GWR Trainee Train Driver Assessment Guide
What GWR’s trainee train drivers sit at the assessment centre, and how to prepare for each test
The tests GWR’s trainee drivers sit
GWR does not set its own driver tests. Every company recruiting trainee drivers on Great Britain’s mainline railway uses the battery in Appendix A of RSSB’s standard RIS-3751-TOM, and the tests have not changed since 2013. A GWR candidate who posted on a rail forum in April 2026 quoted their invitation to a trainee train driver assessment day as listing "Group Bourdon (GBD), TEA-Occ, TRP 1 & 2, WCT, WAFV, ATAVT, 2Hand Coordination, SJE". The WCT there is RSSB’s Written Communication Test, which only some companies set. The Multi-Modal Interview completes the battery.
- Stage 1, on paper: the Group Bourdon and TEA-Occ for attention, TRP1 for memory and TRP2 for reasoning, with no clock in front of you.
- Stage 2, on a computer: WAFV vigilance, ATAVT traffic pictures and 2HAND on Schuhfried’s Vienna Test System, then the Situational Judgement Exercise.
- The interview: the Multi-Modal Interview, built around examples you are asked to prepare in advance.
Who runs GWR’s assessment days
On 3 July 2026 GWR published the award of a contract to deliver psychometric testing for trainee drivers to three suppliers: The Occupational Psychology Centre (The OPC), OPC Assessment and Rail Competence Group. The notice describes testing of "concentration, vigilance, reaction time, memory and rule-following", carried out to rail industry standards. The OPC is a registered assessment centre, and its candidate guide is worth reading before your day. It also asks candidates not to call the process "OPC testing": the process is GWR’s, run to RSSB’s standard.
How you pass, and what you are told
Each test is passed or failed on its own, and you must pass every core test. The pass marks are not published, and you are never shown a score: your results go to GWR, usually within 5 to 10 working days of the assessment, and you hear the outcome from GWR. Results are kept on a national database that every train company checks, so they follow you to any later application.
If you started the process on or after 7 December 2024, you have three failed attempts in your lifetime: the second at least a year after the first failure, the third at least five years after the first. A pass lasts five years. The full rules are in our guide to train driver attempts and standards.
Practise the tests
These run the six tests that can be sat on a screen. 2HAND needs the centre’s joysticks, and the Situational Judgement Exercise and the interview are explained on our provider page rather than simulated.
- Group Bourdon (Dots Test) (11 minutes, free) - Five two-minute sheets of dot groups: strike every four. Free, and the test candidates fear most.
- TRP1 Rules and Procedures Memory (21 minutes) - Learn a procedure, lose the sheet and your notes, then answer questions on it.
- TRP2 Dials Reasoning (8 minutes) - Order four dials by a priority rule; candidates report 43 questions in 8 minutes.
- TEA-Occ Attention (Lift and Directory) (10 minutes) - Count tones and search a directory, then do both at once.
- WAFV Vigilance (Grey Square) (32 minutes) - Thirty minutes of a flashing square: respond only when it darkens.
- ATAVT Traffic Perception (6 minutes) - Traffic pictures shown for a second: say what was in each.
Full detail on every test, the two standards and what we cannot reproduce is on the UK train driver practice page.
Common questions
Does GWR use different tests from other train companies?
No. The battery is set by RSSB’s standard and is the same at every GB mainline company. What can differ is the pass standard, whether a company adds the Written Communication Test or tests of its own, and the order of the day.
Will I get practice material from GWR?
RSSB says the company you applied to sends approved practice materials at least a week before your assessment. If yours have not arrived, contact GWR’s recruitment team.
I failed with another company. Can I apply to GWR?
That depends on when and how you failed. If you met the national standard and missed only an enhanced one, you can apply to a national-standard company without waiting. If you failed the national standard, the waiting rules apply to every company, GWR included.
Applying to another operator? See our guide to the Northern trainee driver assessment, which uses the same tests to an enhanced standard.