Assessments & Medicals discussion

[Terry844]

Thanks. I guess they don't mind much mistakes on the non priority task in the result that you get none to little on the primary. Will have to remember that on the day. Easily the most annoying of all the tests, I have to say!

Like all the tests it’s been designed for a reason, it identifies if you can follow instructions, if you can prioritise tasks correctly and how well you cope under pressure especially when the pace quickens and there is little chance of working both tasks 100%

 

[NSEWonderer]

Like all the tests it’s been designed for a reason, it identifies if you can follow instructions, if you can prioritise tasks correctly and how well you cope under pressure especially when the pace quickens and there is little chance of working both tasks 100%

Thanks a lot man. Helps me out a ton.

 

[ladylou88]

I failed one part of stage 2 (two hand coordination) a year and a half ago
Im confident I can pass this, I just made a silly mistake
But the fact that I am only going to have one chance ever at the MMI is adding immense pressure as if there wasn’t enough already..

Ok so my question is, what does it take to fail the MMI

Im great at answering questions and in interviews but Im worried that showing signs of being under pressure is whats going to make me fail

Without going into the actual 6 questions, what is it that they ask about the answers you give? What are they looking for in your answers? Confidence? Safety orientated mindset? Ability to not crack under the pressure of their questions?

I have been putting off retaking the tests because of this

Thanks in advance

 

[Jobi-wan]

I failed one part of stage 2 (two hand coordination) a year and a half ago
Im confident I can pass this, I just made a silly mistake
But the fact that I am only going to have one chance ever at the MMI is adding immense pressure as if there wasn’t enough already..

Ok so my question is, what does it take to fail the MMI

Im great at answering questions and in interviews but Im worried that showing signs of being under pressure is whats going to make me fail

Without going into the actual 6 questions, what is it that they ask about the answers you give? What are they looking for in your answers? Confidence? Safety orientated mindset? Ability to not crack under the pressure of their questions?

I have been putting off retaking the tests because of this

Thanks in advance

All of the above. Make sure you have some great answers to the questions or scenarios they will ask of you and make sure you answer them in the correct manner. Also know when they are trying to push your buttons. Good luck!

 

[llimma]

I failed one part of stage 2 (two hand coordination) a year and a half ago
Im confident I can pass this, I just made a silly mistake
But the fact that I am only going to have one chance ever at the MMI is adding immense pressure as if there wasn’t enough already..

Ok so my question is, what does it take to fail the MMI

Im great at answering questions and in interviews but Im worried that showing signs of being under pressure is whats going to make me fail

Without going into the actual 6 questions, what is it that they ask about the answers you give? What are they looking for in your answers? Confidence? Safety orientated mindset? Ability to not crack under the pressure of their questions?

I have been putting off retaking the tests because of this

Thanks in advance

I had one attempt left, after messing up on part one the first time.

Best advice I got for the MMI was obviously, use the STAR method. Some research can find you questions on here which are very close to the real thing.

But also, treat the interviewer like a baby. Not in a patronising way but avoid using complicated terms, explain everything as plainly and simply. They're not looking for superheroes when it comes to "what would you do in an emergency", but more how you explain and recall what you did at the time, your justification for acting the way you did and if you would do anything differently.

I've heard sometimes they will keep asking you the same questions aswell to add pressure, but just stick to your original answer.

If you also feel overwhelmed during the test, don't be afraid to pause and ask for a moment to gather your thoughts rather than risk rambling on.

 

[DriverHBS]

Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[joshj00]

Hello... a very happy British summer to you all! Does anyone know how long after you pass your MMI/ DMI do you then get invited for a medical? I know the process is slow, just curious if you get the job offer and then you have an invite for the medical the following week, another month etc or would it be dependant on start dates ..... thanks in advance

 

[trainp165]

I had a medical with SWR on 24th June but still haven't heard anything back such as a start date or further correspondence, what should be the best course of action to take?

 

[NSEWonderer]

I had a medical with SWR on 24th June but still haven't heard anything back such as a start date or further correspondence, what should be the best course of action to take?

If its an inhouse role then email SWR Recruitment or call them. Should have number on any emails you received from them.

 

[rajuv]

Anyone know what options I have if I fail the peripheral vision test for the TFL CSA2 grade. Passed everything else perfectly including the normal eye test.

 

[Emma95]

Hi!

I would write out some different examples. The questions will be based around customer service. (These are just examples and not the same as online)

1. Give us a time when you have given excellent customer service?

2. Give us a time when you have had to challenge a member staff about their behaviour

3. Give us a time when you have had a difficult customer?

4. Give us a time when you have had to work as a team?

5. Give us a time when you have used your own initiative?

Once you’ve got these written down as answers. You can put the notes on the side of the screen.

The recording is roughly 2-3 mins long. AIM to answer the question, not go off subject. Give lots of detail. Make sure you

1. Talk about the situation
2. What you needed to do
3. What you did
4. Outcome

Read the job profile, understand the role fluently and pick out the skills needed for the role. Make sure you mention this in your interview.

Railway is looking for people, who go that extra mile, team players but also can work alone, good listening skills, lead ship, accountability, dealing with conflict, attention to detail etc etc

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It also doesn’t hurt to go into the station, speak to the staff about the role. Anyone would be happy to talk to you.

This is really helpful, thank you! I spoke to my local station's staff and conductors on my usual commute and have been given plenty of advice as well. Everyone on the railway has been friendly and welcoming.

I also passed the video interview and have an in-person interview coming up soon!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jul 2024 ==

Good luck! They should give you a test question for you to practice on first too.

Thank you! Passed the video interview, next stage is the in-person interview!

 

[Danfilm007]

This is really helpful, thank you! I spoke to my local station's staff and conductors on my usual commute and have been given plenty of advice as well. Everyone on the railway has been friendly and welcoming.

I also passed the video interview and have an in-person interview coming up soon!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jul 2024 ==


Thank you! Passed the video interview, next stage is the in-person interview!

Congratulations! That's well done fingers crossed you progress once more.

 

[DriverDavid]

I did one for LNER a couple of weeks ago! It’s usually paper tests first.

Group Bourdon dots test (google it) you can practise for free.

Then it’s “how many floors?” You count the low tones out of a sequence of different high and low tones. Each low tone represents a floor. There’s about 8 questions on this, asking you how many floors?

Part 2- You then an A3 piece of paper with names on it, next to the names are symbols. Like XO XX +- ++. You have to circle all two symbols that match.

Then the 3rd part of the test is counting a sequence of tones, whilst circling all the matching two symbols. My best advice for this one is, circle the symbols in between each sequence of tones you count.

The next part of the test is a listening/reading test. You’ll have an A4 piece of paper with information or instructions with a photo. Mine was about the braking system. You listen to the audio version of it first, and then you have 5 minutes to read it. You can take notes on a scrap piece of paper. They take the information away and the notes. You wait a through minutes and then have 18 questions to answer in 7 mins. I managed to answer all of them.

The second part of this test is cables and dials. It’s pretty straight forward. Just make sure you listen to the instructions,

Once you’ve done this, they’ll mark the papers. If you are successful you have to do the computer tests.

The computer tests- the first test was vigilance. There’s a small grey square, it is flashing slowly, it turns darker every now and again, every time it turns dark you press the button as quickly as possible. The best tip I can give is, don’t keep your hand on the button. They are quite sensitive. Make sure it’s hoovered over, or to the side of the button. I ended up with a hand spasm and hit it at the wrong time. I still passed though! You have to do this for 30 mins.

The second test is basically a photo that flashes up on the screen for 1 sec. It asks you what you see. It’s the same options for every photo. The 5 options are pedestrian, motor vehicle, bicycle/motorbike, traffic sign, traffic light. There’s 20 questions on this. Tip- only click what you see, don’t guess. You get marked down for the wrong answer.

Third test is hand coordination test, left hand toggle goes left to right, right hand toggle goes up and down. The aim is to get the red ball along the track without it going off. If it goes off the line, it makes a beep. You probably will go off, and it will beep, the aim is to recover quickly. Tip- use the base of the toggles. It’s easier to control as it’s very sensitive,

After that, I had a SJT, there’s no wrong or right answer, it’s just a personality test, they use this information for your interview at the end.

You have a break, then go back and they tell you if you’ve passed.

If successful, you have an interview with the assessors. There’s usually 7 questions, you write brief answer. Then they’ll ask you to tell them about it in more detail. They ask you questions like… how do you feel about rules? Do you think you followed the rules? What was the outcome of following the rules?

I passed first time, it’s not hard, it just hurts your brain. Best advice, if you mess up, don’t worry, keep going. No one is perfect. You might surprise yourself.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jun 2024 ==


Mine was on braking systems

This is brilliant thank you.

Does anyone know where I can find any extra revision/practice material for psychometric tests? I have one in just over a week.

Completely new to rail and this forum so just searching about for helpful tips and info.

 

[Stevecairns]

I have a couple of questions about the ATAVT test that I'm hoping someone could help me with. Do you count pedestrian (the lights with the red/green men) lights as traffic lights? Should signs about parking times and fees be counted as road signs? Should signs and lights turned away from you be counted? Sorry if this has been asked before, I did try to look.

Did you have any luck getting an answer to these questions?

Hi guys, i will be resitting my ATAVT test this week as i failed it first time around. Does anyone know if the pedestrian lights above are classed as road signs or traffic lights? I think these confused me a bit as the images were taken from Vienna, Austria and so threw me off a little.

 

[Chrysalis]

Did you have any luck getting an answer to these questions?

I didn't sadly. I ended up not counting signs about parking fees etc as road signs and I also didn't count lights and signs turned away from me and I passed. Pedestrian lights I believe I counted but it's best you ask on the day if unsure (unlike me). Good luck!

 

[JJ91]

Hi all,

I attended a medical assessment today, they were unable to give me an answer as the doctor had to discuss my case with a Senior officer.
I take amitriptyline at night and it's this medication that may be an issue as the role I've applied for is safety critical. It was noted down I don't experience any side effects as I've been on it for quite a long time now, 6 years.

Anyone else had this, just looking for a bit of hope that it won't be an issue as I'm so excited to start my career in the rail industry

 

[Stevecairns]

This is wrong!!
Street names count as road signs, you will need to tick that box if saw one.

The "green man" on a post has to be ticked under "traffic lights".

There is not time limit to give the answers, however I can guarantee the more you dwell the more you are likely to make a mistake in choosing something that actually wasn't there.

Anyone taking these tests, read carefully those instructions!

I think you are wrong. I was putting pedestrian crossing lights as traffic lights and ended up failing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2024 ==

Brief overview of Assessment Center Stage 2 now that I've completed it twice both times passing.

If stage one is what you're looking for then an overview is here: Stage One Assessment Day Overview

The Day starts off with the WAFV, followed by ATAVT and then 2 hand coordination test. In both my experiences the results are shortly given to you on a one to one meeting after the tests. It lasts about 52 Mins to 1Hr for the assessment part of the day, if your TOC does the MMI on the same day then that will happen after X amount of time on that day and only after the SJE and Pre Questionnaire sheet is filled.


WAFV
Known as a Vigilance test, it lasts about 30mins and you're expected to react only when the flashing grey square turns Black. As others have said on this forum, you will be given a practice set before starting the real test and it shows you clearly the difference between the Grey square and Black Square. An example shown below:

View attachment 151541
The Normal Shade, you do not react to this at all.

View attachment 151539
The Black square, you're expected to react to it by pressing a Green Button.

View attachment 151542

I completed the examples and started the test. It felt faster for me, time duration-wise, than the times I practiced it. I practiced for 1 week every day before the assessment using a tool called Rail Test Preparation, which has a few other tests on it and, in my opinion, replicated the WAFV very well. But then again, it's really only a flashing grey square that turns dark black .

The frequency of the black square was very manageable. I found ways to keep up my attention by adding in a tiny bit of distraction. For example, I ended up learning exactly how far away, test-wise, those sitting the test with me were. As I started first, I knew the person next to me was about 10 seconds behind, and the one after them, 25 behind, and the other 10 seconds behind that individual. Moving my focus to different corners of the squares rather than a whole head adjustment also corrected any loss of focus or blurriness, which will start to happen if you focus too long.

I personally didn't experience it, but some experienced a color disorientation in which the square appears to be getting darker and darker than it truly is. This led to misclicks, and in some cases, I heard several presses of the green button by a lass in the corner, of which I knew I hadn't encountered any part of the test that required that amount of button pressing. Thus, as we later discovered, they were false clicks as the disorientation had happened. Sadly, went down by 3 after that test, out of 5 down to mainly that.

I often like to understand why I do a test, and from the experience, I could tell that this test, as the name suggests, will test your ability to concentrate for an extended period of time and your reaction over that said time. As something gets monotonous, your mind can tend to lag, and the test wants to see if what starts off as a simple task can then become a difficult task for an individual, which could highlight an area of risk in train operation.

Tips for the test from my experience:

1. Get yourself comfortable and in position, this matters a lot as you don't want to make any adjustments as much later, Your hand that will be used to press the button should be relaxed and of free movement to do so.
2. Make sure you've used the toilet, kept a bottle of water near you but not distractingly close and any distractions on yourself like a Phone etc has been removed. You'll need to be of full attention.
3. Don't overthink the test, there is only ever two shades and the two shades are exactly the same two you will see in the practice examples. They do not change mid test.
4. Use the headphones for some noise dampening
5. Relax once again, wait only for the square to go black before you react, It also gives you a bit of a hint that you've reacted to the Black square by the screen staying white for about 1 second more than usual before flashing to whatever the next shade of square is.

ATAVT
The test I worried about on both occasions but ended up passing it to very high standard. Its a test of visual perception. You are shown an image for about 1 second of a street or traffic and asked to later state what you see. The options were similar to:

View attachment 151544

ATAVT Similar Video

You're given practice examples, as with the WAFV. It's important to note that the practice run will tell you that you've got the question wrong if you do not get all the items correct and will reshare the photo for you to select the correct ones. However, this does not mean that in the real test you need every item!!! Just select honestly what you saw and do not try to guess. You're negatively marked down on wrong answers, not missed answers. Just because you may have seen a pedestrian crossing a road doesn't mean they did so at a traffic light; it could have been a zebra crossing. Unless you remember exactly what it was, then don't assume.

On the device its these buttons for the test:

View attachment 151545

The green button is only used to move to the next image; you're allowed to control when you move to the next set of images. I think there were 17-20 images in all, with about 12 minutes total time estimated. I just focused on the center of the images. My eyes were able to make out the big objects like cars and glowing objects like traffic lights, while I could check for people, cyclists, and road signs. It went quite well in my opinion, much better than what I expected. Once again, a test that you really shouldn't overthink.

I think it's self-explanatory with why you're tested on this, but briefly, as a driver, you'd be expected to have a decent level of visual recall, especially at some operational speeds of over 100mph. You'll need to be able to pick out details that often will be oblivious to others, and all that in a restricted amount of time while staying calm.

Tips for the test from my experience:

1. Get yourself comfortable and in position, if you're using glasses then wipe those as you don't want fog to cause you issues.
2. Don't overthink the test, only click the number relevant to the answer that you've seen(this becomes clear on the day but on the test device the numbers correspond to the answer you want to select).
3. Take as much time as you realistically need before moving onto the next but not too long as you'll find yourself pandering over what you've seen and in some cases you might recreate the actual image you last remember seeing in your head.
4. Make sure if you haven't already to have adjusted the sound in your headset. The audio beep that plays before the image is shown is important and you don't want it too quiet yet too loud.
5. Relax, ideally you should have found a focus point on the test practice examples in which you will be aiming to focus on for all the images. Use the practice examples to the max before starting the real test on the day!

2 Hand Coordination
Like the ATAVT there isn't much that can prepare you for this test, you either have the ability or don't but your day to day life may have used the certain fine motor skills and hand eye coordination required for the test itself. The main area that makes it hard to practice the test is that the Joysticks:

View attachment 151546

Do not feel like most conventional joysticks and are thus harder to replicate with dual-shock joysticks like those on the Playstation, etc. However, they do flick back slowly to the neutral position, so bear in mind this if you let go during the test. The left joystick controls only the right and left movement of the ball and is restricted to this axis, while the right controls the up and down movement of the ball and is also restricted to this axis.

The real test will look somewhat similar to below:

You are given a practice round first, which involves simply moving the ball to a Point marked B. There's no track in this example. Use the examples to get a feel for positioning; I found that holding the joysticks halfway worked best for me, so you'll need to experiment for yourself. These examples are not timed, and it's up to you to move on by moving the ball to the destination marked B.

Another example after the first practice stage is the circuit itself, and this is your last chance to adjust your audio, find a feel for placement on the joystick, and get to grips with the test. Once you complete the circuit, the test is next. It should take about 10 minutes, estimated, and there are a few tracks. You'll go out for sure in this test; I went out on the first 4 about 3 times each, and there is a clear audio beep telling you this. Try not to panic and just get back on track. I'm very sure they can see how you react to the audio beep, especially if the ball right after increases the distance it's already fallen off the track by.

Going off track isn't too much of a problem; just try not to be too frequent with it. How quickly you get back on track is very important. You'll feel yourself getting better. All 10 track test attempts are the same, The circuit doesn't change at all, its the same Circuit/ Track as the first attempt and which at the time of writing is again similar to the picture above. By test attempt 7, I was going off the track only once on each, with the 10th not coming off at all. You'll improve as you go along.

I don't really have any tips for this one as it's basically a game of ability here.

Hopefully, you're called in after the suite of tests is done and are told you've passed. In which case, you may do the MMI on the day and be told how the final part of that day will proceed. The MMI is so well covered in this forum that I'd be repeating lots of already valuable information on here. Best of luck!

Hi, thankyou for your informative post. Im due to resit the ATAVT after failing first time around. I believe i got confused as to what the pedestrian lights are classed as. Could you give me some advice on this?

 

[Stevecairns]

Street names aren't road signs, they're street names. Road signs are basically what's available in the highway code - one way sign for example.

I don't know what you mean by a post with a green man on it, you're thinking too deeply. If you see a traffic light then you tick the box.

I don't remember being timed on mine but the whole testing is based around speed and accuracy so I wouldn't take too long answering.

The best and basically only tip you need is to only put down what you see. If you "think" you saw something but aren't sure, don't put it down.

It's really not a hard test and everything is explained to you on the day, can't remember if you even get a practice beforehand also.

I think clarification on the pedestrian lights is important as i can see many people including myself have failed due to confusion as to what they and certain road signs are classed as. And on the day they definitely do not explain what each one is classed as. Having the images from Austria dosent help really.

 

[NSEWonderer]

I think you are wrong. I was putting pedestrian crossing lights as traffic lights and ended up failing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2024 ==


Hi, thankyou for your informative post. Im due to resit the ATAVT after failing first time around. I believe i got confused as to what the pedestrian lights are classed as. Could you give me some advice on this?

Pedestrian lights will 99% of the time always be on a traffic light so you'd class it as that. Street names count as Road Signs/ Traffic signs as per the Highway code they'd fall under the Information Sign Category.

 

[Stevecairns]

Pedestrian lights will 99% of the time always be on a traffic light so you'd class it as that. Street names count as Road Signs/ Traffic signs as per the Highway code they'd fall under the Information Sign Category.

Someone else is saying that pedestrian lights count as road signs??

 

[NSEWonderer]

Someone else is saying that pedestrian lights count as road signs?

No, they don't. You're overthinking it. A pedestrian light will be on a traffic light, as how will cars know to stop if a green man shows up but is facing in the direction of pedestrians? The only way a pedestrian light with a green man works is in tandem with an actual traffic light to stop traffic.

It can't be a road sign. Now, there may be a road sign on some traffic lights like those in New York, but you'd tick both the Road Sign and Traffic Light options for that.

 

[joshj00]

Hi all,

I attended a medical assessment today, they were unable to give me an answer as the doctor had to discuss my case with a Senior officer.
I take amitriptyline at night and it's this medication that may be an issue as the role I've applied for is safety critical. It was noted down I don't experience any side effects as I've been on it for quite a long time now, 6 years.

Anyone else had this, just looking for a bit of hope that it won't be an issue as I'm so excited to start my career in the rail industry

What was your timeframe between being offered Job and medical appointment?

 

[Biscwit]

Hi, I have a medical next week and I am concerned I will fail the hearing test (only had hearing test done because I was booking in for eye test) So I have recently purchased hearing aids but hardly wear them, I use them solely to ‘enhance’ my hearing, like when the TV is on. I can hold a conversation with people and communicate over the phone well. Is it a strict you ‘must‘ have no more than 30dB hearing loss and test is carried out without hearing aids. I will be absolutely gutted if I fail at the last hurdle, having worked so hard to get this far. I am aware that currently employed train drivers wear them but where do I stand coming in off the street? The role is for Trainee Depot Driver. Thank you in advance for anyone that may be able to help.

 

[Burrowl]

Hi team,

I have a train driver assessment coming up on Wednesday.
I've practiced a lot for most of the tests, but the ATAVT seems a little hard to predict, and find techniques for. This is the test where they flash traffic photographs at you for a very short period of time, and then you have to state whether there were cars, bikes, pedestrians, road signs or traffic lights in them.
My thoughts are:
1) Do you have any tips how to scan the pictures? I'm a verbal thinker. I've tried things like naming colours to get myself to focus on different areas of the picture. Or would you say it is mostly my state of fatigue / alertness at the time of day and due to sleep etc?
2) do you know exactly how long they display the images for? This might help me to set up the optimal practice.
3) I am sometimes able to do well at these (practices) and sometimes not. Are there any tips, such as is the scoring weighted towards identifying motor vehicles, as the most potentially dangerous?

I appreciate your help in advance.

Thanks and kind regards,

Laurence

 

[Burrowl]

Hi team,

What advice do members have about how to know whether you're ready to sit the assessments - given the 'two attempts per lifetime' rule? . It is easy to postpone but I have not persuaded myself to, plus there is the administration of waiting for further dates and reorganising life.
I do not fully agree with the idea that the aptitudes are innate, particularly given my experience in other tests and the past.
Also, with the Bourdon dot test, I am finding it hard to know how to balance speed and accuracy. My best thought is that Metodorf.com states the average processing speed for the dot test as 100-140 characters per minute. Per 2 minutes, that's 200-280 characters, which is 8-11 lines, so I would aim to do this much per page.
What do you think about that?

Kind regards

Laurence

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Hi Laurence,

The ATAVT is a hard tricky test. The pictures flash up & are gone within a second or two. Don’t overthink the scanning method just quickly scan the whole scene. My two tips which helped me are;
1) Commit to memory the 5 subjects you’ll be looking for, ie cars etc. I found this helped me as it made me more familiar with what I was looking for as I looked.

2) Select things you definitely saw & if you have to guess or are not sure then do not select them, (that was a tip I picked up on here a few years ago thanks to somebody else).

Best of luck. Let us know how you get on.

 

[NSEWonderer]

Do not overthink the tests. Simply one either has the ability or doesn't but with the dots you can practice to a noticeably better level. Specifically aim to do as many lines without errors or omissions as you can on paper with pen, 5 sheets A4 with 2 mins for each and once every day.

The actual test on the day judges your accuracy, speed and consistency. Whilst no one knows the exact number of lines at the very least I would say 6 lines without errors or omissions is a good start.

 

[RossMc]

You are overthinking it. Practise practise practise and I'm sure you will be fine.

 

[Adam76]

Hi Everyone. Ive seen a few mixed opinions on the topic but can anybody tell me if i can become a train driver with Type 1 Diabetes in the uk

 

[Horizon22]

Hi Everyone. Ive seen a few mixed opinions on the topic but can anybody tell me if i can become a train driver with Type 1 Diabetes in the uk

Yes you can be. It is something to discuss at a medical - if you reach that stage. As long as it is controlled and managed it should all be OK.