NATS Practice Test 2026: Aptitude Tests and Free Samples

There is no single “NATS test.” NATS’s selection for trainee air traffic controllers has four stages, and each tests something different: eleven online ability tests at Stage 1, an online situational judgement test and listening comprehension test at Stage 2, an interview, an Air Traffic Control knowledge test and an observed retest at Stage 3, and a practical exercise with knowledge test part 2 at Stage 4. The NATS pages we read publish no practice tests, question counts or pass marks for any of them.

So when people search for a “NATS practice test” or the “NATS aptitude test,” they usually mean one of those stages. This guide sets out what each stage tests in NATS’s own words, how we suggest practising for it, two free worked items of our own (one judgement scenario and one knowledge question), and a free sample of our Stage 2 practice test that you can play right here.

ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of NATS or the Civil Aviation Authority. Facts about NATS’s stages come from its careers page and FAQ, read on 2 November 2026; the aviation fact in the knowledge item comes from the CAA’s CAP 493. The NATS pages we read offer no practice tests, so every practice item and plan below is our own, and our opinions are marked as ours.

Checked 2 November 2026 against the NATS careers page and FAQ listed under Sources.

NATS, Training to be an Air Traffic Controller, read 2 Nov 2026.

The middle column quotes or closely follows NATS’s careers page as we read it on 2 November 2026. The last two columns are ours: how we suggest practising, and what ProSyllabus has for that stage, including where we have nothing.

If you do not pass a stage, NATS says you are told by email and “will be unable to reapply until the next recruitment campaign.” It does not say when that will be. That is the plainest reason to practise before each stage rather than during it: there is no quick second attempt.

Our reading of that table, which is ours: anything sold as “the real NATS questions” or “the NATS syllabus” cannot be checked against anything on the NATS pages we read. Practice can still help a great deal, because it makes the kind of task familiar. It just cannot copy NATS’s tests, and ours does not claim to.

This is the stage most people mean by the “NATS aptitude test.” NATS’s own phrase is “online ability tests,” and it describes them only by the skills they assess. The table turns each of NATS’s five example skills into plain terms and general ways to practise it. The descriptions and practice ideas are ours, not NATS’s, and NATS says “such as,” so there may be other skills among the eleven tests too.

We have no Stage 1 practice test, and we will not pretend otherwise: the NATS pages we read do not describe its Stage 1 tests closely enough for us to build something we could stand behind. What we suggest instead is free. Practise each named skill for short timed sessions over a couple of weeks rather than in one long sitting. Before the invitation arrives, set up the room NATS’s consent note implies: your face in clear view of the camera, nothing covering it, and as little noise as possible, since the microphone detects “the presence and duration of audio.” Use your 14 days well: start early enough that a technical problem leaves you time to sort it out.

One more reason to take Stage 1 seriously after you pass it: Stage 3 includes “a retest of the previous tests whilst being observed,” and the page does not say which. Our advice is to keep practising the Stage 1 skills right up to the assessment centre.

Stage 2 is two online tests: a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) and a Listening Comprehension test, with 14 days to complete them. The NATS pages we read do not give the format of either. A situational judgement test generally describes a work situation and asks you to judge possible responses; for what NATS has said it values in trainees, and how the listening side works in our practice, see our Stage 2 guide. Here is one scenario of our own, written for this guide and not part of our paid practice test.

Want more than one scenario? Our Stage 2 practice test has six listening clips and twelve judgement scenarios, each response rated with our reason. Its free sample plays in our quiz player right here: you get the questions, your score and the reasoning behind every answer.

At Stage 3, held on Microsoft Teams from September 2026, NATS sets an interview, an Air Traffic Control knowledge test and the observed retest. Stage 4, from December 2026, adds a practical exercise and ATC Knowledge Test part 2, on Teams or at NATS’s Whiteley office. The NATS pages we read give no syllabus for either knowledge test. Our suggestion is the aviation fundamentals in the Civil Aviation Authority’s own public manuals; our knowledge test study guide explains the topics and a two-week plan, and knowledge test practice questions gives you more to try. Here is one question of our own, on a topic from CAP 493, the CAA’s Manual of Air Traffic Services.

For the knowledge tests, our knowledge test revision kit covers airspace, altimetry, weather codes, radio basics and wake turbulence on seven pages, ending in a 40-question self-test; page 1 is free. For the interview, NATS describes the format but not the questions; our Stage 3 and Stage 4 guide covers both Stage 3 and Stage 4. About the practical exercise, NATS says little: the trainee page names “a practical exercise,” and a NATS blog of March 2026 describes a work sample exercise that “puts the candidate in the seat of an operational controller” over a series of short runs, without saying which stage it sits in. We do not sell anything for it and do not guess at its content.

NATS gives 14 days to complete each of Stages 1 and 2, and dates from which the later assessment centres run. The plan below is ours: it fits practice around those windows rather than cramming inside them.

Applications are a separate question from practice. NATS’s FAQ says it has no confirmed timeframes for reopening applications and suggests registering your interest; its careers page has a “Register for next time” form. For eligibility, pay and training, see our guide to the NATS stages, eligibility and pay.