Module overview
What the test trains
This module focuses on situation-model building, working memory, prediction, prioritisation and multi-source integration. It is designed to make the underlying process easier to recognise, repeat and review before you add more speed or workload.
Task profile
What the task looks like
What it involves
- Monitor verbal, numerical, pictorial and coded information arriving visually and through headphones.
- Track positions, movements, past events and ongoing changes.
- Anticipate possible future events and choose appropriate actions.
- Answer questions about the larger scenario rather than an isolated signal.
Practice screen example
These screenshots show CBAT Academy’s independent practice version of the task.
Interface briefing
Controls and test flow
Controls
Monitor the displayed aircraft picture and respond to each query with a click as the situation develops.
How the Academy version works
CBAT Academy presents an independently developed browser exercise with its own questions, graphics, timing and scoring. The instruction screen explains the current workload before launch; it does not claim to reproduce an official assessment screen or confidential question set.
Performance briefing
Difficulty and scoring
Difficulty and settings
The number of aircraft being tracked simultaneously doubles from 4 at Easy to 8 at Hard, while the time allowed drops from 5 minutes to 3.
How scoring works
The result reflects performance in this Academy module. Accuracy is the main signal for decision tasks, while timing, missed targets, false responses or control error can also contribute where the task requires them. Assessment mode is more suitable for trend comparisons than adjustable practice runs.
Read how practice scores and estimates work →Training plan
Build a method that holds up under pressure
Why this becomes difficult
- Different information channels update at different times.
- Old information must be replaced, not merely added to memory.
- Questions may ask about relationships rather than a single displayed value.
- Future risk depends on movement trends, not only current position.
- Dramatic but low-priority events can capture attention.
Preparation tips
- Organise the scene around objects and relationships rather than raw facts.
- When a value changes, deliberately replace the old value in your model.
- Use a regular scan order so no information source goes unchecked.
- Prioritise movement, conflict and time-sensitive changes.
- Use compact mental labels instead of full descriptions.
Common mistakes
- Remembering stale information after it has changed.
- Monitoring each display independently without combining them.
- Focusing only on current state and ignoring trajectory.
- Trying to memorise every detail equally.
- Letting one unexpected event disrupt the whole scan pattern.
Useful practice drills
- Pause a moving-object scenario and state current positions and predicted events.
- Listen to changing values while monitoring a visual map.
- Update a small table of object states from a stream of changes.
- Distinguish missed detections from incorrect mental-model updates after each session.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as an official Situational Awareness test?
No. It trains related skills with an independently developed task. Rules, controls, timing, visuals and scoring can differ from an official assessment.
What's the most common mistake on this task?
Remembering stale information after it has changed.
What actually helps here?
Organise the scene around objects and relationships rather than raw facts.
Transparency
Sources and information status
Task guidance on this page describes CBAT Academy’s own software. Broad aptitude context is checked against the public references in the source register. Details not established by an official source are treated as independent training methodology.
This guide describes CBAT Academy’s independently developed practice modules. It is not an exact specification of any current RAF, Canadian Forces or Ministry of Defence assessment. Official content, timings, scoring and administration may differ.
Continue the briefing
Turn the method into repeatable performance.
Launch the interactive trainer, begin with accuracy and review the pattern behind each mistake before increasing pace.