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ATW Trainee Train Driver

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Joshp17

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10 Feb 2019
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Took about a month from application to an email for the next stage which is a phone interview. There are no online assessments for the train driver role

I can't remember the exact questions asked now as it has been a while but I searched this forum for all the questions they could ask and used the STAR mnemonic to give examples

Thanks for getting back.

Oh okay, because it stated on the TFW website that there was an online assessment but good thing if there isn’t.

Does anyone know whether they could contact if unsuccessful with the papersift?

Thanks
 
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sexyguy3k

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8 Nov 2018
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Thanks for getting back.

Oh okay, because it stated on the TFW website that there was an online assessment but good thing if there isn’t.

Does anyone know whether they could contact if unsuccessful with the papersift?

Thanks
Not sure if its changed now. When I applied, it was the good old ATW moving to TFW so not sure if they have changed the process now
 

Plodster

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21 Feb 2019
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Think the on line tests are for other roles. Trainee driver is paper sift then phone interview before a managers interview then psychometric testing.
Previously it has taken about a month or so for sifting etc by the looks of it from the forum.
 
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Son of Flicka

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5 Mar 2019
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Newbie here, been following this thread. I passed my assessment in November in Cardiff, for a position in Holyhead. I haven't heard anything yet but will update when I do, I know a few are eagerly waiting too!
 

Son of Flicka

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I've just seen it is for Crewe.

You'll be fine, they make it as relaxed as possible. On most of the assessments they will give you time to practise. Take as long as you need until you're ready.

My advice is just to listen to the instructions clearly and also take your breaks when offered them, 5 minutes fresh air every now and then will certainly help.

It wasn't as scary as I expected so try to enjoy it!
 

richfoz84

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Yes applied for Crewe.

Thanks for the kind words. Whilst I feel prepared to a degree, it’s still a bit nerve wracking as never been in this situation but have done lots of preparation and feel I’m hopefully ready I give it my best shot
 

Island Dave

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13 Apr 2016
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Yes applied for Crewe.

Thanks for the kind words. Whilst I feel prepared to a degree, it’s still a bit nerve wracking as never been in this situation but have done lots of preparation and feel I’m hopefully ready I give it my best shot
Sure you will be fine, where abouts has TFW put you up tonight, let us know how you get on tomorrow, Good luck ,,
 

richfoz84

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Stayed at the holiday inn, only 10 min walk to the venue.

Unfortunately i failed two parts of the assessment today and now have to wait 6 months before I can apply again.

Gutted but hopefully do better next time.
 

Island Dave

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Gutted for you pal but you know what to expect next time, chin up and get some practice in. Can you be invited back in 6 months ? what part did you slip up on and how did you find the overall difficulty of the process..
 

Peter B

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18 Jun 2018
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Newbie here, been following this thread. I passed my assessment in November in Cardiff, for a position in Holyhead. I haven't heard anything yet but will update when I do, I know a few are eagerly waiting too!
In the same boat as you, passed assessments in Nov. I originally applied for Cardiff but was able to change it to Shrewsbury. I’ve not heard anything since.
I’m
Just coming to the end of my senior conducting training with WMT which has been a great insight to the rail industry.
 

richfoz84

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13 Oct 2018
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343
I have to wait 6 months but I assume I’ll have to reapply and start again.. I will however be asking them and finding out.

On the first exercise, with the dots.. I was 100% accurate but just a few lines away from being quick enough to pass.

The second to last was the awareness test.. and for some reason I was pressing I’d seen a lamp post when I was looking out for traffic lights.. I realised half way thru but i knew it was too late In and I’d failed
 

Plodster

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I have to wait 6 months but I assume I’ll have to reapply and start again.. I will however be asking them and finding out.

On the first exercise, with the dots.. I was 100% accurate but just a few lines away from being quick enough to pass.

The second to last was the awareness test.. and for some reason I was pressing I’d seen a lamp post when I was looking out for traffic lights.. I realised half way thru but i knew it was too late In and I’d failed
Fingers Xd they let you jump back in at the assessments phase in 6 months time
 

richfoz84

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Had confirmation I will have to re/apply and start from scratch, once a company is advertising for trainee drivers, after the 6 months has passed
 

AshDee

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27 Feb 2019
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I have just failed my assessment today! Gutted is an understatement , I made a simple mistake and am now paying the price.
I misinterpreted what was being asked, I don’t know if anyone else used the practice materials on how2be but on the phone book test I mistakenly thought I had to be both plumbers and double symbols. So if it was a double symbol but didn’t say plumber I didn’t circle however the whole phonebook is plumbers so the test is actually much simpler in that all I needed to do was circle the double symbols! I now need to reapply hope I’m successful at both papersift and interview again and try again..
 

Island Dave

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13 Apr 2016
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I have just failed my assessment today! Gutted is an understatement , I made a simple mistake and am now paying the price.
I misinterpreted what was being asked, I don’t know if anyone else used the practice materials on how2be but on the phone book test I mistakenly thought I had to be both plumbers and double symbols. So if it was a double symbol but didn’t say plumber I didn’t circle however the whole phonebook is plumbers so the test is actually much simpler in that all I needed to do was circle the double symbols! I now need to reapply hope I’m successful at both papersift and interview again and try again..
Unlucky pal.. Thats what happens when we try to hard. What depot were you in and how many with you on the assessment.
 

richfoz84

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I have just failed my assessment today! Gutted is an understatement , I made a simple mistake and am now paying the price.
I misinterpreted what was being asked, I don’t know if anyone else used the practice materials on how2be but on the phone book test I mistakenly thought I had to be both plumbers and double symbols. So if it was a double symbol but didn’t say plumber I didn’t circle however the whole phonebook is plumbers so the test is actually much simpler in that all I needed to do was circle the double symbols! I now need to reapply hope I’m successful at both papersift and interview again and try again..

The guys asked for clarification on this one whereas I jut circled the double stars as that’s what I understood it to be.. I didn’t use the how2be training site but wish I had as it would have trained me to be quicker as my accuracy didn’t get me a pass mark

I know the feeling tho, it’s horrible hearing you’ve failed
 

Island Dave

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The guys asked for clarification on this one whereas I jut circled the double stars as that’s what I understood it to be.. I didn’t use the how2be training site but wish I had as it would have trained me to be quicker as my accuracy didn’t get me a pass mark

I know the feeling tho, it’s horrible hearing you’ve failed
How many lines did you get through on average per page , have seen a quote on this site somewhere reagarding 8-9 lines per page with only an allowance for handful of omissions and wrongly marked dots, is considered good enough, There is a good online practice for group bourdon also available, did you use that to practice? I will try and find the link.
 

Island Dave

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66973002-8608-442F-964C-B2BE3170D030.png 66973002-8608-442F-964C-B2BE3170D030.png
How many lines did you get through on average per page , have seen a quote on this site somewhere reagarding 8-9 lines per page with only an allowance for handful of omissions and wrongly marked dots, is considered good enough, There is a good online practice for group bourdon also available, did you use that to practice? I will try and find the link.
This was what i found , no idea if its true or not!
 

Paulm36

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5 Jun 2017
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131
I have just failed my assessment today! Gutted is an understatement , I made a simple mistake and am now paying the price.
I misinterpreted what was being asked, I don’t know if anyone else used the practice materials on how2be but on the phone book test I mistakenly thought I had to be both plumbers and double symbols. So if it was a double symbol but didn’t say plumber I didn’t circle however the whole phonebook is plumbers so the test is actually much simpler in that all I needed to do was circle the double symbols! I now need to reapply hope I’m successful at both papersift and interview again and try again..
That is exactly what I did first time around. I know 6 months feels like a long time at the moment , but it goes fast . Use the time to gain even more knowledge. You've already made it this far , so you know what it takes to get through the sift, there's no reason you can't do it again , and now you have the extra experience of knowing what to expect and also any tests that you've already passed , you shouldn't have to do again , ( as long as it's in a certain time frame , and the next company you apply to doesn't require a higher pass mark ). If you want it bad enough don't give up , it's definitely achievable. I passed second time around and start my training at the end of this month . Good luck going forward .
 

sw1ller

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The above should not be something to work to. You should aim for zero omissions and zero incorrectly marked. I think I did 8 lines when I did it, possibly less, 14 omissions would get you nowhere!
 

AshDee

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27 Feb 2019
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That is exactly what I did first time around. I know 6 months feels like a long time at the moment , but it goes fast . Use the time to gain even more knowledge. You've already made it this far , so you know what it takes to get through the sift, there's no reason you can't do it again , and now you have the extra experience of knowing what to expect and also any tests that you've already passed , you shouldn't have to do again , ( as long as it's in a certain time frame , and the next company you apply to doesn't require a higher pass mark ). If you want it bad enough don't give up , it's definitely achievable. I passed second time around and start my training at the end of this month . Good luck going forward .
Thank you , I’ll definitely try again . I know I can do it!! Well done and good luck in your training
 

AshDee

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27 Feb 2019
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Unlucky pal.. Thats what happens when we try to hard. What depot were you in and how many with you on the assessment.
Mine was for York there was one other for york and two for Manchester only 2 got through to interview. Mine was a foolish error I passed the dots the memory test and the dials and cables so I don’t need to do those again. They are valid for 5 years and I know what to do in the one I failed now !!
 

richfoz84

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13 Oct 2018
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How many lines did you get through on average per page , have seen a quote on this site somewhere reagarding 8-9 lines per page with only an allowance for handful of omissions and wrongly marked dots, is considered good enough, There is a good online practice for group bourdon also available, did you use that to practice? I will try and find the link.

I think I was about 6/7 lines on each of the dots.. I was trying to be thorough.. as I was working through I’d noticed I’d missed a few which probably slowed me down but wanted to be accurate.

I didn’t use the online tests, probably should have thinking about it.. I just used the link supplied to learn everything.
 

richfoz84

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13 Oct 2018
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Mine was for York there was one other for york and two for Manchester only 2 got through to interview. Mine was a foolish error I passed the dots the memory test and the dials and cables so I don’t need to do those again. They are valid for 5 years and I know what to do in the one I failed now !!

I’ve checked and you have to start again, from the start, a fresh application and do the whole process again from scratch.. where have you heard you don’t do the sections you passed again mate? I’d check personally. The girls who did my assessment gave me this info
 

AshDee

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27 Feb 2019
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We were told by the assessment centre today. The parts that I passed stay on my file for 5 years so I don’t need to re do those.
 

AshDee

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27 Feb 2019
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I think I was about 6/7 lines on each of the dots.. I was trying to be thorough.. as I was working through I’d noticed I’d missed a few which probably slowed me down but wanted to be accurate.

I didn’t use the online tests, probably should have thinking about it.. I just used the link supplied to learn everything.
I got about 9-10 lines down didn’t miss any but I must have done over 100 pages of dots in preparation
 

richfoz84

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13 Oct 2018
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We were told by the assessment centre today. The parts that I passed stay on my file for 5 years so I don’t need to re do those.
Did you have your assessment in Cardiff?
It would be a great relief knowing I don’t have to resit the ones I passed again! But I was advised differently...
 

sw1ller

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4 Jan 2013
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We were told by the assessment centre today. The parts that I passed stay on my file for 5 years so I don’t need to re do those.
That’s the official stance. In reality, tests over 2 years won’t count with MOST toc/focs. Other companies can insist you either take the whole thing again or not at all, it’s literally down to them. The only rule is, you can’t do them with anyone for 6 months.
 
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