New CAA PPL theory exams online and practise apps

[Paul Agan]

Hey Everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has recently set PPL Theory exams with new CAA UK on online portal? Sorry if this thread is repeat, however I couldn’t find a thread to answer my question.

I am interested in finding out if you have used any online exam practise software or app? I have used PPL Tutor and AFE exam practise books, however when I was setting exam today for “Principles of Flight” on new CAA portal, the questions were nothing like in PPL tutor or AFE practise book. Even though I thought I have learned quite well The subjects according to the practise books and was scoring in range of 90-100% on these practise tests, I have managed to fail the actual exam big time

Any advice would be great, so I can up my game on the next round...

thank you in advance

[md 600 driver]

Proberbly best to get a tutor and rather than learning the answers understand the questions and answer. There’s no answer books when you get up there solo

[Paul Agan]

Originally Posted by md 600 driver

Proberbly best to get a tutor and rather than learning the answers understand the questions and answer. There’s no answer books when you get up there solo

I am not trying to learn the answers in order to pass the exam, as you say there won’t be book to look at when in the air. And I know the subject, however I found that the actual exam questions differs in what I was revising and they more complicated than the ones I was practising, so I thought maybe there is a source with more up to date practice/revision which is in line with new exams. Which would aid to practise on more complex formulated questions. Hope it doesn’t make sense

[MrAverage]

You've proved what I've been saying to all our students to be right. None of the online apps or other practice questions can be anything like the 1000 brand new questions until way into next year, once they've somehow "stolen" enough questions. The only way to be ready before that is to know each individual subject inside out and upside down - so no question is a problem - before being recommended as ready by your club or school, which is how it was before apps were a thing............

[Fl1ingfrog]

I have managed to fail the actual exam big time

I'm sorry to hear that.

And I know the subject

To be blunt, you obviously don't. You haven't stated which text books that you have used to study, if any, you have only mentioned the exam practice stuff that you have used. md 600 driver is quite correct to say know your subject. Most exam prep books/software simply require you to demonstrate that you remember in a simple way what you have read. Although the actual exams do have straightforward questions for equally straightforward answers, there will be a number that will require a practical understanding. The provided choice of answers will often be i) completely wrong ii) partially correct only iii) wrong but very appealing (usually the longest answer) and iv) the correct answer. If you rely too much on question and answer books you can easily fall victim of 'find the lady' a card game which is hosted by con men.

The real answer = read the relevant manual for the subject and understand it. I would also recommend an hour or two with an instructor.

[Alex Whittingham]

I do hope you are right. The professional exams have been blighted for years by questions you can't answer correctly unless you have seen them before. The track record isn't great....

Example:

The DME Line Of Position is a circle with radius:

(a) The ground distance and centre the DME-station
(b) The slant range and centre the DME-station
(c) The ground distance and centre the aircraft
(d) The slant range and centre the aircraft

go for it! P.S. answer (a) is marked correct in the exams

[Paul Agan]

Originally Posted by Fl1ingfrog

I'm sorry to hear that.



To be blunt, you obviously don't. You haven't stated which text books that you have used to study, if any, you have only mentioned the exam practice stuff that you have used. md 600 driver is quite correct to say know your subject. Most exam prep books/software simply require you to demonstrate that you remember in a simple way what you have read. Although the actual exams do have straightforward questions for equally straightforward answers, there will be a number that will require a practical understanding. The provided choice of answers will often be i) completely wrong ii) partially correct only iii) wrong but very appealing (usually the longest answer) and iv) the correct answer. If you rely too much on question and answer books you can easily fall victim of 'find the lady' a card game which is hosted by con men.

The real answer = read the relevant manual for the subject and understand it. I would also recommend an hour or two with an instructor.

I have used the AFE Books to study the material and used AFE practise books for this particular subject. I have managed to answer all the questions which were after the each chapter study book and I have managed to pass all the practise exams on AFE practise books. Which would mean that I understand and I know the subject? right? I had a ground school session with instructor as well. However on the actual exam I found that the questions were way more complex that the ones in practice books or study books, which in my opinion - in that case the study material revision questions might give a person a false feeling that subject is learned and understood correctly. Because you would expect that the study material difficulty and complexity level would match the real exam level?
This is my point of view as a student , perhaps from the instructor point of view the new exams are different scenario. I don't know.
I feel that for some reason my topic has little backfired on me. As lots of people have perception that I just want to learn the answers and have an easy ride of the exam, but it is quite opposite. I don't want to learn the answers to only pass exams or have an easy ride through the training. I want to learn the subject in depth and have a clear understanding of the topics, but how other way to find out if the study material and questions doesn't match the level of exam? That's all and I was hoping to see if there are any other people who feel that way. Hope all this makes sense.

[Fl1ingfrog]

There is a European (including. the UK) wide disease that demands so much from the candidate. The UK/EASA invigilation system is so complacent whilst sneering at the FAA. The example given above by Alex is unforgivable but comes as no surprise. The first year of the EASA commercial exams was a complete disaster and if memory serves me right all those who failed their exam/s that year were given a credit for the fees they had paid and also the sittings. An example of a question around that time was something like: "you have experienced a partial defragmentation of the port side cell. How will this affect the glide?" Just as way off the mark as the above. A student came to me with this feedback question in a complete state of confusion. It took us some time to unravel with certainty that a failure of the port engine was what was intended to describe. Whether the engine was with partial power or had suffered a complete loss was not clear but obviously irrelevant to the glide. He was latter able to contact his tutor face to face, who with a shrug said, and with a smile, the box to enter his cross should the question arise must be C. The question/ answer bore little to give further time to. As you point out Alex it is so sad that the same kind of issues remain all these years latter. How often today are you found shrugging your shoulders and with a similar smile of c'est la vie?

I sincerely hope that the new online question bank (if that is what it is) for PPLs isn't so obtuse to need. I don't see how instructors or examiners will know, legitimately, much of the online exam questions other than by developing the feedback. The PPL exams must be on a need to know and reflect only the absolute necessity. We will have to wait and see.

[MidlifeCrises]

My experience is that the phrasing of the questions in the PPL e-exams is quite unlike that used in either the AFE or Pooley's books, or the PPL Tutor and Airquiz websites/apps.
I also have a set of the most recent CAE ATPL books. Subjectively, the PPL e-exam question phrasing and presentation was closer to those than to AFE or Pooley's.
The PPL syllabus items on CAA portal match a subset of the headings in the ATPL books word for word, so perhaps they are now a simple subset of the content of the commercial exams?

It appears that the sample questions/papers in AFE/Pooley's and online are of very limited use now, at least for the "fact-based" subjects.

[BEagle]

MidlifeCrises - this might be of interest to you: https://groundschool.aopa.co.uk/main/courses.do

[jmmoric]

Originally Posted by Alex Whittingham

I do hope you are right. The professional exams have been blighted for years by questions you can't answer correctly unless you have seen them before. The track record isn't great....

Example:

The DME Line Of Position is a circle with radius:

What is a "Line Of Position"? Never heard the term before..

[Fl1ingfrog]

Nor has anyone!

[MidlifeCrises]

Originally Posted by BEagle

MidlifeCrises - this might be of interest to you: AOPA Groundschool

Thanks for this. I've reviewed a couple of the courses. The content and questions appear to be right up to date and much more similar in phrasing to the e-exam questions than PPL Tutor/Airquiz.

[Fl1ingfrog]

This is very good news. The packages are well thought through and designed to suit most individuals needs and your pockets. There cannot be a better pedigree than AOPA and no one has their ear closer to current CAA initiatives. I would encourage all students and others involved with GA to also join AOPA, they are a genuine organisation who work extensively for our interests and, with few exceptions, are all pilots involved in private flying.