Signalling School

[Freckles]

Hello all,

I'm due to start signalling school in Feb (not sure where yet but I assume York) and was hoping someone who has recently passed out/is currently enrolled could give me some info?

From what I understand it's roughly 9-5 Mon - Thurs and then you get an early finish on the Friday, but how does it work with, for example, being fed? Do you get breakfast at the hotel then fend for yourself the rest of the day? Also what's the hotel like, and is it central/outskirts of town etc? And how far is it from the actual signalling school location?

Finally, how does it work with getting your tickets home and back every week? Do you buy them yourself and then claim back the money, or do you tell someone where you need a ticket to and they are purchased on your behalf, or how does it work?

If anyone can answer any of the above, plus any other info you think is relevant I'd hugely appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[contrad!ction]

From what I understand it's roughly 9-5 Mon - Thurs and then you get an early finish on the Friday, but how does it work with, for example, being fed? Do you get breakfast at the hotel then fend for yourself the rest of the day? Also what's the hotel like, and is it central/outskirts of town etc? And how far is it from the actual signalling school location?

Finally, how does it work with getting your tickets home and back every week? Do you buy them yourself and then claim back the money, or do you tell someone where you need a
ticket to and they are purchased on your behalf, or how does it work?

I went to York a few years ago now but I don't believe the arrangements have changed that much, so here goes...

It was (roughly) 9-5 Mon-Thu with a lunchtime-ish finish on the Friday. Some of the trainers are flexible regarding start/finish times so (if the group agree) you may be able to start earlier and finish earlier - and hence get some more time on the sim or revising as a group on the run up to the exams or high risk simulations. In terms of food it differs slightly on the hotel that you're put in but it's 3 meals a day (breakfast at the hotel, lunch at the WDC and dinner at the hotel in the evening). The lunch was generally pretty good at the WDC with hot/cold stuff available that changes from day to day (pies, jacket potatoes etc...)

They use a range of hotels, our furthest one out was a 10 min walk from the WDC so not far at all - they change the hotels all the time though so that could be different now.

Tickets will be provided either by your LOM or through rosters, they'll ask you where you want to travel from and they'll buy the tickets for you and email you with a code to collect them at the station - they're also open so aren't tied to a particular train.

I really enjoyed signalling school but be prepared to put in the hours, especially on the run up to the exams. Make sure you get the simple concepts sorted as they are built upon in the latter stages of the course (the bell codes if you're on the absolute block course, for example). The rule book is a bit of a minefield with stuff spread everywhere, so learn where to find stuff when you need it when you get back to the box.

Any more questions I'll try to answer!

 

[Freckles]

@contrad!ction Mate that is such a fantastic answer, thanks so much for that. You've pretty much answered everything I was curious about.

If anything else pops into my head I'll be sure to pester you, but I really appreciate the level of detail you've gone into