Lothian Buses has one of the most thorough and comprehensive bus driving training programmes in the country.

Our training department is made up of eight highly experienced drivers who, on average, train twenty new recruits every month.

Over the course of five weeks, recruits are taken from never having been behind the wheel of a bus before to being fully qualified bus drivers.

• During week one trainees receive a corporate induction programme where they learn about our company and our garages.  They also sit behind the wheel of a bus for the first time and receive their uniforms and ridacards.  Following this they receive bus familiaristation training and sit theory and hazard perceptions tests.
• In week two there is more bus familiarisation training and the recruits sit modules 2 and 4 of the Certificate of Professional Competancy exams.  By the middle of this week recruits will start driving tests routes ahead of their PCV driving test.
• Week three is test week. Every trainee has two attempts to pass their PCV driving test with three days gap between each test.  Following a successful test, they will then start learning to drive bus routes specific to the garage they will work at.
• In week four, the now qualified drivers learn more bus routes (on average our new drivers will operate on five different routes across their first year), have a risk assessment day and take part in a visit to head office to see and learn from our control room and customer service department. At the end of the week they will drive all different makes and models of buses that operate from their allocated garage.
• Week five and the recruits have finished their training and are out driving buses in service with passengers.  Each new recruit has a ‘buddy’ that will shadow all their bus journeys for this first week to help with any queries or questions.

If you think you have what it takes to pass – we would love to hear from you.