your licence is validated at a specific unit rather than being universal.
Every one of those points comes up in the Stage 3 interview, and candidates who have not thought about them are visible immediately. Assessors are testing whether you have researched the career or just liked the idea of it.
Where to start preparing
Stage 1 is where most people fail, so that is where preparation pays. The five ability areas NATS names publicly are spatial awareness, logical thinking, numerical ability, sense of direction and reaction speed. Practising those under time pressure is the single highest-value thing you can do — and unlike the later stages, it is entirely trainable.
Try a real item
Written to the same standard as the live tests — same format, same difficulty, and where it matters, the same trap that catches people in the real thing. Pick an answer to see the reasoning.
Sense of Direction
An arrow is shown, disappears, then reappears in a new orientation. Identify the manoeuvre. One of the five ability areas NATS names publicly.
An arrow points north-east. It reappears pointing north-west. What happened to it?
Reaction Time
Two images appear side by side and you decide, as fast as you can, whether they are identical or different. Then the next pair appears immediately. Sliders drift in the middle of the screen as a deliberate distraction, for three intentionally monotonous minutes.
Reaction speed is one of the five ability areas NATS names. What is actually being measured is not your fastest single response but your consistency — whether you are still as accurate in the third minute as the first. That is trainable, and it is why the test is boring on purpose.
Try itMonitoring
Fast white dots drift and overlap inside a dark circle. You count them and pick the number as quickly as you can. Every correct answer makes the dots move faster; every wrong one slows them down, so the test finds your ceiling and holds you at it.
Counting things that occlude each other while they move is close to the real cognitive demand of scanning a display. The adaptive speed means your score reflects the limit of what you can do, not how many easy items you got through.
Try itPractise what this guide covers
These are live now. Reading about a timed test is not the same as sitting one.
Common questions
Do I need a degree to become an air traffic controller?
No. NATS recruits ab-initio and does not require a degree or an aviation background. Selection is based on aptitude.
How many stages are there in NATS selection?
Four: online ability tests, an online situational judgement and listening test, a virtual assessment centre, and a practical exercise.
Can I choose whether I work in a tower or a control centre?
No. Your discipline is assigned during training rather than chosen at application.
Drill one ability at a time
Each of these collects every test for one ability, with a worked example — useful once you know which part is letting you down.
Keep reading
Last updated 2026-09-03. ATC Ready is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or associated with NATS Holdings, EUROCONTROL, the Federal Aviation Administration, NAV CANADA or any other air navigation service provider or testing authority. Always confirm current details on the provider's own recruitment pages.