Guides and articles
What the tests involve, how to prepare for them, and technique for the parts that can actually be taught. Everything here is free to read.
United Kingdom: the CBAT
Australia: ADF aircrew selection
RAAF pilot aptitude test
All seven stages, from the YOU Session to the Officer Selection Board.
ASP at RAAF East Sale
Two days of testing, where it sits in selection, and what to expect.
MACTS: what it assesses
The cognitive domains behind the ADF testing, and how to practise them.
The Officer Selection Board
The final stage. Nothing here trains it, and here is what does.
By skill, whichever battery you sit
Instrument comprehension
Reading attitude and heading instantly, in both batteries.
Spatial reasoning
Mental rotation, bearings, and building a picture of ground.
Mental maths
Speed arithmetic, and navigation maths done in your head.
CBAT vs MACTS
How the two batteries relate, and whether practice carries across.
Articles
24 August 2026/4 min read
Speed, distance and time questions, worked through
Three formulas, two unit traps, and the shortcut that turns most of these into arithmetic you can do without writing anything down.
24 August 2026/3 min read
Reading the artificial horizon
The instrument that decides the instrument comprehension test, why it confuses almost everyone on first sight, and how to read it quickly.
24 August 2026/4 min read
How to actually practise multitasking
Why doing everything is the wrong goal, and what to do instead when four tasks are running and none of them waits.
24 August 2026/3 min read
Mental arithmetic shortcuts under time pressure
Techniques that survive contact with a clock, and the judgement call that matters more than any of them.