London Underground - CSA1 / CSA2 - Recruitment and Discussion

[hass21ik]

Hey everyone,
I received my offer at the end of Jan. I completed all my document checks by the first week of Feb. Just wondering how long it took for people to get the link for REED check?

Thanks

 

[toobusy31]

Hey everyone,
I received my offer at the end of Jan. I completed all my document checks by the first week of Feb. Just wondering how long it took for people to get the link for REED check?

Thanks

I received an offer mid November, REED email in beginning of January, and all checks completed now. This should give you a rough idea. If you scroll up and look at the previous posts it’s a similar timeline too. This also depends on how quick your references get completed so it’s worth calling up to chase this.

 

[GoldenChef]

hey guys, done my oh today, just waiting for dates now

 

[markazz]

great news - I'm at the same stage. Fingers crossed we get a call soon, we may even end up on the same course!

I'm trying to work out how to get "GoldenChef" into a conversation to see if there is a reaction from fellow course members

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Mar 2026 ==

hey guys, done my oh today, just waiting for dates now

 

[GoldenChef]

great news - I'm at the same stage. Fingers crossed we get a call soon, we may even end up on the same course!

I'm trying to work out how to get "GoldenChef" into a conversation to see if there is a reaction from fellow course members

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Mar 2026 ==

lol yes! Would be funny to see that actually. I’ll keep you updated with dates so we can figure out if we’re in the same cohort, or anybody else in the forum.

I’m actually going to ask for a late as possible as I’m in a sales role currently and trying to wind down my pipeline down as much as possible.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Mar 2026 ==

They sent me a confirmation email with the date, so I'm assuming it's the final offer. My conditional offer was at the end of September, 26th I think.

hey, hows training been going?
are you happy with station you’ve got?

 

[Zb0905]

anyone know when they received their final contract

 

[hydroman]

Anyone started receiving reed ref links recently? If so, when do you get your conditional offers?

 

[cid291]

I completed my OH on the 13th of March and today I got given a training date of May the 4th which is a lot earlier than I excepted. Anyone who has started training, how is it so far?

 

[GoldenChef]

I completed my OH on the 13th of March and today I got given a training date of May the 4th which is a lot earlier than I excepted. Anyone who has started training, how is it so far?

oh wow thats fantastic.

it seems as though people dropping off after training though, nobody really seems to check in after. I’m curious as to what happens lol.

 

[Zb0905]

oh wow thats fantastic.

it seems as though people dropping off after training though, nobody really seems to check in after. I’m curious as to what happens lol.

Hopefully I will can let you guys get an insight when I start soon

 

[Mawkie]

TfL have a social media policy* - most of you aren't subject to it yet. I am. You can read it below.

It's understandable that new entrants to LU wouldn't want to comment publicly on certain matters, but it's perfectly fine to discuss aspects of recruitment and training as long your comments remain generic.

I can look up the CSA course schedule today and tell you you'll be meeting the union reps, doing fire safety exams, ticketing, signals, detraining, radio protocol, dealing with a person ill on a train, and so many more things. I wouldn't go into more detail than that. It's not particularly useful to you all at this stage anyway - there is a risk of information overload.

What I won't do is post documents that aren't subject to an FOI (as I know they have been vetted by TfL) or discuss training matters or operational matters in minute detail. I could probably tell you the fire safety questions off the top of my head as I've done the test so many times!

I know a lot of you will be worried about training, but the training school are well set up to get each and every one of you through the various tests and exams. It's a cliché, but it's a journey - just take each day (and test!) as it comes. They want you to pass, so they literally teach you everything you need to know, and then ask you about what they've just taught you. There are no surprises and it's not rocket science, but you will need to apply yourselves.

There's no harm in sharing your start dates if you choose to. There's no harm in sharing your experiences of training and/or the job either - within the remit of the policy.

*PDF of the LUL Social Media Policy.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Mar 2026 ==

The current salaries (from April 2025) are:

CSA1 full time = £45,641
OT rate = £32.25

CSA2 full time = £36,469
OT rate = £24.97

The RMT negotiatiated a 3 year pay deal.

Year 1 is from April 2025-Mar 2026 (current year).

Year 2 starts in April 2026 - Mar 2027 (a few weeks time). We won't know the actual rate increase as the February RPI figure isn't released until late March this year, but is a minimum of 3%. Most people in this forum will start on this uplifted salary of at least £37,563. (If RPI is suddenly 5%, then that will be the new salary.)

Year 3 runs from April 2027 - Mar 2028 and is a minimum of 2.5%

Isn't it great to be in a Union!

The RPI payrise is confirmed at 3.6% from April 2026.

So, £37,782 ish for CSA2s

 

[heretohelp]

New pay rates for 2026 below

CSA 1	£45,641	£47,284	£1,643
CSA 2	£36,469	£37,782	£1,313

First bracket is our current one 2025, second bracket will be the new pay for 2026 and third bracket is the overall increase on top of the previous years

 

[cid291]

In my contract, the salary stated is £35,270. Will I get the £37.7k salary when I start in May?

 

[Zb0905]

In my contract, the salary stated is £35,270. Will I get the £37.7k salary when I start in May?

Yeah

 

[heretohelp]

In my contract, the salary stated is £35,270. Will I get the £37.7k salary when I start in May?

Yeah take what it says on the contract regarding salary with a pinch of salt as as the recruitment process is lengthy so a lot of negotiations would have gone on during the time of print. So yes you will be getting the £37,782 salary but be paid at 80% of that during training.

 

[Mawkie]

Yeah take what it says on the contract regarding salary with a pinch of salt as as the recruitment process is lengthy so a lot of negotiations would have gone on during the time of print. So yes you will be getting the £37,782 salary but be paid at 80% of that during training.

I think I read LU aren't paying the new salary until the July payslips and then will be backdated to 1st April.

But we get paid twice in April, so it's fine.

 

[heretohelp]

New pay rates for 2026 below

CSA 1	£45,641	£47,284	£1,643
CSA 2	£36,469	£37,782	£1,313

First bracket is our current one 2025, second bracket will be the new pay for 2026 and third bracket is the overall increase on top of the previous years

I think I read LU aren't paying the new salary until the July payslips and then will be backdated to 1st April.

But we get paid twice in April, so it's fine.

Yes I love the spare extra pay check! The beauty of being paid 4 weekly! And yes I also read that too about the back pay paid in July which is great because it’s a nice little sum of money as if you’ve picked up overtime

 

[toobusy31]

How long did it take for you all, from being informed that your REED checks have been completed to being contacted to do your medical?

 

[GoldenChef]

How long did it take for you all, from being informed that your REED checks have been completed to being contacted to do your medical?

my reed checks took 1 week to complete and i did my OH 4 weeks after.

Which bit are you currently at?

 

[toobusy31]

my reed checks took 1 week to complete and i did my OH 4 weeks after.

Which bit are you currently at?

I completed Reed checks in the beginning of March. I called them up and they said they’re waiting for spaces to become available. Hopefully they call me up soon. Have you been given a start date yet?

 

[GoldenChef]

I completed Reed checks in the beginning of March. I called them up and they said they’re waiting for spaces to become available. Hopefully they call me up soon. Have you been given a start date yet?

hopefully not too long for you now, but do check with them regularly for dates.

They’re currently working through October offers for May dates, I was offered in December so it’ll be a couple months before they get to me

 

[toobusy31]

hopefully not too long for you now, but do check with them regularly for dates.

They’re currently working through October offers for May dates, I was offered in December so it’ll be a couple months before they get to me

Hopefully you get something too!

Did you have to regularly call them to chase up a OH date? When I called they didn’t seem too helpful with providing info, and just said that they will call me once a date is available.

 

[Zb0905]

Start next week anyone know when you get uniform etc and your station groups

 

[markazz]

Start next week anyone know when you get uniform etc and your station groups

From previous answers I think you get your station group on the first day, and initially I thought you had a few days to swap with someone on your course, but someone said a few posts back that this is no longer allowed and you get what you're given.

I believe that uniform can be first day or at some point during your first 2 weeks at AH, others have said that they didn't get everything or else had to wait until they got to their station group, so I think that is a bit of a lottery.

 

[GoldenChef]

Hopefully you get something too!

Did you have to regularly call them to chase up a OH date? When I called they didn’t seem too helpful with providing info, and just said that they will call me once a date is available.

try again another time, hopefully you get someone whos more helpful!
I was told when dates were going to be released and I had to call back on a certain monday, did that and secured my OH date and waited about a month for that.

Start next week anyone know when you get uniform etc and your station groups

don’t forget to let us know how you get on! you can answer all the questions you had posted on here lol

 

[cid291]

Are you given any LU station in the whole of London or a station based on location?

 

[bluegoblin7]

As per the advert you applied for, and the contract you will sign, you can be allocated to any station in London.

Generally this is in Zone 1 or 2 for CSA2 and where possible this is often at least on the right side geographically, but there are no guarantees.

You will be able to nominate after qualification, however some locations have waiting lists of years.

 

[Zb0905]

Are you given any LU station in the whole of London or a station based on location?

Apparently they try and put close to your house

 

[GoldenChef]

Are you given any LU station in the whole of London or a station based on location?

they “try” to put you close to home but in reality, it’s on whats available and from what I hear, it’s not usually close to home.

 

[jimmycconway]

Someone who recently started the role posted in the forums (sorry, I've forgotten who) saying that they're close to home, but it's not their closest station. There is an effort made to make it close to you, but it isn't a guarantee because, as we all have seen, the requirement is that you can travel to wherever on the network.


In other news, when I called recently, I was told that they are slowly making their way through the late end of last year's offers, so whoever did get offered around that time, brace yourself for a start date coming soon!