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Assessments & Medicals discussion

erer245

Member
Joined
8 May 2025
Messages
34
Location
weston
Hello all. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak with my DMI for GWR up soon. Anyone that has been through this, is it your real traditional why do you want to work for us and what I know about them or is it a bit more technical asking me stuff about how the trains work / signals etc. thanks in advance
 
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LondonRrd

Member
Joined
14 Aug 2025
Messages
26
Location
Swansea
Hello all. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak with my DMI for GWR up soon. Anyone that has been through this, is it your real traditional why do you want to work for us and what I know about them or is it a bit more technical asking me stuff about how the trains work / signals etc. thanks in advance

I haven’t been through the DMI yet..waiting for my date. There is a decent about of info on the forums about this. I don’t think it’s technical, more around what you know about the company, why you want to be a train driver etc. They also ask a couple of ‘name a time when…’ type questions similar to the MMI from what I’ve read.

Which depot have you applied for?
 

Devondepot1

New Member
Joined
13 Aug 2025
Messages
1
Location
Exeter
Hi all, I'm new to the forum, having just applied for trainee depot driver in Exeter. I've just downloaded all of the info packs about the job in advance of the video interview and something I hadn't been aware of previously is the height requirement. I'm female and 5"0 tall. Is the height requirement a deal breaker? I'm so excited for the prospect of this role and feel really deflated thinking there is a barrier I can't overcome. Can anyone advise please?
Thank you
 

LondonRrd

Member
Joined
14 Aug 2025
Messages
26
Location
Swansea
Hi all, I'm new to the forum, having just applied for trainee depot driver in Exeter. I've just downloaded all of the info packs about the job in advance of the video interview and something I hadn't been aware of previously is the height requirement. I'm female and 5"0 tall. Is the height requirement a deal breaker? I'm so excited for the prospect of this role and feel really deflated thinking there is a barrier I can't overcome. Can anyone advise please?
Thank you
I was curious so had a look. There is a post from a couple of years ago regarding this: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/height-worries.213592/

Not sure if the RSSB has changed the requirements. Worth checking.
 

TomH1994

Member
Joined
7 Feb 2024
Messages
108
Location
Luton
Hello all,
I failed stage 1 OPC in January (one standard one enhanced for LNWR/WMT).
Thameslink then offered me an online assessment in June (after applying last year). They said I failed it end of June
Are the rules still 6 months or are they 1 year now? As the email from WMT in Jan said 6 months but not sure if it just hasn’t been updated to the new rules

Assuming I only failed the GTR one because of the wait to do assessment again but then you’d have thought maybe they wouldn’t have given me the online in the first place but then I’m not sure
 

Gunny

Member
Joined
30 May 2025
Messages
18
Location
uk
Hello all. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak with my DMI for GWR up soon. Anyone that has been through this, is it your real traditional why do you want to work for us and what I know about them or is it a bit more technical asking me stuff about how the trains work / signals etc. thanks in advance
Hi mate. Had my DMI for GWR December last year. Of course this could have changed and also could be different depo to depo.

However, there was nothing technical about mine or even related to “what do you know about us” it was all about me and my experiences. Roughly an hour initially just chatting asking about me in general then it went into name a time when you’ve done this name a time when you’ve experienced that and it was pretty much that format for the rest of it.

The way I prepared for it and really helped me was to just google “example interview questions” I think I found a page that had around 50-60 of name a time/ name an experience questions.

Now this won’t obviously give you the answers but practicing these out loud helped me put my experiences into words and enabled me to talk about something more clearly that previously would of in some cases been a distant memory.
Really think about questions you want the answers too as well put those into words as well as you don’t want to get to it and just be like “nah I’ve got no questions” because you absolutely should have some unanswered questions about your future career.

My interview was very relaxed and mainly felt like a conversation they were both very friendly and it flew by.and I was told the next day I had passed. Obviously every interviewer and depo will be different some how but I’d be surprised if GWR format was massively different across stations. Hope that helps.
 

erer245

Member
Joined
8 May 2025
Messages
34
Location
weston
Hi mate. Had my DMI for GWR December last year. Of course this could have changed and also could be different depo to depo.

However, there was nothing technical about mine or even related to “what do you know about us” it was all about me and my experiences. Roughly an hour initially just chatting asking about me in general then it went into name a time when you’ve done this name a time when you’ve experienced that and it was pretty much that format for the rest of it.

The way I prepared for it and really helped me was to just google “example interview questions” I think I found a page that had around 50-60 of name a time/ name an experience questions.

Now this won’t obviously give you the answers but practicing these out loud helped me put my experiences into words and enabled me to talk about something more clearly that previously would of in some cases been a distant memory.
Really think about questions you want the answers too as well put those into words as well as you don’t want to get to it and just be like “nah I’ve got no questions” because you absolutely should have some unanswered questions about your future career.

My interview was very relaxed and mainly felt like a conversation they were both very friendly and it flew by.and I was told the next day I had passed. Obviously every interviewer and depo will be different some how but I’d be surprised if GWR format was massively different across stations. Hope that helps.
Perfect thank you. Spent my last couple days learning my class 802s and what SPADS are so can find a way at the end to throw that in haha.

That’s a great help, I’ll brush up on my generic interview questions and store some examples in my memory. Thank you for the assistance it’s more appreciated than you can imagine. 2 weeks time and all the work could have paid off!
 

Gunny

Member
Joined
30 May 2025
Messages
18
Location
uk
Perfect thank you. Spent my last couple days learning my class 802s and what SPADS are so can find a way at the end to throw that in haha.

That’s a great help, I’ll brush up on my generic interview questions and store some examples in my memory. Thank you for the assistance it’s more appreciated than you can imagine. 2 weeks time and all the work could have paid off!
Good luck mate. Do your prep and you’ll be fine. Make sure you have an answer for everything they say and if you don’t initially then really rack your brains cuz it’s all pretty standard work and customer care questions it’ll be pretty obvious if you make something up which is why it’s important to put your experiences into words before the interview.
 

PlayedRex

Member
Joined
12 Jun 2025
Messages
67
Location
Exeter
Perfect thank you. Spent my last couple days learning my class 802s and what SPADS are so can find a way at the end to throw that in haha.

That’s a great help, I’ll brush up on my generic interview questions and store some examples in my memory. Thank you for the assistance it’s more appreciated than you can imagine. 2 weeks time and all the work could have paid off!
Had my DMI for Exeter a couple of weeks ago and it was generally very relaxed. A lot of the questions are similar to what you will have done for the MMI. Just relax and best of luck!
 

Georgiahope1

Member
Joined
7 Apr 2025
Messages
41
Location
York
Hello all,
I failed stage 1 OPC in January (one standard one enhanced for LNWR/WMT).
Thameslink then offered me an online assessment in June (after applying last year). They said I failed it end of June
Are the rules still 6 months or are they 1 year now? As the email from WMT in Jan said 6 months but not sure if it just hasn’t been updated to the new rules

Assuming I only failed the GTR one because of the wait to do assessment again but then you’d have thought maybe they wouldn’t have given me the online in the first place but then I’m not I t

I think it is a year from anyone who took it after the 7th December 2024.

But those who took it after this date will get 3 attempts rather than 2.
 

erer245

Member
Joined
8 May 2025
Messages
34
Location
weston
Had my DMI for Exeter a couple of weeks ago and it was generally very relaxed. A lot of the questions are similar to what you will have done for the MMI. Just relax and best of luck!
thank you very much will keep this in mind, did you pass? and how long did it take to find out

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Good luck mate. Do your prep and you’ll be fine. Make sure you have an answer for everything they say and if you don’t initially then really rack your brains cuz it’s all pretty standard work and customer care questions it’ll be pretty obvious if you make something up which is why it’s important to put your experiences into words before the interview.
thank you will do
 

Georgiahope1

Member
Joined
7 Apr 2025
Messages
41
Location
York
Thanks, that makes sense ! Guess I’ll have to wait until December/January then!
You will only have to re-sit what you failed though which is good. I failed the first time and went back 6 months later to re-sit the only one i had failed and then my interview.
 

Wizard77

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2017
Messages
26
Preparing for stage 2 at the OPC in a couple of weeks. Am struggling with a suitable scenario for one of the likely MMI questions…. assuming I pass the computer tests! I believe there is a question along the lines of ‘describe a time you have had to communicate an important message / explain something complex’ ? I’m not sure I ever have - I have gone through procedures in the workplace before with new starters as part of a company induction but just not sure it counts as something complex or an important message? It may have to do in the absence of anything more suitable though - Anyone have similar issues with this question or know if this is one they definitely ask in some shape or form?
 

RailEnt

On Moderation
Joined
24 May 2022
Messages
15
Location
Oxford
Can we submit a DSAR request for “in-house” test with a TOC (GWR) for train driver results? They refused to elaborate the results on the day.
 

DMckduck

Member
Joined
26 Jul 2020
Messages
488
Preparing for stage 2 at the OPC in a couple of weeks. Am struggling with a suitable scenario for one of the likely MMI questions…. assuming I pass the computer tests! I believe there is a question along the lines of ‘describe a time you have had to communicate an important message / explain something complex’ ? I’m not sure I ever have - I have gone through procedures in the workplace before with new starters as part of a company induction but just not sure it counts as something complex or an important message? It may have to do in the absence of anything more suitable though - Anyone have similar issues with this question or know if this is one they definitely ask in some shape or form?
Someone may correct me, but I don't recall this being one of the six questions? Unless they aren't standardised as I thought they were.
 

Wizard77

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2017
Messages
26
I’m hoping it isn’t one as I haven’t a clue how to answer it really! Anyone sat the MMI recently and have any recollection of the 6 questions they ask? I’m wondering if I’ve got confused by different wording to a question and they tweak them a bit based on your SJT answers?
 

erer245

Member
Joined
8 May 2025
Messages
34
Location
weston
I’m hoping it isn’t one as I haven’t a clue how to answer it really! Anyone sat the MMI recently and have any recollection of the 6 questions they ask? I’m wondering if I’ve got confused by different wording to a question and they tweak them a bit based on your SJT answers?
1. Time it was important you don’t make mistakes.
2. Time you dealt with an emergency situation.
3. Time you worked alone for long periods.
4. An experince you do similar to a train driver.
5. Time you did a training course / earnt your biggest achievement over a period of time.
6. Time you worked for a long time alone.
Time you solved a difficult problem.


Hope this helps. What I had at mine
 

Wizard77

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2017
Messages
26
1. Time it was important you don’t make mistakes.
2. Time you dealt with an emergency situation.
3. Time you worked alone for long periods.
4. An experince you do similar to a train driver.
5. Time you did a training course / earnt your biggest achievement over a period of time.
6. Time you worked for a long time alone.
Time you solved a difficult problem.


Hope this helps. What I had at mine
Thanks for the info

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Thanks for the info
I best get cracking sorting through different scenarios!
 

erer245

Member
Joined
8 May 2025
Messages
34
Location
weston
Thanks for the info

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I best get cracking sorting throug

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Thanks for the info

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I best get cracking sorting through different scenarios!
you'll be absolutely fine, the interviewers help where they can
 

Tommy1414

Member
Joined
15 Apr 2025
Messages
25
Location
Torquay
1. Time it was important you don’t make mistakes.
2. Time you dealt with an emergency situation.
3. Time you worked alone for long periods.
4. An experince you do similar to a train driver.
5. Time you did a training course / earnt your biggest achievement over a period of time.
6. Time you worked for a long time alone.
Time you solved a difficult problem.


Hope this helps. What I had at mine
This is great thanks, currently preparing for my assessment in a few weeks.
 

Trainset33

Member
Joined
15 May 2019
Messages
57
So I’ve got my second attempt at the psychometrics in a couple of weeks. I need to do the ATAVT and the MMI only. When I sat them 3 years ago I got to see the 6 MMI questions and give a brief written answer for each question. As I failed the ATAVT I didn’t get to sit the MMI. Are the 6 MMI questions still the same as the ones I saw 3 and a bit years ago? Or have they changed? Is it still 6?
Thanks in advance.
 

NorthernTech

Member
Joined
12 Apr 2021
Messages
744
Location
Uk
I was always led to believe it was six but six from a longer list of questions. I’m sure it was listed on here somewhere, about 10 or 12 possible questions, but I think it seemed to be the same 6 in the main. I prepped for all just in case. I’ll do a search and see if I can find them on here..

Edit: I had a look but there are so many pages I gave up. If I had my MMI approaching (thankfully all in the past now) I’d spend time in this thread looking at as much as I can and making notes.. Good luck 8-)
 
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Trainset33

Member
Joined
15 May 2019
Messages
57
I was always led to believe it was six but six from a longer list of questions. I’m sure it was listed on here somewhere, about 10 or 12 possible questions, but I think it seemed to be the same 6 in the main. I prepped for all just in case. I’ll do a search and see if I can find them on here..

Edit: I had a look but there are so many pages I gave up. If I had my MMI approaching (thankfully all in the past now) I’d spend time in this thread looking at as much as I can and making notes.. Good luck 8-)
Ok thanks.

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Apologies if this has been asked before…does anyone know how long either roughly or precisely the ATAVT pictures stay on the screen for? I’ve got Unity practice software and there’s a sliding scale to set the time each each pic. I’d like to do the both the same and faster in practice if possible.
 

Mr Francis

Member
Joined
21 May 2025
Messages
49
Location
London
Ok thanks.

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Apologies if this has been asked before…does anyone know how long either roughly or precisely the ATAVT pictures stay on the screen for? I’ve got Unity practice software and there’s a sliding scale to set the time each each pic. I’d like to do the both the same and faster in practice if possible.
Barely a second
 

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