RailFocusTrain driver assessment practice
UK train driver selection uses timed aptitude tests of concentration, reaction, visual search, memory, rules, and judgement. These tests practise those task formats so assessment day is not the first time you sit this kind of work, under a clock.
Each card explains what you do in the test, and why it is used. There are 32 tests, and 5 of them are free to try. Sit a free sample with no account, run the Assessment Day Simulator in the same order as the day, print the free aptitude test PDF, or sit the free situational judgement sample.
Type
13 of 32 tests
Attention · 5 / 15 / 30 min
What you do
You watch a dull square for a long stretch. Click only when it turns pure black. Nothing else counts.
Why it is useful
On a long drive, most of the time nothing happens, then something that matters does. Operators need people who keep watching. Misses and false clicks both count, and a short run does not train the second half of a long one.
Attention · 1 / 2 / 4 min
What you do
A dark field. Click as soon as you see a bright flash or hear a beep. Ignore pale flickers.
Why it is useful
This is not a simple green circle. You have to spot a real flash or tone among near-misses. Clicking a pale flicker is as bad as missing the real one.
Attention · 3 / 6 / 9 min
What you do
A target shape and colour, then a busy grid. Mark every match.
Why it is useful
A cab and the lineside are busy. You have to find the thing that matches and ignore near-misses. Some grids have no matches. Clicking because the clock is loud is a fail. Scan in a method, row by row.
Attention · 8 / 16 / 24 puzzles
What you do
A tangle of lines. Follow the marked start to the exit it comes out of.
Why it is useful
Displays are full of lines that cross. You have to follow one path and not jump to a neighbour that only looks like yours. Trace it through, rather than guessing the exit.
Attention · 10 / 16 / 24 trials
What you do
A cab desk with speed, AWS, aspect, and radio all live at once. Act only on the one that needs you. Drive on if none do.
Why it is useful
Several instruments can look busy while only one needs an action. You have to pick that one, or drive on if none do. Common mistakes are answering radio chatter, treating yellow as stop, or cancelling AWS that is already cancelled.
Attention · 10 / 16 / 24 trials
What you do
A busy street scene flashes, then it is gone. Tick the kinds of thing that were there. Wrong ticks cost you as much as misses.
Why it is useful
You do not get a long look at a platform or a junction. The skill is what you keep after the picture has gone, not how carefully you can study a still that stays on screen.
Attention · 45 / 75 / 120 s
What you do
A winding path. A and D move left and right. Arrow keys move up and down. Keep the marker with the lead.
Why it is useful
Two hands, two axes. The trap is steering well on one and drifting on the other. This one needs a keyboard.
Attention · 1 / 2 min
What you do
A page of dot clusters. Each sheet has its own target. Mark every matching group, not the near-misses.
Why it is useful
The job often means checking the same kind of thing, again and again, without drifting. This is a dense page, a simple rule, and a clock. Rushing invents matches. Going too slowly leaves most of the page unmarked.
Attention · 1 / 2 / 4 min
What you do
Beeps in a pattern. Click when the count matches the number on screen. The target will change.
Why it is useful
Not everything that matters is on the screen. You have to listen, keep a rule, and ignore the rest. The usual trap is clicking the old target after it has changed.
Attention · Until a miss
What you do
The same clusters, but each sheet gets harder. One miss ends the run. Climb as far as you can.
Why it is useful
A short Bourdon run teaches the rule. This one keeps going as the page gets denser, and one miss ends it. It trains staying accurate after the easy hits have gone.
Attention · ~2 / 4 / 6 min
What you do
A colour word in a coloured box. Click the colour, the word, or the box, as the rule says.
Why it is useful
The word, the ink, and the box can disagree. The test is whether you follow the rule you were given, not the habit that feels faster.
Attention · ~2 / 4 / 6 min
What you do
A row of arrows. Count left to right, then click the numbered arrow.
Why it is useful
The arrows beside the target pull your eye. You have to click the numbered one, not the one that jumped first. Rushing the count is the usual miss.
Attention · 1 / 1.5 / 2 min test
What you do
Memorise a symbol-to-digit key, then code as many as you can before time runs out.
Why it is useful
You look up a simple key, quickly, without losing your place. That mix of memory and speed shows up in paperwork and any panel with a legend.
Try 5 train driver aptitude tests free
No card required. Start practising in 60 seconds. Practice is for the type of task. It is not the official paper, and a practice score is not a pass.
Find every cluster of 3
Find every cluster of 3