FAA ATSA Practice: the Air Traffic Skills Assessment
The FAA says you cannot study for an aptitude test, and aptitude is aptitude. But several ATSA sections cost unprepared candidates marks for reasons that have nothing to do with it: the eye that reverses left and right, the 0 key that locks you out, the sum that vanishes so your answer lands on the next one, and the keys themselves. Every candidate write-up says the same thing: know the mechanics before the day.
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Memory: Variables
Letters are given values one at a time, then some are defined by equations on the others. Each value vanishes before the next appears, and you type the ones asked for. Three parts of ten sets, getting harder, on the number pad.
Spatial: Aircraft Relationships
A large aircraft, a small aircraft and sometimes an eye, shown for two seconds, with a statement such as "the small aircraft is on the left". Decide True or False from the right point of view before the picture goes.
Air Traffic Collision Simulation
Numbered objects move across a map in real time. Remove the fewest needed to stop every collision, and press 0 when none remain. In part two, arithmetic flashes at the bottom of the screen while the traffic keeps moving.
Logic Word Problems
Fifteen long word problems on ordering, scheduling, rules and tables, each with five options and exactly one forced answer. One 20-minute clock, no going back, and an unanswered question counts against you.
Reading Comprehension
Six short passages with three questions each, one question per screen and the passage alongside: the main point, a stated detail, an inference and the problem the author wants solved. Fifteen minutes, forward only.
Work Style Questionnaire
Blocks of three statements, two blocks to a screen: mark one most like you and one least like you. A profile on five working-style dimensions reconstructed from Airways’ published controller traits, not a mark.
The real ATSA is a desktop test, so practise on a computer
You sit the ATSA at a Pearson VUE test centre, at a desktop with a full keyboard and a numeric keypad. The first four sections are keyboard only: digits on the number pad, T and F for the spatial test, and A, S, D and F for the simulation’s arithmetic. The last three are answered with the mouse.
Every game here works on a phone, with an on-screen keypad in place of the keys, so you can learn the tasks anywhere. But a result on a touchscreen is not comparable with a result at a keyboard, and your feedback says so when you play on one. Time yourself on a computer, with a number pad if you have one.
The seven sections, in order
The FAA publishes no specification for any section. What follows comes from candidate reports from 2016 to 2022, which agree closely with one another. The order of the last three has varied between reports.
Section 1 · Number pad
Memory: Number Differences
A digit shows for about two seconds and disappears. For every digit after the first, type the difference from the one before. About eight rounds of two minutes, each ending on its clock mid-item.
Section 2 · Number pad
Memory: Variables
Letters are given values one at a time, then asked back out of order. Later parts add equations such as A = C + 1, flashed and gone, so you have to work them out as they appear.
Section 3 · T and F keys
Spatial: aircraft relationships
A large aircraft, a small one and a statement such as "The small aircraft is on the left". True or False in about two seconds. When the eye symbol appears, left and right are reversed.
Section 4 · Number pad, then A S D F
Air traffic collision simulation
Numbered objects move across the screen. Remove the fewest that stop every collision, and press 0 when nothing will meet. In part two, arithmetic questions flash over the field while you keep it clear. Candidates call it the ball game.
Section 5 · Mouse
Logic word problems
About fifteen five-option problems in twenty minutes: seating orders, schedules, rules and tables. Blanks are reported to be penalised, so every item needs an answer.
Section 6 · Mouse
Reading comprehension
About six short passages with three questions each in fifteen minutes: the main point, a stated detail, what follows, and what the author says still needs solving.
Section 7 · Mouse
Work style questionnaire
About 108 blocks of three statements, two blocks to a screen, choosing the one most like you and the one least like you. Untimed, and last, after more than two hours of testing.
How the ATSA is scored, and why Qualified is not enough
A band, never a score. You are told which band you fell in, about two weeks after the last date of testing, and never the number behind it. The Inspector General describes one composite percentage made by a proprietary algorithm; how the seven sections are weighted, and whether any has its own minimum, is not published.
The band labels have moved. Sources since 2016 describe them differently, and the current ones do not quite agree with each other:
2016 to 2017
- Bands
- Band 1 (80 to 100) and Band 2 (70 to 79); below 70 fails
- Source
- Candidates relaying FAA HR on a forum
2018 onwards
- Bands
- Best Qualified 90 and above, Well Qualified 85 to 89, Qualified 70 to 84
- Source
- DOT Inspector General, 2023
2025 announcement
- Bands
- Only Well Qualified results considered
- Source
- USAJOBS, as quoted in a 2025 report
2026 announcement
- Bands
- Only Best or Well-Qualified results considered
- Source
- USAJOBS announcement, April 2026
Pearson VUE page, current
- Bands
- Well Qualified, Qualified, Not Referred
- Source
- Pearson VUE, the FAA’s test centre network
The likeliest reading is that the FAA stopped reporting Best Qualified separately around 2025, but that is a guess. What every source since 2018 agrees on is that only the top one or two bands are selected from, and that Qualified is a pass that does not get you hired. From 2018 to 2020, the Inspector General’s figures put 3,073 candidates in the two selectable bands out of 16,988 eligible to test: roughly one in five or six.
Valid for three years, and the latest result counts. If you retake, your newest result replaces the old one even if it is lower, so retake only when you expect to do better.
Where our numbers come from, and what we are not certain about
The FAA does not endorse practice tests. It calls the ATSA an aptitude assessment and says no studying or preparation is necessary. We agree you cannot learn aptitude in a week. What you can learn is the tasks, the keys and the traps, which is what these games are for.
The one official detail about the content. A January 2023 audit by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General found that the ATSA is built from commercial software supplied by two vendors, Airways New Zealand and SHL/CEB, and that the FAA validated 15 of their assessments and kept 7. It does not say which section came from which vendor.
Everything else is candidate reports. Exposure times, round lengths, item counts and the simulation’s speeds are our best reading of reports from 2016 to 2022. Where reports disagree, the games say which figure we chose. The FAA publishes no scoring for any section, so the scoring in our games is ours, and each game’s instructions state it.
Practise it as one sitting once. The real test is nearly three and a half hours at a desk, and candidates say the memory rounds alone feel long. Before the day, play the four keyboard games back to back at least once: Number Differences, Variables, Aircraft Relationships and the collision simulation.
The ATSA replaced the AT-SAT in November 2016. Material written for the AT-SAT describes a different test. The biographical assessment that screened applicants in the mid-2010s was a separate questionnaire and is not part of the ATSA.
Where the ATSA sits in hiring
Stage 1
USAJOBS application
The Air Traffic Control Specialist - Trainee announcement, with citizenship, age and qualification checks. In 2026 the window opened and closed on one day once its cap of applications was reached.
Stage 2
The ATSA
By invitation, at a Pearson VUE centre. The decisive aptitude gate, and the only stage you can practise for.
Stage 3
Referral and offer
Candidates in the top bands are referred for selection, which is not automatic, then a tentative offer, medical clearance including psychological screening, and a security clearance.
Stage 4
FAA Academy
Training at the Academy in Oklahoma City, then at a facility. Alaska Flight Service trainees train in Kenai.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is on the ATSA?
Seven sections: two memory tests answered on the number pad, an aircraft left and right test, a collision simulation with arithmetic, logic word problems, reading comprehension and a forced-choice work style questionnaire. The FAA itself says only that there are multiple subtests measuring abilities such as decision-making, spatial awareness, multitasking and working memory. The seven come from candidate reports and from the Inspector General, who found the FAA kept 7 of the 15 assessments it validated.
How long is the ATSA?
Up to 2 hours 49 minutes of testing plus up to 30 minutes of breaks, nearly three and a half hours in all. It runs as one sitting at the test centre.
What score do I need?
You never see a score. You are placed in a band. The 2026 announcement said only applicants with a Best or Well-Qualified result would be considered, so Qualified is a pass that is not selected from. When the bands were introduced in 2018 the cut points were 90, 85 and 70 percent.
Can I prepare for the ATSA?
The FAA says the ATSA is an aptitude assessment, that no studying or preparation is necessary, and that it does not endorse any practice test. Candidates consistently say that knowing the mechanics and the keys before the day helped, because several sections cost marks for reasons that have nothing to do with aptitude.
Can I retake it, and does an old result count?
Results are valid for three years from the test date. If you retake, your latest result is used even if it is lower. The 2026 announcement encouraged anyone who previously missed the top bands to retake.
Where and how do I sit it?
By invitation only, after applying on USAJOBS, at a Pearson VUE test centre. The FAA covers the cost of the test; you pay your own travel to the centre.
Who is eligible?
US citizens who meet the announcement’s requirements. Federal law sets a maximum hiring age of 30 for entry-level controllers, so you must be under 31 on the announcement’s closing date. Experienced controllers applying on the FAA’s Track 2 route do not sit the ATSA.
Does the personality section count?
The FAA does not say. It went through the same validation as the other six sections, so assume it matters and answer consistently.
Companies That Use the FAA ATSA
The Air Traffic Skills Assessment is not a vendor test that employers buy. It is the Federal Aviation Administration’s own test for entry-level air traffic control specialist trainees, so there is one employer here because there is only one.
Federal Aviation Administration
Government & Public SectorRequires the ATSA of every qualified applicant for Air Traffic Control Specialist - Trainee, including the Alaska Flight Service trainee announcement, and in 2026 considered only Best or Well-Qualified results.
Experienced controllers applying on the FAA’s Track 2 route do not sit the ATSA. No other US or overseas air navigation service is known to use it.
Guides and Tips
Read up before you practise: what the tests reward, what catches candidates out, and why shortcuts do not work.
Can You Cheat the FAA ATSA Air Traffic Test?
A digit that vanishes in two seconds has no answer sheet. Why the FAA’s controller test leaves nothing to copy.
The FAA ATSA: Seven Sections and the Mechanics That Cost Marks
The FAA says no preparation is necessary for its air traffic controller test. Candidates who have sat it say knowing the mechanics was the difference. What each of the seven sections asks, and where marks go.
Practice by Test Type
Compare the same format across every provider that uses it, and see what each one is really measuring.
Verbal Reasoning Test Practice
Short dense passages and true, false or cannot say answers. Judged on what the text supports, never on what you already know.
Logical Reasoning Test Practice
Shapes, sequences and flowcharts instead of words or numbers. Inductive, deductive, abstract, diagrammatic and spatial in one place.
Personality Test Practice for Job Applications
No right answers, which is exactly why they unsettle people. Learn the traits, the consistency checks and the formats before you sit one for real.
About CogniPrep ATSA Practice
CogniPrep provides practice versions of the seven sections of the Air Traffic Skills Assessment, the Federal Aviation Administration’s aptitude test for entry-level air traffic control specialist trainees in the United States. The ATSA replaced the AT-SAT in November 2016, runs at Pearson VUE test centres by invitation, and reports a band rather than a score. CogniPrep is not affiliated with the FAA, and the FAA does not endorse any practice test.
- 7 practice tests: Number Differences, Variables, Aircraft Relationships, the collision simulation, Logic Word Problems, Reading Comprehension and the Work Style Questionnaire
- Real test: up to 2 hours 49 minutes of testing plus up to 30 minutes of breaks
- Keyboard and number pad for the first four sections, mouse for the last three
- Results valid for three years; the latest result is always the one used
- In 2026 only Best or Well-Qualified results were considered
- US citizens only, with a maximum hiring age of 30 for entry-level controllers
Ready to Start Practising?
Sign up for free to try Number Differences, or unlock all seven ATSA sections with unlimited sessions and feedback written against the FAA’s band system.