03-07-2012, 04:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-07-2012, 10:53 AM by nicklawford.)
(03-05-2012, 09:36 AM)ansuya Wrote: Hi,
I have emailed Nick. Waiting for a response.
....
Ansuya
Hi Ansuya
Did you mean you emailed myself Nick Lawford (not Lawson as written upthread).
I do not recall seeing email from yourself, sorry, but to answer the question, no, I am not doing any exams this year, nor other involvement.
I had studied and registered for 2011 M4 and M6 and was all set, but that very hot weather when the exams took place set off my hayfever type allergy at a time when not on anti histamines, and come the exam weekend I was in no state to sit anything, and had I turned up I would have been a significant distraction to others, so I aborted it the day before.
Following that, even though I missed 2011's exams, I already knew 2012 would be near impossible to find time to study because of other commitments.
In turn, I have not been following this board. Indeed, it was only Peter Woodbridge's "busmans holiday" India report in the latest IRSE News that reminded me today to look in here. So apologies for not replying sooner. Just too busy this year, not even found time to attend one single IRSE (or IET) event this year either :o(
Following on Alistair's comments, being myself well out of exam technique, I found past papers essential, but for myself I needed pointing in the right direction of exam thinking - something that John Stafford did admirably.
I know the subject well enough, but had forgotten how to sit an exam, and, big problem, forgotten how to use a pen and paper for long periods !!!
Read the question,
think about it,
read ALL the questions,
do not dive in without reading and thinking,
look at the exams marks breakdown,
plan your answer,
and (in my case) go back to first principles,
and (especially in my case) try not to let 25 years of industry anecdotes and events cloud my thinking.
After downloading the 2011 past papers from IRSE.org long after the exam, I can say I would have been confident to have answered 4 from each of M4 and M6, not only that, there was enough there in M7 to have tackled. All this was due to John Stafford reminding me about first principles and exam technique, so huge thankyous to John for that.
--
Nick