Air Traffic Control - Bournemouth College

[Demonsiege]

Hi, i just wanted to know if anyone attends the college there and how is life living there like.

And how is studying there is it always studying and no fun or is it both.

And what subjects is key to easy studying..? Thanks :hmm:

[SilentHandover]

I am just finishing at the college so feel qualified to answer your questions, there is a lot of studying to be done to pass the courses here. Throughout the basic course I put in about 4-5 hours a night on top of the day in college. This left me the bulk of my weekends free for seeing the wife. The following courses required less studying after putting in all the effort on basic, I have done aerodrome and approach so cannot speak for the area bod's.
As for fun it has been a blast here, a lot of learning was done in the pub at the end of the night, after a hard afternoon studying a glass of wine/beer with coursemates is the ideal way to relax, it is amazing how much you can learn over a drink as well. Often we discussed problems we were having with the courses and helped each other through any difficulties we had.

As for you last question, I cannot understand it so no answer from me I'm afraid.

SH

[NoRadarContact]

Hey, I finished the basic course recently and I found the workload varied massively throughout the course. Very passable and really enjoyable. Great atmosphere with colleagues etc also.

Was wondering if anyone out there had any tips for Area foundation, and what the tricky areas are, and what the after hours workload etc is like??

[smellysnelly2004]

Noradarcontact,
Whils Foundation is less intensive in terms of lessons (about 2 weeks of half lesson half sim then just the odd lesson) the after college workload is just as high. All the learniing for the 2 progress tets and 1 written exam must be verbatim - no multiguess, just straight from MATS 1 or 2 word for word. Along with this you need to make sure you understand everything for your oral board. You often hear instructors saying you should start studying for your oral boards from day 1 and I think they're right(hinsight is a wonderful thing!!).
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions :ok:

[NoRadarContact]

Thanks for the response. I was sure it was going to be tough - the Oral Boards definately sound painfull from what I've heard. And as for the verbatim learning - ahhhhhhhh!

[SACrIGGER]

This left me the bulk of my weekends free for seeing the wife
Silent Handover, you weren't married whilst on the basic course!

[Beejam]

4-5 hrs a night...are you taking the mick?

I don't know anyone who did that except for perhaps cramming for the parrot fashion progress tests.

Just like school or uni everyone is different. For me and most of my course it was nearly nowt most of the time and more around test time.

[ILS 119.5]

when i went through in the early/mid 80's it was about 2 hrs every night and then down to the seagull for a pint and a discussion, for 3 years my life was all atc reading and learning, all parrot fashion when i did it. unfortunately the whole training system is wrong these days and glad i'm not involved. good luck to you and hope you come out of the sausage factory a wiser person.

[SilentHandover]

It must be my age then, still it worked for me, I got through 1st time without touching the sides.

[Gonzo]

I also put in several hours per night.

Perhaps this is why many seem to be struggling (rash generalisation I know) or have gaps in their knowledge when they arrive at a unit?

[smellysnelly2004]

There were a few who put in that amount (or certainly close) of work but only really on basic. As previously mentioned if you do a load of work on basic the learning for subsequent Area (can't speak for Aero/Approach) courses is much easier.
Equally there were others who did very little work and have sailed through reasonably easily as well. For me, I like to do loads of work so that if I happen to fail anything it's down to lack of ability/underperforming on the day rather than a lack of effort. Seems to me that if you really want to do something then a few hours study on weeknights is a small price to pay.

[WildWesterner]

I put in nowhere near 4-5hrs a night of study - sure do your study during the week so that your weekend is free (Bournemouth is better than average) - and I was straight through the college too.

Studying verbatim chunks of text is a pain :uhoh: and perhaps the 4-5 hrs mooted now is to make up for the much shorter course these days. I had 18 months and quite frankly the writtens/verbals/practicals kept coming quickly enough.

One thing is guaranteed though - you will have fun while at the college!! If you can stretch that pitiful trainee salary! :}

Good Luck

WW

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Some people learn easily, others don't. When I did my Primary Course in 1966 (not NATS) it was sheer hard graft with many hours spent burning the midnight oil and a permanent fear of failure When we all arrived for the final exams one colleague expressed surprise - hadn't realised it was The Day. He sat down for half an hour, skimmed through the books and got 98%! Some have it; others do not. If you really want the job get ready for some hard graft unless you've got a photo-memory.