Stansted City
Long Stay Car Park, Round Coppice Road, Stansted Airport, Essex, CM24 1SE

Trainee Bus Driver

Salary: £15.14 per hour
Working Pattern: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 43
Closing Date: Sat 30 May 2026 - 08:00 am UTC
Apply Now
Trainee Bus Driver

Start your journey with National Express and train to become a fully qualified Coach Driver. 

If you hold a full UK manual car licence, we’ll provide all the training you need to gain your PCV licence – worth over £3,000 – and prepare you for a rewarding career connecting passengers across our network.

Our current pay rate: £15.14 per hour basic pay

Additional allowances…

  • Night Allowance: 30p  (23:00–05:00 duties)
  • Paid Breaks

Location: Stansted Airport

Operational Hours: Guaranteed 43 hours per week, plus overtime opportunities

Schedule…

  • 4 on, 2 off 
  • 9 hour shifts
  • 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

What you’ll need…

  • Full UK manual car licence held for 12 months minimum (Category B)
  • Passion for delivering excellent customer service
  • Minimum age: 21
  • Ability to handle passenger luggage

What We Offer Drivers Like You…

  • Fully funded PCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) licence training – worth over £3,000 and gives you a lifetime qualification
  • Free medical assessments, plus we pay you for your time during any required medicals for CPC renewal
  • Step-by-step support through every stage of the PCV licence process
  • Ongoing CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) training to keep your qualifications valid and up to date
  • Thorough route and vehicle training before you drive your first passenger service
  • Hands-on training with ticket machines, systems, safety procedures, and defensive driving techniques

Please note: We cannot offer visa sponsorship for this role.

What we offer in return for your hard work and commitment...

  • 21 days annual leave 
  • Free Coach travel for yourself
  • Complimentary coach travel for a Nominated Person or complimentary bus travel for a Spouse or Partner
  • 50% discount for friends and family on full fares on our coach services
  • A smart comfortable uniform
  • Private online GP service
  • A Company pension 
  • Exclusive benefits and savings from thousands of the UK's largest retailers and service providers
  • Access to our Employee Assistance Programme which includes free counselling and further support to improve your health and wellbeing
  • Endless opportunities for progression within the business

Join us on the Journey...and apply today

National Express is committed to creating an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community. 

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and should you require any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process please let us know.

We have fantastic opportunities at National Express in the South East for experienced PCV Drivers to join our welcoming and talented team based in Stansted as a Professional Coach Driver.

Within the role you will be providing our customers with an outstanding level of service, whilst safely transporting and connecting them across our coach network.

What we offer in return for your hard work and commitment:

  • £16.19 per hour

  • Guaranteed 42 hours of work per week (overtime available)

  • Shifts between 18:00pm - 09:00am

  •  20 days of annual leave plus bank holidays (This increases by a day for each completed calendar year of service to reach a maximum of 25 days.

  • An unsociable hours allowance of £13.50 per shift for all duties that sign on between the hours of 22:00 & 02:00.

  • A weekend work allowance on all duties that start on a Saturday or a Sunday of the hourly rate of £18.19

  • A night allowance of £15.50 paid for duties that operate over the hour of 02:00 until 03:00.

  • A reduced night allowance of an additional 58p to standard rate of pay for hours worked between 23:00 & 06:00 (example: if a duty signs on at 14:00 and sign off at Midnight, you will get 1 hour at the reduced rate) **Please note that Night allowance and Reduced night allowance cannot be used in conjunction with one another**

  • A National Express Coach pass for yourself and a partner

  • A smart comfortable uniform

  • A Company pension 

  • Private online GP service

  • Life Assurance

  • Exclusive benefits and savings from thousands of the UK's largest retailers and service providers

  • Access to our Employee Assistance Programme, which includes free counselling and further support to improve your health and wellbeing

  • An opportunity to take part in our Cycle to work scheme

What you'll need...

  • A Valid UK PCV licence (Category D)

  • An ability to provide outstanding customer service

  • A flexible approach to working 4 days on and 2 days off within a variable shift pattern.

  • The ability to load and unload passenger luggage

All shifts over a 24 hour period are required to be worked.

 

Our extensive training and development programmes include: 

  • CPC and continuous training to ensure you keep your hard earned qualifications

  • Free medicals as well as being paid for your time to undertake necessary medicals for CPC renewal

  • In depth route learning and vehicle familiarisation before you hit the road for the first time

  • Company specific training company specific training in defensive driving, disability awareness.

 

National Express is committed to creating an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community. 

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and should you require any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process please let us know.

Things to Note...

At National Express, we are really proud of our health and safety record and as a result, we operate a Drugs and Alcohol Policy which is applicable to all employees.

 

As part of your initial assessment, we will complete Drug and Alcohol testing and you may be subject to random tests during your employment.

 

National Express is committed to creating an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community. 

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and should you require any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process please let us know.

Things to Note ...

At National Express, we are really proud of our health and safety record and as a result, we operate a Drugs and Alcohol Policy which is applicable to all employees.

As part of your initial assessment, we will complete Drug and Alcohol testing and you may be subject to random tests during your employment.

You are applying for...
Trainee Bus Driver
Salary: £15.14 per hour
Working Pattern: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
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Questions
Are you age 21 or over?
Due to DVLA requirements, can you please confirm if you have lived in the UK for at least 6 months?
Are you eligible to work in the UK?
Do you have a valid Full UK car licence?
Do you have a valid Full UK Manual car licence?
Do you have more than 6 penalty points on your licence? If the amount of points changes during the recruitment process, or in training, you will need to inform us.
Have you ever been banned, suspended, or disqualified from driving? Please note that this information will be verified, and providing false or misleading information may result in your withdrawal from the recruitment process.
Do you require sponsorship to work in the UK?
Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do at National Express. We are a Disability Confident Committed organisation and will offer an interview to candidates with disabilities or long-term conditions who meet the minimum skills criteria for the role. If you have a disability or long term condition and need us to make any adjustments or do anything differently for your interview, please let us know below?
Have you ever worked at National Express / any affiliated companies or commenced training with us? If yes, please confirm the dates, location and your reason for leaving?
If you are successful will this be the only form of employment you will have?
If you have a disability or long term condition and and need us to make any adjustments or do anything differently for your interview, please let us know below?
Where did you hear about this vacancy?
Do you have a valid Driver Qualification Card? If yes please can you confirm the expiry date.
What kind of licence do you have? (Automatic, Manual, Provisional, PCV)
Have you been recommended to apply for this role at National Express by a current employee? If yes, please state their name, title and department/location.
For health and safety reasons we prefer you to be within a one hours commute to your chosen depot. Please can you confirm this is the case.
Are you a Service Leaver/ Veteran or a Spouse / Family member of a Service Leaver?
Can you demonstrate at least 12 months' recent driving experience in the UK?
Have you ever had your driving licence revoked, disqualified or banned for any reason? If Yes, please provide the date and reason for this. We will run checks to verify your answer to this later in the process.
If successful at the interview stage, would you be able to attend an onboarding day on Wednesday 13th May 2026 at Stansted airport?
?
We ask this because we're interested in your suitability.
Criminal Convictions
Have you been convicted of any criminal offence(s) which are not spent under the rehabilitation act 1974.
?
We ask anyone who wants to join our team if they have any unspent criminal convictions. This doesn't mean we won't consider your application, but we need to assess the relevance against the nature of the role and whether the conviction(s) mean the role isn't suitable.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
?
We collect the following information to monitor our recruitment selection processes to offer fair and equal opportunities for all applicants.
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, these details are strictly for monitoring purposes only and the information you provide is not visible to our recruitment team as part of your application.
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