Much respect flybymike.....and I mean that seriously with no sarcasm.
The last time I did exams was in university and they were all essay style. I personally found some of the wording and nature of the questions in the CAA exams to be...emmm....confusing. I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of the subjects as I didn't just use the practice exams to study but I do believe that being able to get to grips with the way the questions are worded and the tricks they try to play on you really helped. I don't know if I would have failed if I did no practice exams first but I don't think I would have done as well.
So, to all you people who had to walk into the exam not knowing what to expect, well done.