Sitting long tests without fading

8 September 2026 · 4 min read

Most people can do five minutes of anything. Assessment versions of vigilance and Group Bourdon are often much longer. The first sheet, or the first quiet stretch, is not the test. The second half is, when nothing interesting has happened and you are still supposed to be accurate.

If you only practise short runs, you are practising the easy part. Short runs teach the click. Long runs teach the job.

What fading looks like

You miss a rare change because you were writing a shopping list in your head.
You click when nothing happened, because boredom wanted a job.
On Bourdon, near-misses start to look like matches after the page has been dense for a while.
Your best minute is early. Your worst minute is the one they still score.

Both misses and false alarms count. A lookout who never rings the bell is a problem. A lookout who rings it at shadows is also a problem.

How to train the second half

Sit a full-length vigilance run more than once. Not the night before. Not only once.
Sit concentration when you are already a bit tired, not only first thing on a good day.
Watch the second half of the score, not only the average. If you fade, that is the work.
Phone in another room. Same hand. Same desk you will use for the rest of practice.

Do not try to make the practice interesting. If it is exciting, it is not vigilance. If you can be slightly bored and still accurate, you will be ahead of a lot of the room.

Independent practice notes. This is not an official test, and we are not affiliated with train operators or RSSB.

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What fading looks like

You miss a rare change because you were writing a shopping list in your head.

You click when nothing happened, because boredom wanted a job.

On Bourdon, near-misses start to look like matches after the page has been dense for a while.

Your best minute is early. Your worst minute is the one they still score.

Both misses and false alarms count. A lookout who never rings the bell is a problem. A lookout who rings it at shadows is also a problem.

How to train the second half

Sit a full-length vigilance run more than once. Not the night before. Not only once.

Sit concentration when you are already a bit tired, not only first thing on a good day.

Watch the second half of the score, not only the average. If you fade, that is the work.

Phone in another room. Same hand. Same desk you will use for the rest of practice.

Do not try to make the practice interesting. If it is exciting, it is not vigilance. If you can be slightly bored and still accurate, you will be ahead of a lot of the room.