What is the MACTS test?

The Military Aviation Cognitive Assessment System, the computer based aptitude testing the Australian Defence Force uses inside the Aviation Screening Program at RAAF Base East Sale. It runs across two four hour sessions over two days.

What questions are in MACTS?

The question content is not published and nobody outside the assessment can show it to you. What is documented is that it covers seven cognitive domains, and that two of the capabilities it measures are identifying shapes in a three dimensional environment and interpreting aircraft instruments under timed conditions.

Can you practise for MACTS?

You can practise the skills it measures, which is the part that actually improves. Aviation aptitude testing measures the same small set of capabilities everywhere, so working on those is useful regardless of which battery you sit.

Is MACTS the same as the CBAT?

No. The CBAT is the Royal Air Force battery in the United Kingdom. MACTS is Australian. The formats differ, though the underlying skills overlap almost entirely.

At the Aviation Screening Program, which comes after your Assessment Day and before the Officer Selection Board. Aviation aptitude testing happens earlier in the pathway as well, at the Additional Testing stage.

Australia

MACTS practice tests and preparation

The Military Aviation Cognitive Assessment System is the computer testing the ADF uses inside the RAAF Aviation Screening Program at East Sale. Here is what is actually documented about this pilot aptitude testing, and how to practise for it.

Read this first. CBATONE is not MACTS and does not reproduce it. The real test content is restricted and none of it appears here. What this practises is the underlying skills every aircrew battery measures, because those are what the job needs. That is useful preparation and it is all we claim.

What is documented

It is computer based, delivered across two four hour sessions over two days.
It is described as covering seven cognitive domains.
Two of the capabilities it measures are named publicly: identifying shapes within a three dimensional environment, and interpreting aircraft instruments under timed conditions.

The seven domains are not individually published, and neither is the standard required. This page does not list them, because doing so would mean making them up. If another site gives you a confident breakdown, ask where it came from.

The two named skills, and where to practise them

Both map directly onto tests that already exist here. Neither is a reproduction of anything in MACTS. They are the same skill, asked a different way.

Identifying shapes in a three dimensional environment

Holding an object in your head and recognising it from an angle you were not shown, and building a picture of ground you can only see part of.

Visualisation Spatial Integration Angles, Bearings & Degrees

Interpreting aircraft instruments under time pressure

Reading attitude and heading off a panel and converting it, instantly, into which way the aircraft is actually pointing. Easy untimed, which is why it is never untimed.

Instrument Comprehension (Part 1)Instrument Comprehension (Part 2)

The skills every aircrew battery tests

Beyond those two, the honest approach is to work on the whole set. Every military aircrew battery in the world measures roughly the same things, because they are what the job needs rather than what a particular country decided to ask. Practising them is useful whichever battery you sit.

Skill area	Tests	Why it is measured
Numerical	2	Navigation arithmetic has to happen while you are doing something else.
Reasoning	2	Systems have rules, and you have to apply them correctly the first time.
Spatial	6	Knowing where you are and which way you are pointing, from partial information.
Perceptual	5	Finding the one thing that matters among many that look like it.
Working memory	3	Instructions arrive once and are not repeated.
Psychomotor	3	Hands doing one job accurately while attention is on another.
Multitasking	6	Several demands at once, and deciding what to let go.

Every test lists what it measures and how it is scored.

MACTS questions

What is the MACTS test?: The Military Aviation Cognitive Assessment System, the computer based aptitude testing the Australian Defence Force uses inside the Aviation Screening Program at RAAF Base East Sale. It runs across two four hour sessions over two days.
What questions are in MACTS?: The question content is not published and nobody outside the assessment can show it to you. What is documented is that it covers seven cognitive domains, and that two of the capabilities it measures are identifying shapes in a three dimensional environment and interpreting aircraft instruments under timed conditions.
Can you practise for MACTS?: You can practise the skills it measures, which is the part that actually improves. Aviation aptitude testing measures the same small set of capabilities everywhere, so working on those is useful regardless of which battery you sit.
Is MACTS the same as the CBAT?: No. The CBAT is the Royal Air Force battery in the United Kingdom. MACTS is Australian. The formats differ, though the underlying skills overlap almost entirely.
When do I sit MACTS?: At the Aviation Screening Program, which comes after your Assessment Day and before the Officer Selection Board. Aviation aptitude testing happens earlier in the pathway as well, at the Additional Testing stage.

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Keep reading

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.

The Officer Selection Board

The final stage. Nothing here trains it, and here is what does.

CBATONE is independent practice material and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Australian Defence Force, ADF Careers, the Ministry of Defence or any other armed force, government department or recruiting body. “CBAT”, “ASP”, “MACTS”, “GAT” and “OSB” are used only to describe the assessments this material is intended to help you prepare for. Every question here is original material written to the published format. Full terms.