Passing exams

[Couleddie]

Interesting article here:

http://www.voltimum.co.uk/news/12186/infopro.speakerscorner.overview.speakers/The-passing-of-17th-Edition-exams-does-not-always-prove-true-professional-ability----June-s-Speakers--Corner.html

Makes a mockery out of the exam and possibly explains why the industry is full of muppets!

 

[Apache]

Ah - he's just bitter beacuse he failed

I have said before that to be good any anything you kneed knowledge AND experience. A experienced spark having worked for 30 years with no further updates in knowledge may be as dangerous as a fresh out of an intensive training course newbie.

You can't carry on doing things in the same way without updating your skills. An experienced spark should relish the oppotunity to prove himself by taking his 17th edition. He has no choice but to work to those very regs.

To remain practicing as a vet I have to do 35 hours per year of further training just to keep working. It's the same with doctors and dentists. I can see no reason why it should be any different for any other industry. That translates as basically 1 full week I'm not earning money I'm off doing some kind of training. I think this is a good idea and actually do more than that (some of it in my own time).

So, in summary, I think very little of the article! Someone is just bitter because they failed.

 

[Couleddie]

I agree he does seem bitter but maybe he has good reason. He didn't fail because he didn't know the answers. He failed because he took the time to think so his failing was due to nothing but bad time management. Hardly the world's biggest issue to safety.

The point is that I think he's valid in questioning the structure of these exams and how they are not a sure fire indication of ability. I could probably pass but i'm not ready to install wiring in the big wide world. So, is this bloke just failing for having a conscience?

How many of us would pass our driving tests 30 years after learning??

 

[a1pacino]

how long do you get for 17th exam and how many questions is it?

 

[a1]

I agree he does seem bitter but maybe he has good reason. He didn't fail because he didn't know the answers. He failed because he took the time to think so his failing was due to nothing but bad time management. Hardly the world's biggest issue to safety. The point is that I think he's valid in questioning the structure of these exams and how they are not a sure fire indication of ability. I could probably pass but i'm not ready to install wiring in the big wide world. So, is this bloke just failing for having a conscience?

How many of us would pass our driving tests 30 years after learning??

BITTER?!!! The guy is well SOUR !

 

[m4tty]

how long do you get for 17th exam and how many questions is it?

Think its 60 questions in 2 hours

Matt

 

[NWDS]

matty sounds about right, I think the pass mark is 80%.

NWDS

 

[green-hornet]

I can see his reasoning but in my experiance I have seen electricians shudder at the thought of another exam, yet fly through a test paper as any one with experiance should do.

 

[Jono Pashley]

I agree he does seem bitter but maybe he has good reason. He didn't fail because he didn't know the answers. He failed because he took the time to think so his failing was due to nothing but bad time management. Hardly the world's biggest issue to safety. The point is that I think he's valid in questioning the structure of these exams and how they are not a sure fire indication of ability. I could probably pass but i'm not ready to install wiring in the big wide world. So, is this bloke just failing for having a conscience?

How many of us would pass our driving tests 30 years after learning??

Sorry no sympathy for him your given time to prepare for these things and are made well aware that you only have so long per question, if he had to spend so long on them to run out of time he didnt know enough of the exam content to begin with, hence the reason for his failing. The pass mark is 60%, i wonder if this guy puts as much effort into his electrical work...

 

[a1]

Sorry no sympathy for him your given time to prepare for these things and are made well aware that you only have so long per question, if he had to spend so long on them to run out of time he didnt know enough of the exam content to begin with, hence the reason for his failing. The pass mark is 60%, i wonder if this guy puts as much effort into his electrical work...

I am with Jono on this one. "A bad tradesman, always blames his tools" - springs to mind here.

 

[batty]

Well if I can pass it it can't be that hard.

 

[montybaber]

Thats crazy!

I took my time on each question trying to answer each to my best ability and finished with nearly an hour to spare

I got one wrong

 

[bigclive]

It's always the questions like:-

"In subsection 43 of the obscure electrical installations directive it mentions the need to profanulate the Ze reading by 10% of the average R1-R2 of the affected part of the installation. How should this be assessed in order to comply with the 5th directive in the Electricity at Work regulations?"

I have to say I'm one of the electricians who is pretty much wrapping it because of the seemingly endless sea of red tape. Construction site politics and the steady introduction of more and more plastic cards requiring time consuming and expensive powerpoint presentations has pretty much finished it for me.

For instance... You sit a driving test and you have a driving licence for life which covers a wide range of vehicles including racing cars which are constantly evolving. You sit your "IPAF" test and you have a licence to drive a cherry picker or scissor lift for about four years then you have to sit the test again. That's just plain racketeering because I can't do access unit based work without having their "approval".

Ironically I did my IPAF at the premises of SGB whose powered access equipment is the worst I have ever used. Perhaps THEY need to sit their own test.