NATS Stage 3 assessment centre
NATS Stage 3 is a virtual assessment centre over Microsoft Teams: an interview, an ATC knowledge test and observed retesting. What to expect and how to prepare.
Stage 3 is a virtual assessment centre conducted over Microsoft Teams. It has three components, and candidates routinely prepare for only one of them.
1. The interview
A competency-based conversation exploring motivation, your understanding of the role, and evidence of how you have behaved before. Expect themes like teamwork, communication, accountability, resilience and commitment to safety-critical work — and expect follow-up questions when an answer is thin.
Structure your answers with STAR — Situation, Task, Action, Result — and make sure the Action is what you personally did rather than what the team did. Interviewers probe for the missing part, and "we" answers are the most common weakness.
Your examples can come from anywhere: work of any kind, study, sport, volunteering, family responsibility. No aviation background is expected and its absence is not a weakness.
2. The air traffic control knowledge test
This tests whether you have genuinely researched the career — the role of NATS, the controller disciplines, the training pathway, the student licence, and the mobility the job requires. It is not testing technical material you have not been taught.
NATS does not publish a knowledge-test syllabus. Focus on understanding the shape of the career rather than memorising figures, and be aware that specifics like course lengths and salaries change. If you are asked something you do not know, say so — bluffing reads far worse than an honest gap.
3. Observed retesting
Some of the earlier ability tests are repeated while an assessor watches. The stated purpose is confirming that your Stage 1 and Stage 2 performance was genuinely yours, and observing your concentration and how you follow instructions.
NATS does not specify which tests are repeated, how many, or whether every candidate gets the same ones. The practical implication is simple: your Stage 1 practice is not finished when you pass Stage 1. Keep those abilities warm.
The setup matters
It is a video assessment, so a quiet private room, decent lighting, a plain background, a stable connection and a working webcam and microphone are part of the exercise rather than incidental to it.
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.
Situational Judgement
A workplace situation from a safety-critical operation, then four possible responses. No ATC knowledge needed — Stage 2 candidates have not been trained yet.
You are under training on a live position. A pilot reads back a clearance and you are not certain the readback matched what you issued. Your supervisor is occupied with another position. Which response would be the MOST effective?
Practise what this guide covers
These are live now. Reading about a timed test is not the same as sitting one.
Common questions
Is NATS Stage 3 in person?
No. NATS describes Stage 3 as a virtual assessment centre conducted through Microsoft Teams.
What is observed retesting?
A repeat of some earlier Stage 1 or Stage 2 ability tests while an assessor watches, confirming your earlier performance and observing concentration and instruction-following.
What should I revise for the ATC knowledge test?
NATS does not publish a syllabus. Focus on the role of NATS, the three controller disciplines, the training pathway and student licence, and the mobility the job requires.
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.