College of Air Traffic Control
The College of Air Traffic Control (CATC) is the UK’s main non-military training center for air traffic controllers. It also trains students from other countries. The college is part of NATS and is located in Hampshire, England, in the main NATS building just north of Junction 9 on the M27. It opened at the Hampshire site on 26 September 2011. The campus cost £10 million and covers about 43,000 square feet.
CATC traces its history to the School of Air Traffic Control, founded in 1949 in Dorset by the Ministry of Aviation. It later became part of the National Air Traffic Control Service, and in the early 1970s was run by the Air Traffic Control Service. The Hampshire campus is the modern home of this training.
Current intake is about 120 trainees per year. In the 1990s, initial training lasted 72 weeks plus a year of on-site experience. Today, the two-month training course is followed by specialist training: nine months to become an Area Controller or five months to become an Approach Controller.
The college has six simulator rooms and a 3D aerodrome simulator to help students practise. Since September 2015, all Norwegian air traffic controllers (for Avinor) also train there.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:56 (CET).