How to practise for train driver psychometric tests

You cannot sit the exact paper at home. Operators keep that closed. What you can do is practise the same kind of tasks so the screens are not a shock.

That's the plan. Meet the formats. Build enough stamina that you are still accurate on the fifth easy test. Keep a short record so you know whether you are guessing or actually getting cleaner.

Cover the families, not one favourite

People practise the interesting tests and skip the dull one. The dull one is usually vigilance, and it is the one that spends attempts.

• Vigilance: at least one full-length run, not a five-minute taste. Misses and false alarms both count.
• Concentration: timed Group Bourdon pages when you are already a bit tired.
• Search and reaction: a method, then withhold. Fast on the wrong signal is still wrong.
• Judgement: pick the boring safe answer. Silence and drama are the usual traps.

If your invite names dual-task work, sit that format a few times. The first meeting is most of the difficulty. After that it feels much more ordinary.

A week is enough to stop being surprised

You don't need a three-month programme. You need enough sessions that the screens are familiar. Short daily work beats one long Sunday session, especially for vigilance.

Sleep still matters more than a last extra run. Cramming the night before trains tired guessing, which is the opposite of what the day rewards.

What a practice score is for

A practice score tells you whether this session was cleaner than the last one. It does not tell you if you would pass. There is no public pass mark for most operator days, and our numbers are not theirs.

Watch hits, misses, and false alarms. If you only watch a percentage, you will game it. The day scores the mistakes you make when you are bored, not the vibe of a good morning.

A perfect morning on an empty stomach is a nice practice session. It is a poor stand-in for the day. Sit at least one full-length vigilance run, and sit concentration when you are already a bit tired. That is closer to what they will actually ask of you.