Assessment at Oxford
Dear forum mates,
I was at Oxford for Skills Assessment and got the following results:
Compass – an absolute disaster. A maximum of 7 points per module can be reached. Totally there are 42 points for the 6 modules. Pass limit are 28 points. I reached 17 points:
Hand-Eye-Foot-Coordination – 2
Slalom – 5
Maths – 3
Memory – 4
Orientation – 1
Multitasking – 2
Technical Knowledge & Physics – OK
Psychologic questionnaire – OK
Simulator – OK
2 x group exercises & group discussion – OK
Interview - OK
Despite poor results in the Compass test they certified me as big potential and offered to re-sit the Compass 3 months later.
Background:
Brushed up intensively exactly for 3 months and 3 weeks before assessment using OAA-media maths & physics, BBC-bitesize, Skytest and Cockpitweb every day.
At the debrief I only could realize and understand the poor performance in Hand-Eye-Foot-Coordination and Maths (worked through 16-17 questions out of 24 in 20min – that’s ⅔). We couldn’t figure out the reasons of the desaster in the other modules. We checked some exercises especially concerning the spacial awareness test (RBI-test) and I performed well. I want to point out that I didn’t the same errors as the most wannabes do. I felt confident and the Compass didn’t represent a real challenge for me. Excepting the Memory test: there were to complete 2 to 3 lines. It seemed to work with 2 lines. After pushing “Enter” the 3rd line went blank. We couldn’t find out what went wrong. Weird. I’m still puzzled and I’m pretty aware that I’ll never find out the reasons. Regarding Hand-Eye-Foot-Coordination and Maths, well, it could be the unfavorable convulsions/gyrus of the brain (it plays a crucial role regarding one person’s abilities). In other words: either you have it or not. There is not much room for improvement once a certain level is reached after a period of time spent with intensive training.
Summarizing the facts: the Compass test was easy and didn’t challenge me really. I realized that I didn’t meet the minimum requirements regarding Hand-Eye-Foot-Coordination and Maths (despite a long period of intensive training). With respect to the other modules I’m just puzzled and the debrief couldn’t shed some light on it. I’m experienced with flight instruments and didn’t the same mistakes of the most candidates (not reading exactly the instructions). On the other hand the results of my performance in the Compass test didn’t match at all with the results of the Simulator test. I got stuck in an abstruse situation being absolutely puzzled.
Taking into consideration that the training ist extremely demanding and costly some thoughts would help me deciding on the next steps to be taken (or not).
Thank you very much for some constructive thoughts!