Group Boredom and Reactions Practice

[Daniel84]

With regards parking, drive upto the gate and talk through the intercom system. Tell them the Top Secret Magic Password (or just say Hi, I'm here for Driver Assessments) and viola!

Thanks, that sounds easy enough then. I take it my intercom skills will also be assessed...something else I'll need to practice.

 

[Sunday_mornin]

Thanks, that sounds easy enough then. I take it my intercom skills will also be assessed...something else I'll need to practice.

There is intercom practice material out there somewhere, they are looking for vocal clarity and correct diction. I scored well on this and they opened the gate.

 

[LCC106]

Hi Daniel84. That's where I think that looking at other people's scores can be dangerous. Don't compare yourself with others, just aim for consistency. You could well be doing more than enough as it is and may be put off by worrying over nothing! In my assessment, I could hear people working faster than me. It was off-putting, but I carried on and I made it. You can too!

 

[Daniel84]

Hi Daniel84. That's where I think that looking at other people's scores can be dangerous. Don't compare yourself with others, just aim for consistency. You could well be doing more than enough as it is and may be put off by worrying over nothing! In my assessment, I could hear people working faster than me. It was off-putting, but I carried on and I made it. You can too!

Thanks for the reassurance, I'm managing a consistent 11 rows per page with pretty good accuracy so it's either good enough or not, then there's the effect of doing it on paper and in a test environment. The interview and mechanical test is more of a priority for me at the moment.

My Mrs had a first attempt on the GB test and managed to either miss or incorrectly mark about 50, definitely not train driver material.

 

[LCC106]

Ha ha! I think I was managing about 9 rows, so your results definitely sound good to me. I didn't realise when I was practising that you can actually print the screens on to paper, which is possibly why I was put off by hearing the speed of others. Best of luck!

 

[NI 271]

Hi Daniel84. That's where I think that looking at other people's scores can be dangerous. Don't compare yourself with others, just aim for consistency

Admittedly it wasn't due to comparing myself with others, but as I've said before, I blew the second part of my reactions test by trying to go far too fast. I thought I'd already failed it by the time I was about halfway through, so foolishly tried to go even faster to make up for it, making more and more mistakes along the way. I'd say it was probably ten times as bad as any of the practice sessions I'd done (although all those were on the one which speeds up constantly as opposed to the one you set your own pace at) - yet it was still good enough for a 'borderline' pass. The worst I'd ever done - by a considerable distance - and it was still a pass. I'd good passes on the rest, although didn't get to sit the SI, which, unlike most people, I was really looking forward to taking, as my work life so far has provided myriad examples of all situations they question you on, so I would have been at a huge advantage over other applicants. Roll on July so I can put it all right.

In other words, it isn't half as hard as you might think, based on the stuff posted on here.

 

[ST]

Hello there,

I am looking to practice the tests, however, I have a a Apple Mac laptop and cannot access the tests, is anyone aware of any tests that are Mac friendly?

Many thanks.

 

[Bun]

Hello

Anyone know if you're aloud to use another piece of paper to place under the line you are doing moving it down 1 line at a time to avoid eye blurring?
Alternatively can u fold the test paper back up from the bottom similarly highlighting the line you are on??
(basically using it as a ruler)

Thanks guys

 

[playmore64]

Hey Beardfoot, the answer to the above is, no you cannot.

The whole point of the exercise it to determine your concentration skills so you're focusing on these 4 tiny little dots

I for one really enjoyed this test and truth be told was excited about it

 

[Bun]

Thanks for your reply playmore damn thats a pity.:cry: but just had another idea what about using your non writing hand to perform the ruler function?
Surely in the pre test instructions you're not told that u can only have the marking hand on the paper??
Just trying to work out a legit strategy for my upcoming test that i can stick to whilst practising.

thanks again

ps playmore is an average of 9 lines with no mistakes a pass or is this too slow? in your opinion as a previous test conductor.

 

[Beveridges]

9 rows x 25 cells = 225 per page
225 x 5 pages = 1125

1125 may be about borderline, or just above, if you managed zero errors and great consistancy. Have heard people say they passed with less!

 

[BestWestern]

There is intercom practice material out there somewhere, they are looking for vocal clarity and correct diction. I scored well on this and they opened the gate.

Brilliant

 

[playmore64]

Thanks for your reply playmore damn thats a pity.:cry: but just had another idea what about using your non writing hand to perform the ruler function?
Surely in the pre test instructions you're not told that u can only have the marking hand on the paper??
Just trying to work out a legit strategy for my upcoming test that i can stick to whilst practising.

thanks again

ps playmore is an average of 9 lines with no mistakes a pass or is this too slow? in your opinion as a previous test conductor.

No worries fella!

I don't see that being a problem if it helps then I'd say why not!

I think you're on the right track but like everyone has stated, no one actually knows the pass mark, every TOC have their own set criteria, as long as you're consistent and accurate I see there being no problems in the real assessment.

Good luck buddy

PS. Which TOC are you sitting the assessments with, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Bun]

Thanks for the advice Playmore I really do appreciate it.
I've got an assessment with FirstScotrail for drivers job in my home town, so tbh this is a dream opportunity for me and don't want to fail due to lack of effort or research.

cheers m8

 

[Bun]

Well with 3 days to go before my assessment I've managed to get up to 1300 cells with just 1 mistake which I'm happy with compared to a week ago when I was 1100 with 10+ mistakes. I'm doing it on paper btw.
My worry now is consistency.

Sheet 1 11.5 lines
Sheet 2 10.5
Sheet 3 10.5
Sheet 4 10.5
Sheet 5 9.5

I'm happy with 2,3 and 4 but is the difference between 1 and 5 maybe going to be a fail?? Sheet 1 was the easiest and 5 the hardest
Think I will slow down a bit on the 1st and aim for 10.5 any thoughts if there are any Group Boredom gurus out there?? playmore buddy?
thanks

 

[TDK]

Well with 3 days to go before my assessment I've managed to get up to 1300 cells with just 1 mistake which I'm happy with compared to a week ago when I was 1100 with 10+ mistakes. I'm doing it on paper btw.
My worry now is consistency.

Sheet 1 11.5 lines
Sheet 2 10.5
Sheet 3 10.5
Sheet 4 10.5
Sheet 5 9.5

I'm happy with 2,3 and 4 but is the difference between 1 and 5 maybe going to be a fail?? Sheet 1 was the easiest and 5 the hardest
Think I will slow down a bit on the 1st and aim for 10.5 any thoughts if there are any Group Boredom gurus out there?? playmore buddy?
thanks

That difference could be a fail. You need to be consistant, if you had 10.5 on all pages then that would be a whole lot better

 

[Bun]

Had a feeling the 2 line difference between 1st and 5th could be too great thanks TDK

 

[MrHappy]

For what its worth I was getting about 1300 in practice on paper. Normally between 10 or 11 lines with very very steady results, If anything my last sheets were the better ones rather than worse. I was omitting a maximum of two overall and never marking one wrong. I got graded as very good pass on the day.

As has been said by others many times, I too felt accuracy and consistency were key. If I pushed myself to hit 1500 or more I started to see the omissions climb up so I was happier to run a little slower.

On a side note I used to practice with the TV on, other half trying to talk to me, dogs running about etc and had no problems getting in the zone on the day. I've heard a few people say the felt distracted by the exam conditions and noises of others marking in the room and I think this helped

 

[387star]

in my opinion neither SCATT or group bourdon are especially hard with practise...

all you have to do is look for groups of 4 dots depends how big they are obviously but its not rocket science just block everything else off!

as long as you are consistent you don't need to worry about completing the page either indeed only about half will dol

 

[Dave1987]

in my opinion neither SCATT or group bourdon are especially hard with practise...

all you have to do is look for groups of 4 dots depends how big they are obviously but its not rocket science just block everything else off!

as long as you are consistent you don't need to worry about completing the page either indeed only about half will dol

Obviously the tests are too easy then, and the new harder ones will be a blessing for examiners. When I took my GB test I certainly didn't find it easy.

 

[cdl77]

There has been so many people asking for links to practice tools to both computer tests (including PM's I've recieved) so here are the links:


Reactions test:

http://www.krismason.org/files/reactiontest.zip





Group Boredom test:

http://group-bourdon-tool.software.informer.com/

hello all, newbie here, thank you for these downloads, could i ask what are the instructions for the reaction and co-ordination test to practice on my computer? thanks in advance

 

[Beveridges]

Easy, when blue comes up you hit the blue button, when red comes up you hit the red button (need I go on?)

When you hear the high/low tone you hit the high/low button respectively.

When the bottom right square appears, you stamp the right pedal (if you've got one- if not then use fakes!)
When bottom left square appears hit the left pedal

 

[TOCDriver]

Easy, when blue comes up you hit the blue button, when red comes up you hit the red button (need I go on?)

When you hear the high/low tone you hit the high/low button respectively.

When the bottom right square appears, you stamp the right pedal (if you've got one- if not then use fakes!)
When bottom left square appears hit the left pedal.

Another exceptional contribution by M.Beveridges.

lol Like I have said before, you either have it in you or you don't! If your reactions are rubbish, no amount of practice will make you better. Just chill out and enjoy the experience!

 

[cdl77]

Easy, when blue comes up you hit the blue button, when red comes up you hit the red button (need I go on?)

When you hear the high/low tone you hit the high/low button respectively.

When the bottom right square appears, you stamp the right pedal (if you've got one- if not then use fakes!)
When bottom left square appears hit the left pedal

Thanks for your answer, what I meant was on a normal windows laptop with qwerty keyboard, which letters represent the colour that appear? There is no instructions you click start test and the coloured circles show up etc and I don't know what represents each colour and what to press as I don't have a keyboard with the colours circles and hi lo buttons or foot pedals, so was wondering how you can practice. Many thanks.

 

[FlamTap]

Thanks for your answer, what I meant was on a normal windows laptop with qwerty keyboard, which letters represent the colour that appear? ...

The reactions practice software is passive - there are no inputs. You simply print out the .PDF file (which mimics the button layout on the actual machine) and follow along to what the program tells you. Red circle = "press" the red circle on your printout. High tone = "press" the circle marked "H"; low tone = "press" the circle marked "L" and so on. Yellow square in the left corner = stamp your left foot; yellow square in the right corner = stamp your right foot - these equate to the left and right pedals on the real machine.

That's basically all there is to it. Simply try and keep up with the program as it gets progressively faster.

 

[cdl77]

The reactions practice software is passive - there are no inputs. You simply print out the .PDF file (which mimics the button layout on the actual machine) and follow along to what the program tells you. Red circle = "press" the red circle on your printout. High tone = "press" the circle marked "H"; low tone = "press" the circle marked "L" and so on. Yellow square in the left corner = stamp your left foot; yellow square in the right corner = stamp your right foot - these equate to the left and right pedals on the real machine.

That's basically all there is to it. Simply try and keep up with the program as it gets progressively faster.

Ahh I see, thank you for explaining.

 

[TDK]

Ahh I see, thank you for explaining.

I have said this before - if you brush up on your reactions and co-ordination in general this will greatly enhance your chances on the reraction test, in my opinion a lot better than the mock test you can download

 

[KT530]

With regards to the reactions test - on the actual test is it headphones with left ear and right ear noises for left and right buttons, or low and high like the practice test?

 

[Bun]

Disagree with TDK the downloadable software is best because you can print out the test keyboard layout exactly as you will face in the real assessment.

You will therefore become familiar with where the buttons are without having to waste "thinking time" and then reacting.

The real test only goes to about 900 speed so just practice up to that speed and also practice stopping and jumping back in if you're struggling which will score good points.

The 2nd part of the test is a scoosh where you set your own pace.

Just my thoughts.

 

[FlamTap]

With regards to the reactions test - on the actual test is it headphones with left ear and right ear noises for left and right buttons, or low and high like the practice test?

The sounds are a simple low or high tone, and are not orientated. The sound appears in both sides of the headphones simultaneously.

The only part of the test where you have to differentiate between left and right is with your feet on the pedals.