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ATC Training

A group blog by ATC Training in Division Updates

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Contributors to this blog

  • Daniel Crookes 35
  • Andy Ford 33
  • Samuel James 30
  • Adam Arkley 24
  • Adam Farquharson 17
  • Oliver Rhodes 16
  • Alex Beard 9
  • George Wright 3
  • Fraser Cooper 3
  • Kieran Hardern 3
  • Nathan Donnelly 2
  • Sebastian Rekdal 2
  • Fergus Walsh 2
  • Chris Pawley 2
  • Jack Edwards 2
  • Will Jennings 2
  • Craig Stewart 1
  • Simon Irvine 1
  • Kye Taylor 1
  • Reece Buckley 1

About this blog

Entries in this blog

ATC Training

Example Theory Questions

We have published a selection of example theory questions for all levels of ATC examination in the UK. These questions are intended to give exam candidates an idea of the sort of things that they might be asked by the examiner after completing the practical aspect of the exam and the level of detail they need to read into. These questions are provided without answers. It is intended that students will do the necessary reading in their own time to understand the subject matter and become con
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

0
Staff Changes

Enroute TGM

All, Please join me in welcoming Oliver Parker to the ATC Training department as the new Enroute Training Group Manager (TGM). He takes over the reins from Matt Weddell who has done a fantastic job of London RTSM for the last few years. We wish Matt well Olly will be coming up to speed over the next few days and weeks so please give him and Matt some time for the transition and for Olly to settle in. All the best to you both!
Samuel James

Samuel James in Staff Changes

19
ATC Training

EGNX: Training Aerodrome Update

Effective immediately, East Midlands (EGNX) as a training aerodrome will be moving to TG2 from TG1. The training places of those who are already training on EGNX will not be affected. The trial of using East Midlands for training again went well and at present TG2 has a large number of students going through the system on a lower number of aerodromes (compared to TG1). We are therefore moving East Midlands to TG2 to increase the capacity. If in the future, TG1 starts to have capacity issues
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

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ATC Training

E duobus unum: Merging Waiting Lists

Hi all, At the beginning of 2017, in the delightfully entitled post ‘Exitus Acta Probat’ (Latin for ‘the end justifies the means’, from the poetry of Ovid, if you’re interested), Sam announced the merger of the old RTSs into the Training Groups (TGs). One of the main reasons for doing so was to reduce the discrepancies in waiting times between the RTSs. In the same spirit, and following discussions with students, mentors, and staff, we have now merged the S2 and S3 waiting lists for TG
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Division Instructors - Review and Appointments

As part of my review of ATC Training when I took on this post at the end of last year, I sought to understand the roles that are in place across the department, from department assistants to training group leads and mentors to division instructors. It's this latter group that is the subject of this blog post. For many, many years, division across VATSIM - including here in VATSIM UK - have recognised the experience and seniority of some of our most capable mentors through their appointment
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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Division Instructor Staff Changes

Hi all, Please could you join me in thanking @Phillip Speer for his unreserved dedication and commitment to VATSIM UK over the past 15 years. Phillip will be leaving our team of Division Instructors as he settles into new personal circumstances. For those of you who may not know Phillip, he started mentoring for the Division in 2006 (at which point I was 7...) and joined the staff team in 2008. Phillip has fulfilled numerous staff roles in the UK and always has, without fail, contributed to
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes

9

Division Instructor Staff Changes

Good evening,   Please could you all join me in thanking @Jamie Paine for his contributions as a Division Instructor (DI). Jamie has decided to step down from his role as a DI as a result of his time being consumed elsewhere.   Jamie has contributed to the staff team for just under three years. He has been involved in the wider training groups and then proceeded to become a DI where he took over the S3 Moodle Course development. Alongside all of the work Jamie has been doing for
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes

11
ATC Training

Deferred ATC Training Places

Hi all, So that we can ensure fairness for newer students, we recently introduced a two year limit for training place deferrals, set-out in section 4.6 of our ATC Training Handbook. Every student with a deferred place has been informed of this by email - if you expect to be on a deferred list and haven't received an email, please get in touch with the Member Services team. If you deferred your place less than two years ago, you will have up to two years from the date that you deferred
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

CTS Theory Exam and Training Place Eligibility Changes

Hi everyone, As mentioned in my recruitment post, in the past couple of months I’ve been looking at what quick changes can be made in order to improve ATC Training. My main focus is maximising the use of mentors time - feedback from mentors suggests that they spend a lot of time teaching theory that is already available through other resources (Moodle, Syllabus, vMATS etc.). Explaining the practical application of theoretical concepts is an important part of the role of a mentor and we want
Adam Farquharson

Adam Farquharson in ATC Training

1
ATC Training

CTS Phase 1 Preparation - Exitus acta probat!

Hi folks, In preparation for CT, myself and the Web Services team will be in the next 3 weeks merging all Training RTSs into the 2 new Training Groups (TG1 and TG2). As a student you may begin to notice small cosmetic changes to the CTS, however you should still be able to request mentoring provided you are listed as an active student with a mentoring place. For those members who are not currently training or are currently in a waiting list for training you will most likely receive an email
Samuel James

Samuel James in ATC Training

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ATC Training

CTS Controller Booking Etiquette

Hi all, Following a couple of queries and concerns raised over the last couple of days, I wanted to post a reminder of booking etiquette, particularly for new members who've joined fairly recently and might not be aware of the conventions. The website regulates that "booking shall not be excessive in duration", which is deliberately a rather vague rule (perhaps the main source of confusion). "Excessive" is a difficult term to define, as what may be considered excessive in one case may
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

8
ATC Training

CTIB - Seeking more team members

Hi folks, Following on from my previous ATC TD update, we are looking for more people to get involved and help with the creation of moodle courses for S2, S3 and C1 ratings. Also, we're particularly interested in those S2 rated controllers or above who have particular knowledge of the following aerodromes to assist in a side project intended to improve standards and the resources we give to our members: - Birmingham APP - Glasgow TWR/APP - Liverpool TWR/APP - Luton TW
Samuel James

Samuel James in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

Changes to Waiting Lists

Hi all, As part of our effort to speed up training and make training more efficient, we are changing the way training places are allocated. As of now we will be requiring students to have at least 12 hours in the last 3 months on UK ATC positions to show activity on the network. We have been seeing students that have been inactive/away for extended periods of time and then returning when offered a training place. Although this is great to see, it means that active students are then demotiva
Alex Beard

Alex Beard in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

Changes to the Manchester Familiarisation Sessions and Gatwick Endorsement

Hi all, Over the past couple of months, me and Josh have spoken to mentors and students to see what could be improved in regards to S1 continuation training. The most common things that cropped up were that the Manchester Familiarisation Sessions weren't getting used to their full and proper potential, and that the Gatwick Endorsement was not properly training people. Here are the changes that we have made;Manchester Familiarisation: As some of you may be aware, TG New Controller, along with the
Fergus Walsh

Fergus Walsh in ATC Training

7
ATC Training

Changes to our OBS > S1 Process

Dear all, Since the beginning of my tenure, I have been discussing the OBS > S1 process with our New Controller Training Group leads in order to discuss potential improvement in that process. At present, we run a seminar roughly monthly - although these are typically delayed at times like summer and Christmas - in which we invite 30 people to join a seminar. Those 30 people are made up of batches of invitations that are sent out in groups to people at or near the top of the waiting list,
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

1
ATC Training

Changes to C3 Requirements

With the ever increasing demand for ATC Training in the UK and a relatively stable level of mentoring, we need mentors now more than ever. With this we have decided to add a fixed requirement for a member to have mentored in order to be eligible for a C3. We also acknowledge that many members contribute to our division in different ways and wanted to continue to represent that with the new requirements. The policy has been included below and is effective immediately. This policy has be
Adam Farquharson

Adam Farquharson in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

Changes in TG TWR

Good morning, all, It is with much sadness that I announce that Will Hinshaw has left his role within TG TWR, effective immediately. Will has held post within the training group since June 2023 and has been subject to incredible pressure in that time. TG TWR is a very difficult place in which to work, subject to high training delays, a challenging teaching environment and significant drop-out rates as people bed into their VATSIM controlling careers. Will has made great progress in reducing
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

1
ATC Training

Changes in TG App

Good morning, all, It is with much sadness that I announce that Sam Lefevre has left his role within TG APP, effective immediately. Sam has held post within the training group since Feb 2023 and has been subject to incredible pressure in that time. His contributions have been significant within the department in those two years. We've seen some great numbers passing through the training group during Sam's tenure, coupled with the introduction of some great resources and a revision to the sy
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

C1 Waiting List

Hi all, It seems there's been a range of information flying around on how the C1 Waiting List works. To clarify, in order to be eligible for a C1 place, you must have: Reached the top of the C1 waiting list; 12 hours on UK ATC positions in the three months prior to a place being offered; At least 10 hours post-S3 on each of the main APP positions in the sector on which you wish to train: LON_S - LL, KK, THAMES, SOLENT; LON_C - ESSEX, BB, NX;
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

7
ATC Training

C1 Training Place Allocation & Hour Requirement Changes

Hi all, Over the past few years, the enroute team have allocated C1 training places on a purely ‘first come, first served’ principle, changing the number of places available for each training sector to suit students’ eligibility. This has ensured overall fairness and parity, but can lead to uneven student:mentor ratios, and therefore uneven training times, on each sector. To rectify this issue, from Saturday 1st May, the number of places available for each training sector will be set,
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

5
ATC Training

British Summer Time (BST) ends Sunday 25th October at 02:00

The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.  – Stephen R. Covey At 2am on Sunday 25th October the clocks will revert back by one hour. This means that 2am will immediately become 1am, generously providing us with another hour in our day! This means that you will receive back the hour in bed which was thieved in the Spring, nobody will have a clue which way up is, and most importantly working out times in the CT System will become simpler, following the trend below: 18:0
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

British Summer Time (BST) begins Sunday 31st March at 01:00

"There is nothing stable in the world; uproar's your only music." - John Keats At 1am on Sunday 31st March the clocks will advance one hour. This means that 1am shall immediately become 2am, thieving us all of an hour of our day, and @George Wright will spend the next six months dancing 'the funky chicken' whilst dressed as Bob the Builder. For those of you in other timezones: as you were. For those of us in the UK, we must now engage in intellectual gymnastics every time we use t
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

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ATC Training

British Summer Time (BST) begins Sunday 29th March at 01:00

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring At 1am on Sunday 29th March the clocks will advance one hour. This means that 1am will immediately become 2am, cruelly stealing from us an hour of our day. <insert traditional joke here> For those of you
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

6
ATC Training

ATIS 101

Hi all, Whilst provision of an ATIS is principally the responsibility of the TWR controller, members on all positions - including DEL/GND - are permitted to operate a VATSIM ATIS at any time. Please note that ATIS use is governed by the Global Controller/ATIS Information Policy. The following tutorial shows how to set-up a basic ATIS using EuroScope: 1. Click on the runway icon on the EuroScope ribbon for the runway selection dialog; 2. Scroll down to find the aerodrome
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

5
ATC Training

ATC Update, Winter 2018

Hi all, As the year draws to a close, we wanted to give you all an update on what ATC Training has achieved over the past 12 months, and look forward to the next! Over the past year, we have: Issued 115 S1s (up by 51.3% from last year); Issued 58 S2s (up by 123% from last year); Issued 19 S3s (up by 46.2% from last year); Issued 4 C1s (down by 25.0% from last year, but the sample size is low - the absolute difference is by one); Inducted 90 visitors an
Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

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