opinions please re: ATPL exams

[underpaid2011]

Hi all, I've got 7 CAA exams next week and I'm not feeling ready for at least three of them. Do you think it would be better to cancel my reservations for those three and proceed with what I know and then return in a couple of months when I'm convinced I can score high?
I guess what I'm asking is does it look bad to have failed marks and re-sits when you go to an interview or is it enough just to have the license. Of course this will depend on how competitive hiring is at the time, but in general, how bad are failed marks?

[paco]

I wouldn't go into any exam unless I was sure. For £25 you can move the exams to another day. Some employers may bother about resits, but others won't. Just remember you get fined £68 every time you fail!

[bluearrow]

I experienced the same when i was doing some of my exams 2 years ago (Met, GNAV & flight planning), i was all ready to pull out and then a bristol instructor convinced me i should have a go anyway so i did - 100%, 100%, 99% - don't know what i was worrying about in the end.

My point being you feel unready but somewhere inside you the information during the brush ups sinks in and bubbles to the surface. My advice go and have a go.

[underpaid2011]

Good job, those are very impressive scores. I don't know how you went from feeling under confident to acing those exams, but hats off to you.

I keep scoring 70% or lower in the question bank in PoF, don't know if I can pull it together this weekend. And in my desire to learn PoF well, I've been neglecting Radio Nav completely.:uhoh:

I am not confident at all right now.

[rmcb]

Go for it! Feel the fear and glow with the results.

[Graham@IDC]

I'd be a little more cautious. Some airlines like to see a full set of first time passes.

The best way to tell if you are ready is to take lots of practice exams. If you're getting comfortably over the pass mark ( 79% or more) then go for it.

If you're failing sometimes and passing at others then you probably need to do a bit more work.

No rush at the moment - we're going to have to get through Recession Part 2 before the jobs market really picks up.

[pudoc]

If you're not confident with it don't do it. With the industry being the way it is atm you really want to shine as much as possible to your potential employer. A fail isn't gonna help you do it.

As mentioned above, there's no rush at all to get fully qualified.

[underpaid2011]

I was told today that it's too late to cancel and if I didn't show up it would be an automatic fail. Guess it's all 7 exams for me next week!

[Graham@IDC]

Hmm that seems very unfair - what if you were ill. Sounds like you need to spend the weekend hammering the online databases!

Wishing you all the very best of luck.

[underpaid2011]

Thanks Graham, I need the luck.

They can only be cancelled within 5 days before if you have a doctor's note.

[paco]

What about a note from your mum? :)

Phil

[keith williams]

The UK CAA have always applied a rather curious approach to this type of situation.

If a candidate has booked a number of exams for a given week, then attends some but not all of them, they will all be classed as attempts. The non-attended exams will be recorded as failures.

But if the same candidate had booked the same exams and attended none at all, then they would not be classed as an attempt, none would be recorded as failures and the exam fees would be returned.

This could of course simply be a peculiarity of the UK CAA. they may apply a different approach.

[Transsonic2000]

@ underpaid2011:

good luck to you!!! My advice would be, try to stay cool, don't stress yourself to much and make sure you get enough rest the night(s) before taking the exams. Perhaps you can post a report on how it went.

[frontlefthamster]

My belief is that the bar is set sufficiently low that a first time pass is a requisite. Therefore, we (the company I interview for) don't interview anyone without a first time pass across the board. That said, we can afford to be fussy.

My greater concern is that if your preparations for the professional exams have left you in this state, how will you manage your working life as a pilot?

How and where did you study, and what have your tutors said?

[underpaid2011]

"My belief is that the bar is set sufficiently low that a first time pass is a requisite."

I'm not doing the exams in one of those countries where the candidates are given the answers before they go in, and you know which ones I'm talking about. Don't pretend these exams are easy or that all of the CAA questions make sense, they don't. Many of them are obscure, outdated and type specific.

You're answer is unrealistic and demeaning. If you haven't got any support to offer, don't post.

[frontlefthamster]

Oh bless you, I'm sorry. I didn't realise you wanted 'support', I obviously misinterpreted your post:

I guess what I'm asking is does it look bad to have failed marks and re-sits when you go to an interview or is it enough just to have the license. Of course this will depend on how competitive hiring is at the time, but in general, how bad are failed marks?

I thought it meant you wanted answers to the questions there. I apologise unreservedly for any upset, and I'm sure you'll be just fine...

That doesn't change the fact that my answer was realistic and honest. The company I interview and fly for only takes people with first-time passes across the board. It hasn't done us any harm.

I'm beginning to see why no one but wannabes posts in this forum. It's some sort of dream world!

[blablabla]

I have worked for 6 different airlines so far and have never been asked for exam results or how many sittings did it take to pass them all or did i have any second attempts.......1 question they ask do you have a fATPL yes or no ?
So dont get too concerned about how you achieve the fATPL just be concerned about getting all exams passed in the allowed number of sittings etc.

[Transsonic2000]

My belief is that the bar is set sufficiently low that a first time pass is a requisite. Therefore, we (the company I interview for) don't interview anyone without a first time pass across the board. That said, we can afford to be fussy.

Wow, I'm impressed! Sorry, but that's probably one of the most big-headed and ridiculous statements I've read here on the forum :ugh:

My greater concern is that if your preparations for the professional exams have left you in this state, how will you manage your working life as a pilot? If you are a pilot yourself, you should know that the theoretical exams and the real world flying are two different pair of shoes! By the way, I forgot, what was your company's name?

[Sussex Kestrel]

I don't know of any airline that look at an individuals ATPL results. The airlines worth their salt want a good level of experience and the rest just want your money (SSTR) these days.

Instrument Rating? That might be another thing.

[paco]

Some of them ring up the schools and ask for progress test results.

phil

[Kerling-Approsh KG]

A significant proportion of applicants highlight their pass marks on their applications, over 95% is not extraordinary, over 90% is fairly common.

Of course, we check their claims out... So far, of the applicants we've progressed, none have been invalid.

[Proximity]

What is the claim of 90-95% worth anyways? All it proves is that you can cram for the test based on the question bank, which is pretty much public information. From watching people take the exam, it is clear that many are basically recalling answers from memory, as there is no way they could actually have properly read all the questions in the time I saw them finish in.

FWIW, I thought I was going to fail an exam or two the last time around, but turns I out I just passed. I don't really care what my scores are as long as I pass and don't really care to work for someone who feels that the results are in any way relevant.