UK Trainee Train Driver Assessment Group Discussion

Trainee train drivers on Great Britain's mainline railway must pass an occupational psychological fitness examination before they can hold a train driving licence from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The rail industry standard for that examination is RSSB's RIS-3751-TOM, Psychometric Assessment in Train Driver Selection; issue four came into force on 7 December 2024. Each train company runs its own recruitment, and candidates sit the psychometric tests at an assessment centre. Appendix A of the standard lists the tests by selection criterion: attention (the paper Group Bourdon and the Test of Everyday Attention-Occupational, TEA-Occ), vigilance (the WAFV vigilance test), memory and reasoning (the Trainability for Rules and Procedures tests, parts 1b and 2), perception (the Adaptive Tachistoscopic Traffic Test, ATAVT), reaction time (WAFV and ATAVT), hand coordination (the two-hand coordination test), communication (the Multi-Modal Interview) and behavioural aptitudes (the Situational Judgement Exercise and the Multi-Modal Interview). The standard does not set pass marks: RSSB recommends them and each train company decides which it uses, and companies may set a higher, enhanced standard or add their own tests. For candidates who start the process from 7 December 2024, three failed attempts end the process; a second attempt can take place at least one year after the first failed attempt, and a third only five years after the first failed attempt and at least one year after the second failed attempt. Candidates who sat any part of the process before that date keep the earlier two-attempt rule. From 7 December 2024, results are valid for five years. Candidates invited to an assessment receive the approved practice materials at least a week before it. The minimum age for a train driving licence on the GB mainline railway is 20.