Train Operator

Assessment: rVce Practice

Materials

Version 2: November 2013

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Contents

The Railway Verbal Communication Exercise (rVce).............................................................................. 3

More about the rVce............................................................................................................................................................ 3
When will I sit the rVce? ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
Why am I being asked to complete the rVce?...................................................................................................................... 3
More about the rVce practice test ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Listening to the message .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Making notes ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Saying out loud your message ............................................................................................................................................ 4
What to do now ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Now deliver your message .................................................................................................................................................. 6
How to score your verbal message ..................................................................................................................................... 6
How did you do on the rVce? .............................................................................................................................................. 7
How to do well on the day ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Summary: Next steps .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

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The Railway Verbal Communication Exercise (rVce)

More about the rVce

The rVce is designed to assess your ability to communicate verbally. It is a practical exercise and it will
involve you listening to a CD of an incident. You will then have to talk to an assessor about the incident
and to communicate the key details so that the incident can be dealt with effectively and safely.

The incident you will listen to is fictitious but it is rail related. You do not need any prior knowledge or
expertise of the rail industry to perform well on the rVce.

When will I sit the rVce?

The rVce is a face to face exercise and it will be used as part of an assessment centre. You will only sit
the rVce if you have been successful through the FIT, UIT, EIT and SCAAT. So you may want to delay
practising this test until you know you will be sitting it.

Why am I being asked to complete the rVce?

Effective verbal communication is a key skill of a Train Operator. When you are working as a Train
Operator you will need to communicate effectively with a whole range of different personnel including
control, managers, customers and station staff. Sometimes you will be communicating customer
information, whilst at other times you will be communicating safety critical information. Your
communication will always need to be clear, concise and relevant. If you don’t communicate effectively
then it could have a serious impact on safety and your own and other’s safety could be at risk. So as part
of the Train Operator selection process your communication skills will be assessed.

More about the rVce practice test

On the following pages there is a practice test for the rVce. The practice test is similar but
not identical to the exercise you will be asked to complete at the Train Operator assessment
centre. You will need someone else to help you with the practice test. In summary for this
practice test:

• You will listen to an incident (Ideally this should be read out twice to you by a
friend/colleague/family member). You can take notes whilst you listen.
• Then take 5 minutes to decide what you will communicate about the incident

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• Say out loud your communication about the incident

• Score and rate how you did

Listening to the message

Over the page is a fictitious message from a car driver. The car driver has left an answer machine
message for a car recovery call centre. We suggest that you don’t look at it yet! It is all about an incident
the car driver has been involved in. The message describes what happened and asks for roadside
assistance. Ask a friend or relative to read the message aloud to you twice in a clear, normal speaking
voice. Whilst they are reading, make notes for yourself on a rough piece of paper about the key points of
the incident, but do not try to copy down the message word for word as you will not have time to do this on
the day of the assessment. Remember you are NOT the driver, you are the controller and must relay the
message on.

Making notes
Once you have heard the message twice, allow yourself 5 minutes to prepare what you will say about the
incident.

Saying out loud your message

When the 5 minutes have finished you can either say your message to a friend or relative or if you are
feeling brave you could tape yourself.

If a friend is going to mark your message then make sure you give them a copy of the “how to score your
message” which is found later on this document; they can then rate what you are saying as you read out
your message. This is similar to how you will be tested on the day of your assessment.

Alternatively, if you decide to tape yourself, you can score your own performance by listening to the
recording of your message and completing the scoring table yourself. Instructions for self-scoring your
message are given later in this document.

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Message from car driver to the car recovery call centre (to be read twice in a clear
normal speaking voice)

Hi this is Jane Murphy and I have just been involved in an incident with a tanker and another
car and I need roadside recovery.

It is fortunate that no one involved seems to be seriously injured although I suspect that I might
have some whiplash, and I am certainly feeling in shock; I don’t think that we need a
paramedic.

I am the driver of a blue Corsa, registration D157 PTM and the accident happened just by the
Happy Hotel at the bottom of junction 3 of the M36. I was waiting by the give way sign as a
tanker was coming slowly round the roundabout, but the car behind me, a gold BMW estate,
did not stop and went into the back of my car and pushed my car into the side of the tanker.

I think that the BMW driver was using his mobile phone and so was distracted. He has said that
it was not his fault – the road was slippery and he skidded into the back of me. However the
road doesn’t seem to be slippery.

With regards to damage my car seems to have been the worst affected. The rear bumper
has come off and the right rear brake light is broken. The front of the car is badly damaged.
The radiator has been broken and is leaking water. The front right hand side of the car is badly
damaged too. The driver’s door is smashed in and the glass has shattered.

I have not tried to start the car because of the damage and it would not be safe to drive. I
need a recovery vehicle, not just a mechanic.

My membership number is P – for Papa, 3-2 and it doesn’t expire until 2019. My mobile
number is 07704 600 652, please ring me as soon as you can to confirm when the roadside
recovery van will be here. Thank you.

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What to do now
You now have 5 minutes to prepare your verbal message. Remember, in this exercise you are not the
driver, you work for the call centre and simply have to relay the key facts to your manager who will decide
what to do.

Now deliver your message

Now either say out loud your verbal message to your colleague/friend or record your message.

How to score your verbal message

You can either score your own message if you taped it or ask someone else to do it for you using the
scoring system below. If you are scoring your own report from a tape, listen to the whole recording once
through and score yourself against the points made under ‘Verbal Communication’. Give yourself a point
for each thing you think you did. Then rewind the tape and listen again, this time concentrate on which
facts you included under the ‘Facts Included’ heading. Give yourself one point if you included each fact,
if you did not include the fact then do not give yourself a point.

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Quality of Verbal Communication: Points awarded

1. Speak clearly?

2. Speak audibly?

3. Speak concisely?

4. The message is limited to just relevant information?

5. Was the message in a logical and structured order?

Key Facts Included:

6. Driving: Blue Corsa.

7. Car registration: D157 PTM.

8. Car pushed into tanker.

9. Location: Bottom of junction 3 of M36 / Happy hotel

10. No serious injuries.

11. Rear bumper has come off.

12. Rear right brake light broken.

13. Front is badly damaged/radiator broken

14. Front right side is badly damaged

15. Right hand side door is badly damaged/ door smashed in/glass shattered

16. Car not safe to drive

17. Need a recovery vehicle.

18. Membership: P32.

19. Expires 2019.

20. Mobile: 07704 600 652.

Then add up the total number of points scored and refer to the box below.

How did you do on the rVce?

Total Points scored Comment

12 - 20 Excellent performance

6 - 11 Good but keep on practicing

0-5 You probably need to practice a little more

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• If you scored below 12, don't worry, there are several things that you can do to improve your
performance on this kind of test.
• Have a look at the notes that you made for yourself, had you picked out the important bits of
information from the reading?
• Practice makes perfect - you could practice this exercise with another bit of information, perhaps
using a story from one of the quality newspapers or from a factual book. Ask a friend to read the
article or factual passage aloud to you twice whilst you take notes. When you are taking the notes,
try and pull out only the key facts from the story. Then glance over your notes and spend 5
minutes preparing your verbal report including as many of the key facts as you can. Then, either
tape yourself again or ask a friend to have a copy of the article or book in front of them and tick
each fact as you say it in your verbal report. If you taped yourself, have a copy of the article or
book in front of you as you listen to the tape and tick each fact as you say them. Remember also
to listen out for the quality of the verbal communication using the points included above.
• Remember - on the day of the test you will be presented with a different verbal message to the one
used in the example.

How to do well on the day

• On the day, listen to the information carefully and take brief and accurate notes on the main facts
that emerge from the message.
• You could use the second reading of the report to clarify any facts that you might have missed first
time round and as a chance to try and learn the main facts.
• When you say your message, ensure that it is well structured and that you describe as far as
possible the facts in a logical, sensible order. You can refer to your notes when you are talking, so
make sure that the notes you have taken are written clearly so that you can read your own writing.
• Remember that you will also be scored on speaking clearly, audibly and concisely so take care to
do so.

Summary: Next steps

We have now covered all of the tests that you will sit for the role of Train Operator. Hopefully by now you
feel confident about the tests you will complete as you have had some experience of what to expect.
Please re-read this booklet and try the practice tests again.

Good luck!

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