2015 Exam Feedback

[PJW]

Did the questions surprise you?
Not particularly, although the Level Crossing in Mod 2 was a bit of a nasty surprise, and I was a little surprised there wasn't an aspect sequence question in Mod 3.



How tough did you think it was?
I was fairly happy with mod 3 and the range of questions to choose from. My only issue is that I quickly ran out of time on module 2 (maybe partially a little bit of poor management), and I've since realised how much I may well have left out.


Yes, once we'd found the building!! The only down side was that there was a big queue for lunch in the cafe which left just enough time to get there, eat and get back in time for the session after lunch.


Definitely!!

Glenn

A level crossing is one of those things that does come up occasionally in mod 2; you probably need to have looked at about 10 years of past paper layouts to be relatively confident that you will have encountered before things that might come up.  After all, the main question paper for mod 2 is very similar from year to year (the surprise last year was the braking rate changed from the traditional value and a new twist on the "stopping" headway calculation) and so there does need to be some unexpected variation in the layout itself.  I am still waiting for the day when at one edge of the layout there is a fringe signalbox to which your solution must interface; similarly I have never seen a swing bridge, or a junction like Gunnersbury where mainline trains go one way but metro trains on the other diverging route after a length of track that both share, so perhaps be thankful that you just got a level crossing.
 
I am a bit more surprised if there wasn't any question on the topic of aspect sequence in mod3, although it would not have surprised me for there to have been a more common type of written question that did not have a layout or ask for a chart to be produced; there have been some hints from the examiners over the last couple of years that it might go that way.  However they have made clear that there is no guaranteed question, so if it was actually entirely absent then students can't claim they weren't warned.

Glad you felt that you still had a decent number of questions to choose from.
As for time management, yes this IS a large part of the exam; one can argue whether or not it should be, but it certainly has been for as long as I can remember.

[StrongLifts5x5]

Sat Mod 1 in Dublin

Layout and structure of the questions seemed different to previous years past papers maybe other candidates will comment, I'm wondering due to the recent increased number of candidates have the papers been tweaked?? I was shocked at the layout, question style and questions for probably the 10 minute reading time and i was sitting panicking a little, however I did get it together and was able to answer 3 questions. 

 ....I had to make assumptions for every question stating why I was answering it this particular way, I was basically moving it in a direction I knew I could get down safety procedures that I was familiar with.

I very much doubt that the question style has changed because of any anticipation re the number of candidates for the following reasons
a) examiners would not know at the time of setting (although of course they may have anticipated a trend from last year, but I believe that even quite late in June the number of bookings was quite a bit down from what was expected- the internet booking regime may perhaps be more subject to a last minute surge),
b) they gave no clue at the previous Exam Review
However it may well be that there is a new examiner, or they have rotated around modules, and I believe typically that each examiner for a module (except mod2) tends to contribute a proportion of the questions that can get discussed, refined, tweaked by the whole group.  It is possible that you have detected a new original author for some of the questions perhaps.

Absolutely fine to state assumptions, providing you were not doing so excessively to attempt to flavour the question to change it to match what you wanted to talk about!  Worries me a little bit that your answers may have been to narrow and specific quoted detail than as broad as they should have been.

Peter the question style is definately different not the usual flowing style, both exam invigilators- who are both full members- passed comment after that the layout was different.

As for my assumptions I basically related to the practise my company adopts and I gave some safety example ie explanation of handsignalling and emergency barrier operation under degarded working so fingers crossed :-)

[PJW]

Sat Mod 1 in Dublin

Layout and structure of the questions seemed different to previous years past papers maybe other candidates will comment, I'm wondering due to the recent increased number of candidates have the papers been tweaked?? I was shocked at the layout, question style and questions for probably the 10 minute reading time and i was sitting panicking a little, however I did get it together and was able to answer 3 questions. 

 ....I had to make assumptions for every question stating why I was answering it this particular way, I was basically moving it in a direction I knew I could get down safety procedures that I was familiar with.

I very much doubt that the question style has changed because of any anticipation re the number of candidates for the following reasons
a) examiners would not know at the time of setting (although of course they may have anticipated a trend from last year, but I believe that even quite late in June the number of bookings was quite a bit down from what was expected- the internet booking regime may perhaps be more subject to a last minute surge),
b) they gave no clue at the previous Exam Review
However it may well be that there is a new examiner, or they have rotated around modules, and I believe typically that each examiner for a module (except mod2) tends to contribute a proportion of the questions that can get discussed, refined, tweaked by the whole group.  It is possible that you have detected a new original author for some of the questions perhaps.

Absolutely fine to state assumptions, providing you were not doing so excessively to attempt to flavour the question to change it to match what you wanted to talk about!  Worries me a little bit that your answers may have been to narrow and specific quoted detail than as broad as they should have been.

Peter the question style is definately different not the usual flowing style, both exam invigilators- who are both full members- passed comment after that the layout was different.

As for my assumptions I basically related to the practise my company adopts and I gave some safety example ie explanation of handsignalling and emergency barrier operation under degarded working so fingers crossed :-)

Intriguing; I'll probably have to wait a while (hopefully not as long as candidates for their results) before I can get a copy of the questions to look at.  I am perfectly prepared to accept that they are different, but I wonder if any change that has been made in the wording of questions in an attempt to simply the English phrasing to make it more internationally accessible.  
I'd be interested to know if anyone else detected a change; for example perhaps Arnut who also did module 1, but in Thailand, might be able to tell us if he noticed anything different.

[asrisaku]

Regarding the undigestable information, because I did not have sufficient time to familiarize all objectives due to too much information, poor English interpretation(Using time longer to read, sometime misinterpret meaning), and my poor background in Safety as you said. I do not have quite good memory as well to remember it one time so I have to repeat it frequently. Often I have to challenge myself until I get it at the end.

[asrisaku]

Sat Mod 1 in Dublin

Layout and structure of the questions seemed different to previous years past papers maybe other candidates will comment, I'm wondering due to the recent increased number of candidates have the papers been tweaked?? I was shocked at the layout, question style and questions for probably the 10 minute reading time and i was sitting panicking a little, however I did get it together and was able to answer 3 questions. 

 ....I had to make assumptions for every question stating why I was answering it this particular way, I was basically moving it in a direction I knew I could get down safety procedures that I was familiar with.

I very much doubt that the question style has changed because of any anticipation re the number of candidates for the following reasons
a) examiners would not know at the time of setting (although of course they may have anticipated a trend from last year, but I believe that even quite late in June the number of bookings was quite a bit down from what was expected- the internet booking regime may perhaps be more subject to a last minute surge),
b) they gave no clue at the previous Exam Review
However it may well be that there is a new examiner, or they have rotated around modules, and I believe typically that each examiner for a module (except mod2) tends to contribute a proportion of the questions that can get discussed, refined, tweaked by the whole group.  It is possible that you have detected a new original author for some of the questions perhaps.

Absolutely fine to state assumptions, providing you were not doing so excessively to attempt to flavour the question to change it to match what you wanted to talk about!  Worries me a little bit that your answers may have been to narrow and specific quoted detail than as broad as they should have been.

Peter the question style is definately different not the usual flowing style, both exam invigilators- who are both full members- passed comment after that the layout was different.

As for my assumptions I basically related to the practise my company adopts and I gave some safety example ie explanation of handsignalling and emergency barrier operation under degarded working so fingers crossed :-)

Intriguing; I'll probably have to wait a while (hopefully not as long as candidates for their results) before I can get a copy of the questions to look at.  I am perfectly prepared to accept that they are different, but I wonder if any change that has been made in the wording of questions in an attempt to simply the English phrasing to make it more internationally accessible.  
I'd be interested to know if anyone else detected a change; for example perhaps Arnut who also did module 1, but in Thailand, might be able to tell us if he noticed anything different.

I did not notice anything different in the English phrasing of the question papers compared with other years.

[StrongLifts5x5]

Sat Mod 1 in Dublin

Layout and structure of the questions seemed different to previous years past papers maybe other candidates will comment, I'm wondering due to the recent increased number of candidates have the papers been tweaked?? I was shocked at the layout, question style and questions for probably the 10 minute reading time and i was sitting panicking a little, however I did get it together and was able to answer 3 questions. 

 ....I had to make assumptions for every question stating why I was answering it this particular way, I was basically moving it in a direction I knew I could get down safety procedures that I was familiar with.

I very much doubt that the question style has changed because of any anticipation re the number of candidates for the following reasons
a) examiners would not know at the time of setting (although of course they may have anticipated a trend from last year, but I believe that even quite late in June the number of bookings was quite a bit down from what was expected- the internet booking regime may perhaps be more subject to a last minute surge),
b) they gave no clue at the previous Exam Review
However it may well be that there is a new examiner, or they have rotated around modules, and I believe typically that each examiner for a module (except mod2) tends to contribute a proportion of the questions that can get discussed, refined, tweaked by the whole group.  It is possible that you have detected a new original author for some of the questions perhaps.

Absolutely fine to state assumptions, providing you were not doing so excessively to attempt to flavour the question to change it to match what you wanted to talk about!  Worries me a little bit that your answers may have been to narrow and specific quoted detail than as broad as they should have been.

Peter the question style is definately different not the usual flowing style, both exam invigilators- who are both full members- passed comment after that the layout was different.

As for my assumptions I basically related to the practise my company adopts and I gave some safety example ie explanation of handsignalling and emergency barrier operation under degarded working so fingers crossed :-)

Intriguing; I'll probably have to wait a while (hopefully not as long as candidates for their results) before I can get a copy of the questions to look at.  I am perfectly prepared to accept that they are different, but I wonder if any change that has been made in the wording of questions in an attempt to simply the English phrasing to make it more internationally accessible.  
I'd be interested to know if anyone else detected a change; for example perhaps Arnut who also did module 1, but in Thailand, might be able to tell us if he noticed anything different.

I did not notice anything different in the English phrasing of the question papers compared with other years.

Maybe Peter your right they have simply tried to simplify the language, which confused me!!

Anyway the postman will let us know!!!

[Peter]

I sat modules 2 & 3 in London:

Were the administrative arrangements at your exam centre ok?

Yes, once we'd found the building!! The only down side was that there was a big queue for lunch in the cafe which left just enough time to get there, eat and get back in time for the session after lunch.

I cannot speak for other centres and I do not actually know where it was hosted in London, but I always try to contact the candidates coming to my centre to make sure they know all about the place. My view is that the papers are stressful enough - admin details should not be a hassle to you. We are there to help you pass the exam not be ogres.

I think the letter that you get gives you the lead invigilator's contact details - make use of it and call them to find out anything that you need to know.

Peter

[gmitchell]

I cannot speak for other centres and I do not actually know where it was hosted in London, but I always try to contact the candidates coming to my centre to make sure they know all about the place. My view is that the papers are stressful enough - admin details should not be a hassle to you. We are there to help you pass the exam not be ogres.

I think the letter that you get gives you the lead invigilator's contact details - make use of it and call them to find out anything that you need to know.

Peter

I think that was some bad wording on my part. The info we got from the IRSE was fine. It just took us a while to walk to the building where it was, as the signage around the campus (Imperial College) wasn't great and their campus maps don't show you that one of the main walkways is actually at a higher level than the entrace we went in so we just got a little confused.

Glenn

[PJW]

I very much doubt that the question style has changed because of any anticipation re the number of candidates for the following reasons
a) examiners would not know at the time of setting (although of course they may have anticipated a trend from last year, but I believe that even quite late in June the number of bookings was quite a bit down from what was expected- the internet booking regime may perhaps be more subject to a last minute surge),
b) they gave no clue at the previous Exam Review
However it may well be that there is a new examiner, or they have rotated around modules, and I believe typically that each examiner for a module (except mod2) tends to contribute a proportion of the questions that can get discussed, refined, tweaked by the whole group.  It is possible that you have detected a new original author for some of the questions perhaps.

Absolutely fine to state assumptions, providing you were not doing so excessively to attempt to flavour the question to change it to match what you wanted to talk about!  Worries me a little bit that your answers may have been to narrow and specific quoted detail than as broad as they should have been.

Peter the question style is definately different not the usual flowing style, both exam invigilators- who are both full members- passed comment after that the layout was different.

As for my assumptions I basically related to the practise my company adopts and I gave some safety example ie explanation of handsignalling and emergency barrier operation under degarded working so fingers crossed :-)

Intriguing; I'll probably have to wait a while (hopefully not as long as candidates for their results) before I can get a copy of the questions to look at.  I am perfectly prepared to accept that they are different, but I wonder if any change that has been made in the wording of questions in an attempt to simply the English phrasing to make it more internationally accessible.  
I'd be interested to know if anyone else detected a change; for example perhaps Arnut who also did module 1, but in Thailand, might be able to tell us if he noticed anything different.

I did not notice anything different in the English phrasing of the question papers compared with other years.

Maybe Peter your right they have simply tried to simplify the language, which confused me!!

Anyway the postman will let us know!!!

[PJW]

Regarding the undigestable information, because I did not have sufficient time to familiarize all objectives due to too much information, poor English interpretation(Using time longer to read, sometime misinterpret meaning), and my poor background in Safety as you said. I do not have quite good memory as well to remember it one time so I have to repeat it frequently. Often I have to challenge myself until I get it at the end.

Thank-you for that; I feel I understand what you meant better now.

I think it is undeniable that it must be far harder for non-native English speakers to assimilate information fully within a limited time period.  About 10 years ago I was helping a Thai (who had lived in UK for some years) with the exam and she said that in the 5 minutes reading time (which was the standard then) she had difficulty in reading fully more than a couple of questions and therefore was well behind from the very start of the 90 minutes of exam.  
I aimed to get the 5 minutes reading time extended to 10 minutes for non-native speakers only, but this was deemed impractical to implement; however it was extended to 10 minutes for all (intention was that the extra time would help all but assist proportionally more the non-native speakers).  The exam should not be a language test, but it is hard to see how to improve the situation.

It is also true that many native English speakers often do not "get it" at all easily; I think this is partly because lack of practice as the IRSE exam is perhaps rather different to other exams done by people previously, but mainly because of limited experience base- "cannot see wood for the trees".