Ours is Classroom based, no simulator involved at all, but the rules is quite a heavy subject, although it is intermixed with actual front end turns (Going out with a driver in the front cab) and doing his actual shift with him, which is fantastic as you start to see what you've been learning about in the classroom put into the real world of train driving, and it really is (well it was for me) a fantastic way to see the different railway signs, temporary speed restrictions and how the are set up in the way of marker boards and track equipment, and then to go back, learn some more, and again see different things it really is brilliant!!!
Failure, I think I heard a quote from a trainer which said out of every 7 trainee drivers, two will fail, either due to them not wanting to do it any more because they cannot keep up with the work load, or the shift patterns (Why they make you do front end turns to see if your able to do varied and demanding shift work!!) or because the trainers fail them because they cannot retain the knowledge they have learnt about or they simply aren't up to the job for whatever reasons.
Holidays well yes some TOCs I am sure build them into the training, I personally took the chance and saw my DTM (Driver Training Manager) and asked if I could sort out a trainer as I knew when my classroom based training ended, and I now know when my trainer is off so I will mirror his holiday pattern so I do not lose any training time
For me personally (and this is personal choice) I knew full well before I started how important this was to me, and so did my family, and I made the decision not to have any holiday arrangements once I knew I had a start date, so I could have a clear run, no breaks, and do what was required of me, the job to me is extremely important, I got to the actual start of training, and I look at the people who have tried so hard and didn't make it, and think "that could have been me" so my priority is with the job, the holiday will come when it gets here
(you have every weekend off when classroom based so that's nice lol)
Assessments at the end of every week, covering what you have learnt that week, plus some curveball questions from previous weeks, to keep you on your toes, then a final rules exam before you then start learning about the traction (What units you will be driving) and its the same process again, every week an assessment, followed by a final traction exam, then some practical handling to put into practice what you've hopefully learnt
Yes, its hard, yes there is homework, you will only get out of the training what you put in, some people I am sure think you can get by with just classroom learning.... well maybe some do, but you have to read things you've already done, previous topics, because when traction comes, then you start applying some of the rules based stuff to traction, so it all starts marrying together
Sorry... long winded lol, but I am enthusiastic because I love doing what I am doing, and learning the stuff I am learning, for me, challenging, very challenging, I am not as young as most new recruits, the last time I took exams was when I left school in 1980 lol so its a shock, but worth every minute, and I wouldn't change it for the world