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Rail Crew Tests

LNER train manager assessment

East Coast Main Line — London King’s Cross to Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Inverness

LNER is the most forthcoming operator in this list about its own process. The entry route to the grade is advertised as an Apprentice Train Manager role, and LNER’s recruitment pages set out the stages: a short text-based chat interview of four or five behavioural questions, assessed with AI but managed by people; a video interview for some roles; a competency interview; and, because the role is safety-critical, industry-standard psychometric testing.

Two things here are worth more than any test tip. LNER states that it sends practice material at least seven days before the psychometrics, and that successful candidates go into a talent pool for a maximum of twelve months. It also sets an initial English and maths assessment as part of the apprenticeship.

In order

The LNER selection stages

This is not an official LNER process description. Your invitation letter is the authority for your own.

  1. 01Application with a text-based chat interview of four or five behavioural questions, AI-assessed
  2. 02Video interview, for some roles
  3. 03Competency interview, by video or face to face
  4. 04Psychometric testing — a rules test and a concentration test, with practice material sent at least seven days beforehand
  5. 05An initial English and maths assessment, as part of the apprenticeship
  6. 06Talent pool — LNER says a maximum of twelve months
  7. 07Safety-critical medical, drug and alcohol test and a basic DBS check

Detail

Worth knowing about LNER

Practice

What to practise for LNER

Matched to the stages above. Every demo is free and needs no account.

What we do not cover

  • A concentration test — timed sheets of symbols to scan and mark — is part of this process and is not practised on this site.

Every process on this list ends in a competency interview. Our guide to the interview and the role play covers the competencies operators assess and how to structure an answer, and the process guide sets out every stage across the sector.

Before you apply elsewhere

Not every operator has an on-board grade

If you are comparing operators, these run driver-only services and have no conductor or guard job to apply for:

c2c
Driver-only operation on the London, Tilbury and Southend route. No conductor or guard grade.
Elizabeth line
Driver-only operation. The concession changed hands in May 2025 and is now run by GTS Rail Operations; its frontline grades are customer and revenue roles, not a conductor grade.
London Overground
Driver-only. The concession passed to First Rail London in May 2026, but the brand and the six named lines are unchanged, and the frontline grades are station and revenue roles.
Heathrow Express
Driver-only, and run by GWR under a management contract, so its train crew hiring goes through GWR rather than Heathrow Express itself.
Thameslink and Great Northern
No conductor or guard grade — these run driver-only. Both do advertise a Passenger Host grade, which is revenue, customer and security work without door or dispatch duties. Southern, in the same group, is different — see its page.
Freight operators
Freight trains have not carried guards since single-manning in the 1980s. Note the naming trap: GB Railfreight advertises “Train Manager” and “Trainee Train Manager” vacancies that are train driver roles, and asks for a driver psychometric pass within the last five years.

Compare

Other operators that employ on-board crew

Compiled from publicly posted applicant accounts and operator job adverts, September 2026. Processes change without notice — your invitation letter is the only authority on what you will sit.