Train driver aptitude tests

Aptitude test and psychometric test are two names for the same day. You sit timed tasks on a screen. You will not be asked to name a class of locomotive.

Why the two names keep colliding

Aptitude, in ordinary English, sounds like “are you clever enough”. Psychometric sounds like a clinic. Neither is a fair description of the day. You sit short, strict tasks that look nothing like driving: a dull square, a page of dots, a grid, a go / no-go lamp, a short procedure, a judgement scene.

The invite might name a product (WAFV, ATAVT, Group Bourdon, TEA-Occ, TRP). You don't need to memorise the catalogue. You need to know the work: rare targets, dense search, holding a rule, going and withholding.

It is not an IQ contest

Once someone explains a sheet, most people can do it for a minute. The day asks you to keep doing that after another format you have just met. First-timers lose attempts on the layout more often than on the idea. There is no published public pass mark for most operator days. Round percentages on forums are gossip.

What to do with the two names

Treat aptitude and psychometric as the same search. Practise the family, not copied official questions. Don't prepare for a knowledge exam because a vacancy used a different word.