FEAST test study guide

Understand the stages, learn unfamiliar rules and find the skills that need practice before air traffic controller selection.

Start with the instructions, then practice the skill

  1. Read your invitation. Confirm the organization, stages, language, location and equipment. Do not substitute another employer’s test sequence for your own.
  2. Use EUROCONTROL’s free platform first. It is the authorized familiarization resource for almost all FEAST I tests. Read every instruction and try the examples before the exercise. The official FAQ recommends limited familiarization rather than endless repetition.
  3. Sample the abilities separately. Try a short drill in an unfamiliar skill. Record whether mistakes came from the rule, memory, orientation, language or speed.
  4. Review before repeating. Explain the error and the correct approach. Make the rule reliable before adding time pressure or simultaneous tasks.
  5. Combine skills in a longer session. Use our mixed session to practice moving between different demands. Feedback waits until the end. It is a shorter original practice battery, not the official FEAST.
  6. Keep perspective. Compare like-for-like attempts and take breaks. A higher score on a familiar exercise does not establish an official pass probability. Arrive rested and ready to learn new instructions.

Methods for the underlying abilities

Use these methods with our original exercises. On the actual assessment, follow the instructions supplied for that particular task.

Learn and apply a rule

Restate the rule in your own words, then test one example and one near miss. Separate every condition: “red AND triangular” requires both. When the instruction changes, deliberately replace the previous rule.

Watch for: Responding from the previous rule or treating “and” as “or.”

Remember a changing display

Group items by location or meaningful relationship. Reconstruct the whole display before checking the probe. After feedback, identify whether you lost an item, its location, its order or its value.

Watch for: Remembering a color or number correctly but attaching it to the wrong position.

Rotate and orient

Choose a fixed reference direction. Track one clearly marked feature through each turn, then verify a second feature. For relative direction, use the moving object’s forward and right directions, not your own viewpoint.

Watch for: Mirroring a pattern instead of rotating it, or swapping screen-right with an object’s right.

Compare and estimate

Scan in a consistent order. For visual matches, compare the most distinctive feature first and then check the remaining features. For distance, compare endpoints and scale rather than the amount of ink in a diagram.

Watch for: Choosing a nearly identical option before checking all of its features.

Maintain attention

Know exactly what requires a response and what should be ignored. Work at a pace that preserves that distinction. In review, compare missed targets and false alarms as well as response speed.

Watch for: Reacting faster by responding to everything; fast false alarms are still errors.

Plan under constraints

List the constraints before choosing a route or time slot. Check the most restrictive condition first. After one assignment, update the remaining capacity; a choice that was valid earlier may now conflict.

Watch for: Checking each assignment in isolation while overlooking a shared resource or deadline.

Divide attention

Learn each component alone before combining them. Use a regular visual scan, acknowledge a new demand and return to the main task. Review which component loses accuracy when the workload increases.

Watch for: Fixating on one task while another demand expires unnoticed.

Understand English instructions

Identify the action, condition, exception and sequence. Listen for corrections and contrasts, and distinguish an explicit fact from an inference. After practice, use the transcript or passage to explain the answer.

Watch for: Remembering a word that was mentioned but missing a later correction or limitation.

Find a drill for these skills

FEAST I, II and III

FEAST is modular. The recruiting organization chooses the tests, sequence and selection thresholds. These are the broad stages described by EUROCONTROL.

Publicly described FEAST stages and approximate lengths
StageWhat it coversOfficial time guidance
FEAST ICognitive abilities and English: understanding rules, memory, attention, reasoning, planning and spatial skills.Approximately 2.5–4 hours, depending on the chosen tests, including breaks.
FEAST IIOne or two complex work samples: RADAR and potentially MULTI-PASS. Some organizations use the name DART.Approximately 1.5–2 hours per work sample. Check your invitation.
FEAST IIIA personality questionnaire about typical behavior and preferences; there is no correct-answer key.About 35–45 minutes; not a speed test.
How our exercises differ from the official test

Our questions, displays, control rules and scoring are independently designed. Cognitive drills target individual abilities. Traffic monitoring adds simultaneous demands; strip planning applies scheduling constraints. Both use fictional scenarios. These are simplified learning exercises, not copies of RADAR, DART or MULTI-PASS and not operational air traffic control training.

Our complete mixed session joins those exercises in one sitting. Its duration is shown on the practice card. It is not a three- or four-hour reconstruction of your employer’s FEAST configuration.

Use results to identify specific mistakes, omissions and changes in your own practice performance. There is no conversion to an official FEAST score or selection probability.

Check the route for your recruiting organization

These organizations publicly describe using FEAST. Follow their current requirements and your invitation; a listed selection route does not mean applications are open today.

EUROCONTROL Maastricht UAC— Maastricht, the Netherlands

Its published selection route includes FEAST after an online BrainsFirst prefilter, followed by further selection and medical checks.

Treat the prefilter and later interviews as separate preparation needs. The employer’s recruitment phases are not the same thing as the FEAST I, II and III labels.

EUROCONTROL Maastricht: selection process (new tab)
skeyes— Belgium

The official candidate FAQ names FEAST I, II and III, with onsite testing and further oral, medical and security stages.

Read the current language, eligibility and appointment requirements in the recruitment FAQ. Passing an aptitude stage does not finish the selection process.

skeyes: candidate questions (new tab)
LFV— Sweden

LFV’s FAQ confirms FEAST 1 and 2 and describes supervised computer testing in English in Malmö and Stockholm.

Check the current Swedish entry requirements and the instructions for your booked session. The FAQ confirms the assessment route, not that applications are always open.

LFV: recruitment questions (new tab)
Skyguide— Switzerland

Skyguide’s 2025 selection brochure includes FEAST cognitive testing, work samples and personality assessment, alongside later selection stages.

Check the current careers page for entry and language requirements. Use the brochure to understand the broad route, then follow the latest invitation for your intake.

Skyguide: selection brochure (2025) (new tab)

Current Skyguide careers page

What about NATS?

NATS’s current trainee route includes its own online and assessment-center stages. Its current page does not identify the process as FEAST. Use NATS’s recruitment guidance rather than relying on an older FEAST reference.

Understand the personality questionnaire

Answer about how you usually behave, not how you imagine a perfect controller would respond. Familiarity with the response scale is useful; a rehearsed personality profile is not the goal.

Try a personality response scale

There are no right answers. Choose what best describes your usual behavior. These six original statements illustrate a 1–5 scale; they are not FEAST questionnaire items. Your choices stay on this page and are not saved, sent or scored.

  1. 1 — Strongly disagree
  2. 2 — Disagree
  3. 3 — Neither agree nor disagree
  4. 4 — Agree
  5. 5 — Strongly agree
I prefer to plan the steps of a task before starting.
I like to think through a new idea on my own before discussing it.
I enjoy switching between different kinds of work during the day.
I prefer written instructions when learning a new process.
I tend to review a completed task before moving on to the next one.
I like to talk through alternatives when making a group decision.

0 of 6 answered

Prepare your setup and your test day

For browser practice

  • Use a desktop or laptop with a physical keyboard and a pointing device for fast-response tasks.
  • Keep the full task board visible at a comfortable zoom and close distracting applications.
  • Complete the sound check before a listening task. A text alternative practices reading, not listening.
  • Use the same setup when comparing attempts. Device changes can affect response timing.

For the actual assessment

  • Check identification, travel, arrival time and any requested accessibility arrangements in advance.
  • Follow the organization’s rules for equipment, notes and breaks.
  • Use the introductions and sample tasks. Ask the administrator about an unclear instruction before the scored task begins.
  • Confirm any previous-test or retake requirements with the recruiting organization.

Common questions

What is the FEAST test?

FEAST stands for First European Air Traffic Controller Selection Test. EUROCONTROL supplies a modular assessment system used by air navigation organizations to help select trainee controllers. FEAST I covers cognitive abilities and English; FEAST II contains more complex multitasking work samples; FEAST III is a personality questionnaire. Your recruiting organization chooses the tests and may add other selection stages.

Is there free official FEAST practice?

Yes. EUROCONTROL provides a free preparation platform covering almost all FEAST I tests. It does not include FEAST II. Use that platform for official familiarization first. Our exercises are separately authored ability practice with their own rules, feedback and progress tracking; they are not the authorized EUROCONTROL platform.

Can I try this practice for free?

The example and study guide are open to everyone. A drill with an available free attempt shows “Try for free.” The practice cards show your account’s access. One FEAST pass covers short-drill replays and the complete mixed practice session during the selected period. Your saved results and explanations stay available after a pass expires.

Is the complete practice session an exact FEAST mock test?

No. It combines our original ability exercises into a longer session, with feedback after you finish. It has its own duration, instructions and scoring. The real FEAST varies by recruiting organization and is much longer. We do not reproduce licensed FEAST items or claim to simulate every employer’s test configuration.

What are RADAR, DART and MULTI-PASS?

These names appear in public information about FEAST II work samples. EUROCONTROL’s current candidate page uses RADAR and MULTI-PASS; some recruiting organizations and older materials use DART. The real tasks assess working under simultaneous demands after learning instructions. Our traffic-monitoring and planning exercises train related abilities through different, original rules.

Do I need aviation knowledge or a flight simulator?

EUROCONTROL says no previous air traffic control knowledge is needed for FEAST. Read the supplied instructions carefully and use the examples to learn each new task. Aviation trivia and flight-simulator experience are not substitutes for understanding the assessment’s rules.

What is a good FEAST score?

There is no universal public pass percentage. Recruiting organizations set their own selection standards. Our results report performance on our exercises, such as correct answers and response timing, not an official FEAST score or a prediction of selection. Repeating a familiar exercise can improve its score without proving that an unfamiliar test will be easy.

How should I prepare for the personality questionnaire?

Understand how the response scale works and answer honestly about your usual behavior. There is no knowledge answer key or ideal response pattern to memorize. Our guide includes private, unscored examples so you can understand the format without trying to manufacture a personality profile.

Does NATS use FEAST?

NATS currently publishes its own multi-stage selection route, including online ability tests, situational judgment, listening comprehension and later assessment activities. Its current trainee page does not identify this as FEAST. Check the NATS guidance rather than assuming that a FEAST package covers NATS selection.

Can I retake FEAST?

Retest rules are set by the recruiting organization and can differ. Tell the organization about previous testing where requested, and confirm your eligibility before booking another assessment. Do not rely on a retake policy from a different employer or an older forum post.

Public sources checked October 5, 2026. Independent original practice, not affiliated with or authorized by EUROCONTROL or the recruiting organizations. FEAST is a EUROCONTROL assessment system. Follow current official instructions.