NATS Stage 1 tests explained
What the eleven NATS Stage 1 online ability tests cover, the five ability areas NATS names publicly, and what it does not publish about them.
NATS describes Stage 1 as a battery of eleven online ability tests. It is the first real filter in the process and it removes the majority of applicants. If you only prepare for one stage, prepare for this one.
The five ability areas
NATS names five broad areas publicly rather than listing eleven individual tests:
- Spatial awareness — understanding how objects sit and move in relation to each other.
- Logical thinking — finding a rule from examples and applying it consistently.
- Numerical ability — working accurately with numbers and data at speed.
- Sense of direction — orientation, bearings and tracking which way something is facing.
- Reaction speed — responding promptly and accurately to a change on screen.
This is the honest part that other guides skip: NATS does not publish a complete technical specification for Stage 1. It does not list every test name, question count, time limit, scoring formula or progression threshold. Anyone claiming to sell you the real Stage 1 questions is claiming something they cannot have.
What that means for preparation
You cannot rehearse the exact items, so rehearsing the underlying abilities is the whole game. All five areas respond well to practice — not because you memorise anything, but because familiarity removes the cost of working out what the task is while the clock runs.
That cost is larger than people expect. A candidate meeting a bearings question for the first time under time pressure spends their first several items simply understanding the format. A candidate who has seen it fifty times spends none.
Speed and accuracy together
Speeded ability tests almost always score both. Rushing produces errors that cost more than the time saved; working carefully produces too few answers. Finding your own sustainable pace is a skill in itself, and the only way to find it is to sit timed runs rather than untimed practice.
Common mistakes
- Practising untimed, then meeting the clock for the first time on the day.
- Only practising the areas you are already good at, because they feel better.
- Treating reaction speed as untrainable — consistency under fatigue absolutely is.
- Assuming a strong maths background carries numerical ability. It is speed under pressure, not depth.
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.
Numerical Reasoning
Read the table, then judge the statement. This is the format used across NATS Stage 1, FEAST I and the ATSA.
| Airport | 2024 passengers | 2025 passengers |
|---|---|---|
| Northfield | 4.2m | 4.9m |
| Eastport | 6.8m | 6.5m |
| Westhaven | 2.1m | 2.6m |
Statement: “Northfield's passenger numbers grew by a larger percentage than Westhaven's between 2024 and 2025.”
Spatial Orientation — Bearings
Read the two instruments, then place yourself relative to the beacon. This is the item type that separates candidates more than any other in the spatial group.
Your heading indicator reads 270°. The bearing needle points 45° to the right of your nose. Where are you in relation to the beacon?
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?
Mental Arithmetic
One value is missing. Choose the digit that makes the equation true — no calculator, and the real test speeds up as you get them right.
7 × □ + 4 = 39
Deductive Reasoning
Deduction by elimination. Each of six shapes appears exactly once in every row and once in every column — a Sudoku with shapes instead of digits.
One cell holds a ?. Its ROW already contains the circle, hexagon, square and star. Its COLUMN already contains the circle, hexagon, square and triangle. Which shape goes in the ?
Practise what this guide covers
These are live now. Reading about a timed test is not the same as sitting one.
Common questions
How many tests are in NATS Stage 1?
NATS describes Stage 1 as a battery of eleven online ability tests, across five broad ability areas.
Does NATS publish the Stage 1 pass mark?
No. NATS does not publish the question counts, time limits, scoring formula or progression threshold for Stage 1.
Can you practise for NATS Stage 1?
You cannot practise the exact questions, but all five ability areas respond well to timed practice — largely because familiarity removes the cost of decoding the format under pressure.
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.