15-09-2008, 07:00 PM
BedfordBoy Wrote:PJW Wrote:There are 10 questions of which you have to do 3; in reality you must expect that a couple of them may be completely impossible for you (e.g. a level crossing question is most unlikely to suit anyone from a Metro environment; similarly platform screen doors are likely to be unknown to Mainline candidates)- that should still leave a good choice for everyone to be able to choose the ones that they feel they can do best. So even if expecting to do the track circuit calculation do consider both it and the other options.
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There are certainly many that bank upon the track calcs- particularly those whose first language is not English. Conversely others just don't want to do the maths and thus would never attempt.
I think the situation is actually a little worse than that, because there are also questions that would really only suit those from a maintenance background and others that would only suit those from a testing background. Although mainline designers like myself can learn the information for the purpose of passing the exam, it's no easier then learning about platform screen doors for example (which ironically I have actually had some experience of).
As for the number of candidates choosing the track circuit question, I think most people in this industry learn to express important information very concisely. So when they read in the exam reviews that one page per question is not good enough, if they're anything like me they feel a bit intimidated by the essay type questions.
I hope I'm not coming across as too negative - so far I've done well at the modules I've attempted, but I definitely have some frustrations so I thought I'd just get some thoughts out there. Back to the study now...
I was kind of joking about walking out of the exam, too.