I did mine at Stagecoach Manchester. Did all the assessment stages in one morning and they sent me for a medical the same afternoon!
Training was about 5 weeks. The first week was mostly admin and going through the theory, as we took the theory and hazard perception tests on the Friday. I'm a little hazy on specific days/dates but I think I've got most things in the right place!
Week two was driving with a strong emphasis on CPC as well - so walk round checks in detail as well as all the other bits and pieces. We also spent a lot of time learning the reversing manoeuvre as well as a lot of practising around cones before we went on the road on the Monday so we could get used to the overhang/tailswing.
Week three was yet more driving, with the CPC 4 test being done on the Monday (100%
). I was on a training bus with two others, one with some experience of large vehicles was put forward to his test on the Friday; me and the other lad were told Tuesday would be our day of reckoning - and no pressure, but we were due in the classroom on Wednesday for New Driver Training!
Week 4 was test week (all 3 of us passed first time) with the final 3 days being New Driver Training which also counted towards further CPC credit. This was standard Stagecoach training for all new drivers so we were in with people who had joined from other companies. In this part we learnt about the nitty gritty of driving for a living - customer service, dealing with kids, disabled passengers, diversions, suspicious packages and so on!
Week 5 was two more days of new driver training aimed at those of us new to driving buses - so how to read the rota, use the ticket machine, fill out various forms and also generally a chance to ask any questions we had about doing the job. Wednesday-Friday was spent route learning at our new depots, though we then had to duplicate it the next week as well anyway (which was no bad thing, really!).
Finally, for the first two weeks (3 days for existing PCV holders) we had a mentor driver to assist us and teach us all the tips and tricks.
I found the training enjoyable and not too difficult. Stagecoach organised it well so there was no hanging around feeling like you'd been forgotten about as I've experienced in other industries. The instructors were great and I felt well prepared before hitting the road in service.