Hi,
Definitely do the practice papers a few times and time yourself . You have 3 lots of papers to get through on the day . There were around 11 people during my session - some internal and some external . I went on a Friday afternoon and got an email Tuesday morning to let me know I had passed and they would contact me if I was successful for stage 2. I got the email on the Thursday inviting me to stage two a week later .
For the paper assessments just stay calm - don’t worry about what anyone else is doing . It’s a test of staying calm under pressure I think
I applied for Cardiff . I got through to the final interview (5 internal candidates and me external ) I was the only candidate asked back to do the competency based interview . So don’t let the fact there are internal candidates there put you off .
I’ve been put in a talent pool awaiting a position . I think it depends on new timetables etc .. Paddington will see a lot of change after 17th December , so it looks like these are bring filled quickly
Good luck !