Train Driver Assessment

[willy100]

The Rail industry is introducing a new assessment process for prospective train drivers. Just to assure those candidates that have previously passed the assessment, this document on the RSSB website states the following;

20. What is the policy for previously passed candidates?
Previously passed candidates should not have to sit the assessment process again provided that their prospective employer judges that their results are still valid.

Also, candidates who have previosuly FAILED the assessment, there is good news;

19. What is the policy for previously failed candidates?
According to the Driver Selection Governance Group, when the new process is implemented, candidates who failed the previous psychometric assessment process should be given the same status as any new applicant and be permitted two attempts at the new selection process. This includes allowing them to attempt the Group Bourdon and TRP again even if they failed on these tests as part of the previous assessment process.

The full document can be viewed here;

http://www.rssb.co.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/rgs/FAQs - psychometric assessment process.pdf

 

[GNER 373]

That's good news for those who have had two strikes. Although some still wont be suited to the job there's a few who maybe have failed due to nerves who still would make perfectly good Drivers.

I also like the fact that I (hopefully) don't have to go through the assessments again! Although I passed first time it's still nerve shredding and waiting to hear about your results can make you go slightly mad!

 

[Dave1987]

Very interesting, it doesn't seem that the tests are changing a huge amount really. Maybe the pass marks have increased?

 

[387star]

when does it come into force? will it be harder? so all the people who have failed before can apply again if so will be much harder to become a driver

 

[FlamTap]

Apparently one of the new tests will be something similar to this: http://youtu.be/mPe_l2XrEEc

It won't be long before home-based practice software becomes available!

More information about the tests can be found here: http://www.rssb.co.uk/sitecollectiondocuments/pdf/reports/research/T948-summ-final.pdf

Which includes this interesting piece of information regarding the current Group Bourdon test:

"In order to comply with legislation on fairness and equality, one of
the pass marks of the Group Bourdon and both of the pass marks
for the TRP were recommended to be reduced. This might be
considered at face value to be a reduction in an existing risk-control; however these adjustments can be justified from a safety
perspective for the following reasons:
 All candidates would be assessed against the same pass
criteria that have been set based on thorough research that
had safety as the main priority.
 The current Group Bourdon pass criteria are not currently
set at a ‘safe’ level, they are set at an unreasonable high
level. They currently exclude over 40% of candidates and
almost 60% of black candidates. It is highly improbable that
such a high percentage of people are ‘unsafe’. The validity
evidence for the Group Bourdon alone was not strong
enough to suggest that it distinguishes between safe and
unsafe applicants with enough accuracy to justify this high
exclusion rate.
 In the new recommended process the Group Bourdon
would be supplemented with the TEA-Occ to provide an
additional assessment of attention. The new assessment
would cover selective and divided attention. The current
assessment only covers selective attention.
 A vigilance assessment would also be added to further
scrutinise candidates.
 The TRP tests that measure memory and reasoning were
primarily related to training outcomes. The pass marks were
only recommended to be relaxed by one point. This would
bring it back to the level it was set at before 2007.
 The non-technical skills/behavioural assessment would be
greatly enhanced and covers tolerance for low stimulation in
more detail using two different assessment methods.
 The assessment process is only one small part of the
overall system of risk control for train drivers. Other risk
controls include training, competence management
systems and engineering controls. These additional risk
controls are important and are likely to make a greater
contribution to safety than psychometric testing.
 Underlying cognitive ability is only one part of the reason
why someone might make an error. Other individual, job
and organisational factors are known to also play a role."

 

[Dave1987]

Wow now I don't think any amount of pre conditioning could make you pass that if you not up to it.

 

[W230]

Wow now I don't think any amount of pre conditioning could make you pass that if you not up to it.

Inclined to agree with you there.

I'm guessing that's the idea though and is probably why they will let those that had previously failed twice re-attempt these new tests. It seems it has been recognised that failing doesn't automatically mean you can't do the job (and passing doesn't always mean you can!)

 

[FlamTap]

Wow now I don't think any amount of pre conditioning could make you pass that if you not up to it.

I'm not so sure. You only get (literally) a fraction of a second to see the image and log the items. So you will be relying heavily on your peripheral vision as, realistically, there isn't time to accurately scan the whole image.

So, some sort of practice software that "tunes" your brain into utilising peripheral vision might improve your chances when you take the real test?

 

[dglondon]

In the RSSB "Train driver selection: implementation phase Summary report", is the following statement regarding the current assessment process:

"The review found there was not much evidence of validity for most sections of the Criterion Based Interview (CBI). At that time, the CBI had a
very high pass rate so there was also a question over whether the
method was adding enough value to justify the time spent on it"

From what I have seen, the CBI can be open to one persons opinion of your answers (so not very objective which is what it should be). To some extent it can come down to luck over the interviewer that you get. I know of a case first hand where the candidate was failed in his CBI answers. He appealed, and won the opportunity of a repeat CBI with a different interviewer. He used the same answers/examples that he used at the first interview, and passed !

It seems that the CBI is to be replaced by the following two assessments used in conjunction:

"RSSB also developed a bespoke Situational Judgement Exercise
(SJE) and Multi-Modal Interview (MMI) to measure the specific
behavioural attributes described in the new selection criteria."

Which should be more valid to the role of Train Driver.

Also, as pointed out by a previous post in this thread, anybody who has already failed the current assessment will be treated as a new candidate with regards to the new assessment, which means that they will still have two new attempts at the assessment.

So my advice to anybody looking to attend the current assessment in the near future (especially if you have already failed your first attempt), is you should just go for it without fear that you will be 'out of the game' should you fail again. If you pass then great ; if you fail, then put it behind you and get yourself ready for your next 1 (or 2) attempts at the new assessments when they 'go-live' !

 

[Dave1987]

In the RSSB "Train driver selection: implementation phase Summary report", is the following statement regarding the current assessment process:

"The review found there was not much evidence of validity for most sections of the Criterion Based Interview (CBI). At that time, the CBI had a
very high pass rate so there was also a question over whether the
method was adding enough value to justify the time spent on it"

From what I have seen, the CBI can be open to one persons opinion of your answers (so not very objective which is what it should be). To some extent it can come down to luck over the interviewer that you get. I know of a case first hand where the candidate was failed in his CBI answers. He appealed, and won the opportunity of a repeat CBI with a different interviewer. He used the same answers/examples that he used at the first interview, and passed !

It seems that the CBI is to be replaced by the following two assessments used in conjunction:

"RSSB also developed a bespoke Situational Judgement Exercise
(SJE) and Multi-Modal Interview (MMI) to measure the specific
behavioural attributes described in the new selection criteria."

Which should be more valid to the role of Train Driver.

Also, as pointed out by a previous post in this thread, anybody who has already failed the current assessment will be treated as a new candidate with regards to the new assessment, which means that they will still have two new attempts at the assessment.

So my advice to anybody looking to attend the current assessment in the near future (especially if you have already failed your first attempt), is you should just go for it without fear that you will be 'out of the game' should you fail again. If you pass then great ; if you fail, then put it behind you and get yourself ready for your next 1 (or 2) attempts at the new assessments when they 'go-live' !

I would be very careful about saying that definatively. You may find that the TOC's themselves might not want to accept applicants who failed the current tests twice. Im not saying that will happen but it could.

 

[NI 271]

Also, as pointed out by a previous post in this thread, anybody who has already failed the current assessment will be treated as a new candidate with regards to the new assessment, which means that they will still have two new attempts at the assessment.

So my advice to anybody looking to attend the current assessment in the near future (especially if you have already failed your first attempt), is you should just go for it without fear that you will be 'out of the game' should you fail again. If you pass then great ; if you fail, then put it behind you and get yourself ready for your next 1 (or 2) attempts at the new assessments when they 'go-live' !

I have no failures, however a borderline pass is pretty much as good as one. I'm certainly hoping to get another shot at the assessments before these new tests kick in, the knowledge that I'm getting a 'free go' at them takes off any pressure I might have felt, and should do for anyone else too.

Roll on July.