just started the 2391

[i=p/u]

this thread will go on for quite a while (14 WEEKS), to exams... ive nearly read gn3 for the first time and there is a few things i dont fully understand but im sure i will for when the time comes from help from you guys/dudes/punks who know just a little to much.

 

[fredrico]

Try and do as many past exam papers as you can. Reading GN3 is one thing, but answering exam questions is another. Did mine last month, still waiting for results.

 

[Richard Burns]

this thread will go on for quite a while (14 WEEKS), to exams... ive nearly read gn3 for the first time and there is a few things i dont fully understand but im sure i will for when the time comes from help from you guys/dudes/punks who know just a little to much.

Read on MacDuff, you can never know too much!

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Nice one i=p/u, enjoy it. I loved it but I'm an electrical geek at the best of times. Make sure you get your moneys' worth out of the lecturers!

!st day on ours he read riot act and basically said most of us in room will fail so if anyone wants to cut to the chase leave now!!!

Is that standard?

 

[GT1]

Haha.
Was he ex military. !!

 

[SPARTYKUS]

possibly. He like bourbon (drink not biscuits) does that help

 

[La Poste]

Our lecturer was useless, I learnt more on this forum than I did at college, much more in fact.

Definitely get into doing loads of past papers, it's the key to passing the exam IMHO.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Watch your terminology on this one i=p/u......you WILL lose marks for wrong terminology.....

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Watch your terminology on this one i=p/u......you WILL lose marks for wrong terminology.....

Toptastic advice from the Glennster.

 

[jase]

howcome 14 weeks? I have seen a course i am interested in 2391-10, it is 5 days long with written paper the week after, what is the norm?

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Buy the C&G 2391 exam success book. Well worth the £15 or so quid. It is a massive help for the written exam, with lots of tips for saving time, especially if like me you are not the best artist that ever graced the planet, and can sometimes ramble on a bit when trying to describe in detail something. This book shows you how to cut the crap and save time.

15 weeks is a good period to get to grips with GN3, learn a bit at a time, and you will have no big trouble on this course or the exams.

The biggest cause of failure is lack of revision time, so if you have 15 weeks, you stand more chance than someone who is going to take it the week after.

Cheers............Howard

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Because it was never designed to be done in 5 days, and in my opinion that does not give you the quality time between each lesson for the evening's content to perculate through the grey matter.

Its 10 odd weeks at night school, cheaper, better for understanding, and the way it was meant to be done!


However I can see that a crash course may be some peoples only option for various reasons. Expect to pay through the nasal cavity

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Learn the GN3 inside out, ask questions if you don't know something, get doing past papers, then you should be okay.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

what i=p/u can ask the lecturer n all is what the previous months pass rate is/was as C&G have a legal requirement to disclose such info....what the pass rate of the training centre is and what the reasons were for the last months markings fails.....such as for wrong terminology (one that keeps cropping up on this one)..or continuity of ring finals (another one)..or things like applying the rule of thumb to measured values rather than the tabulated values of Zs (my lecturer said that this one kept coming back from C&G HQ n all)....these are just a few examples but my lecturer said there were allsorts....mostly silly stuff n all but they arn`t in the business of careing down at C&G....if it aint right (as per GN3)....you dont get the mark...simple as....

 

[i=p/u]

he told us to go on c&g website and read examiners report and says about terminoligy... which i find hard to believe.. but cheers

Toptastic advice from the Glennster.

 

[i=p/u]

aye .. nicely spaced out , got the exam for sucess same time as gn3... cheaper to buy the 2..lol

Buy the C&G 2391 exam success book. Well worth the £15 or so quid. It is a massive help for the written exam, with lots of tips for saving time, especially if like me you are not the best artist that ever graced the planet, and can sometimes ramble on a bit when trying to describe in detail something. This book shows you how to cut the crap and save time.

15 weeks is a good period to get to grips with GN3, learn a bit at a time, and you will have no big trouble on this course or the exams.

The biggest cause of failure is lack of revision time, so if you have 15 weeks, you stand more chance than someone who is going to take it the week after.

Cheers............Howard

 

[i=p/u]

ps got the course for £30 and exam fees are £29.60 for each =£90

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Wow! Thats cheap!

 

[i=p/u]

telling ya, local collages are here to help... even if you have to jump skip and avoid the truth a little....

 

[Silly Sausage]

telling ya, local collages are here to help... even if you have to jump skip and avoid the truth a little....

Naughty! I won't tell if you don't.

Study & practise hard. Good luck with it.

 

[Tuttle]

Try and do as many past exam papers as you can. Reading GN3 is one thing, but answering exam questions is another. Did mine last month, still waiting for results.

Where do you get the past exam papers from?

 

[i=p/u]

there is ones floating around this forum somwhere, i have few in a folder on this laptop.. exam sucess has a few and the lecturer give me few sample questions this week.... and he says he will be pumping them out soon as everybody has payed their fees, as he doesnt want to scare them (joke) his..lol

 

[highspark]

All lecturers are useless get in your books and on the end of your megger

 

[fingerbuster]

I just passed my 2391. The exam itself follows a standard formula. It took me two attempts to get it.

Don't just think memorising GN3 will do it - it'll help, yes, but the buggers that write the questions are - as one would expect - savvy to this theory; and, they compose the questions cryptically to ensure that the examinee has to think.

Not easy.


NB* ETS in Aston Birmingham will definitely get you through though.

They're good.

 

[EastAnglian]

When you do the practice questions from the past papers try to do them under exam conditions - i.e. no books, no notes and just 18 minutes per question! I passed 2391-10 and 2391-20 first time, but on both occasions the 3 hour written exam was just about the quickest 180 minutes I've ever known - and my arm was bloody sore from writing for days afterwards!

As others have said watch your terminology .... make sure you mean earth when you write earth, and don't really mean CPC for example. Its a Ring Final Circuit, not a Ring Main. I'm sure your tutors will do their best to point out the need for accuracy!

 

[CrazyScozzese]

Get the exam pass book, it basically talks you through it. Tells you exactly how to interpret each question, how long to spend depending upon the format of the question, how to save time, how to abrieviate answers, etc. However, they fall apart after a few weeks. Designed to self destruct so you do not sell it on ebay.

I have one, cost £17, yours for only £8 inc postage!!! But mostly loose leaf now, but clean as a daisy. If fact, I will throw in a few past papers too. Out of the non regs books I bought, it was the only one that was worth it, the rest were a waste of money. GN3 and OSG, they are the course, keep them by the loo or where you read most.

IMHO, know the testing order of every type of circuit backwards, how to safe iso, testing selv, RCD tests, and always remember to remove temporary links when you answer. You will be 60% there. And do the 2382 first as it prepares you for the section of min/max/ip/40ms type of questions, and is easy anyway. Most of all, read the question twice, they are tricky and worded to confuse or mislead, the answer is often easier than it appears. The idea is to force you to think.

 

[frank3323]

i did 2391 last March, passed first time. I got past papers from ebay and read GN3 over and over for weeks! terminoligy is key, one wrong word and its a mark against. also, it may help to pay some attention to earth electrode testing, most UK sparks dont do much of this and a massive part of the exam i did was on explaining how to do it, i was lucky that its a test i do a lot working from generators but quite a few failed that day thanks to that one question. hope this helps a little.

 

[1Justin]

Hi Crazy.

That exam success book. I'll give i=p/u first go since at it since it's his thread, but if not, let me know. I'll try and drop you a private message on it.

Hi i=p/u. Keep us up to date with your progress! I have CG2395 in March (2391 phased out). It'll be similar.

Justin

 

[1Justin]

.. OK. Just found it at £9.75 for IET members. - I'll order there.

edit.
Correction .. No stock.

 

[CrazyScozzese]

Justin, no problem. Is the 2395 back on, I heard it was delayed 6 months? Looks like it is basically the 2382, and 2391 rolled into one qualy. And the 2394 is the 2382 and 2392 rolled into one. That said, I heard they may revise the content, hence the delay.

 

[1Justin]

Hi Crazy,

Well I did 2382 and the college has promised the 2395 because they weren't allowed to teach 2391 any more. Last I heard it is still on. If so, this will be one of the first. Even the lecturer didn't know the content last December. Perhaps we'll get 2391 after all.

Whatever, I dropped you a line re the book if it's going (and if it's in one piece!)

Rgds

 

[highspark]

So basically us 17th Edition, 2391, 2356, 2330 sparks of the naughties are now deemed as older sparks with outdated quals lol. I like the fact its all changing, it for me makes the older quals more special.

 

[CrazyScozzese]

And the 2396, which is the 2391-20 Design and Verification, is now a level 4 award. Was 3.

 

[SPARTYKUS]

I just passed my 2391. The exam itself follows a standard formula. It took me two attempts to get it.

Don't just think memorising GN3 will do it - it'll help, yes, but the buggers that write the questions are - as one would expect - savvy to this theory; and, they compose the questions cryptically to ensure that the examinee has to think.

Not easy.


NB* ETS in Aston Birmingham will definitely get you through though.

They're good.

Posh Liverpool... West Derby????

 

[parker56]

Did mine over 4 weeks, had a great time,and passed first time. But did lots of old papers & learnt a new language think they call it sparks.

 

[i=p/u]

well i have the exam for sucess book already as was cheaper to buy 3 books from amazon, which i wanted anyway.... in was told they have extended the 2391 now for another while......


i had a look at the earth electrode testing, seems complicaated to explain, but im sure il get there .. try and set up a rig or something..

 

[chelwood]

Take the day off work when you have exam.Personally i think by the time you have been up since dawn and done a days work you are in no shape to sit an exam of this nature

 

[frank3323]

electrode testing is as simple as the diagram in gn3 its just the sequence and the names of the test spikes etc that people fall down on if its not something they do very often or ever! if u know a spark with a fluke 1653 multi u can borrow they can do electrode testing and u can get electrode lead and test spikes for about 40 quid. (or use some 2.5 wrapped around the leads or on crock clips 15m and 30m if u just want to give it a go) once you have done it once, like everyhing it makes sense.

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Take the day off work when you have exam.Personally i think by the time you have been up since dawn and done a days work you are in no shape to sit an exam of this nature

aside from the fact that there might be a bit of stomach churning and sphincter twitching :nonod:

 

[efcsnakes]

To any one taking the 2391 it's not as difficult as others make it out to be. put the hours in and you will pass. I put off doing it for a couple of years because of people i know who had passed telling me how hard the exam was. After taking the exam for the first time in OCT 11 and passing I now realise it was just people trying to big up the fact they had passed it. what i will say is it's too much to take in over 5 days so don't even try it, you will know on the night of the exam if your ready because you won't be one of the loons in the canteen frantically going through their notes(if you don't know it by then your not going to learn it the 15 mins before the exam). I went to "IN Phase training" in Liverpool and we had 9 people out of 13 pass in our class because the training was excellent but also everyone revised.

One more thing, on section B of the exam(the scenario) our tutor gave us a great bit of advice, don't waste time writ
ing 6 small essays. just bullet point the main bits of info. the exam only took me 1 hr 10 mins to complete with this great bit of advice, plenty of time to check your answers at the end...


Good luck to all

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Any exam appears easier....when you've passed it

 

[efcsnakes]

Any exam appears easier....when you've passed it

Totally agree, what i don't get is people who have passed making out it is the most difficult exam ever!

 

[GLENNSPARK]

right then.....as far as i know theres 3 guys down`t C&G that make up these exam papers......one of ems got a liking for earth paths n fault paths....you ALWAYS get questions about loop n all that according to the lecturer i had.......another one of em is into terminology and how to perform tests n all that....so you need to be fully conversant with stuff like r1...r2...rn and R1 and R2 n all that lot and the max value for an R2.....another one is your PFC on a 3 phase system.....they may ask you stuff about testing each phase to earth for PFC....you dont......phase-neutral PFC is always higher.....so if using seperate meters...that cant test phase to phase ...you take the highest phase to neutral...and double it....some of em are like trick questions......
What i did before describing how to perform continuity testing on a ring final circuit was i put THIS IS A DEAD TEST in bold capitals at the top of the page so as to leave em in no doubt as to you knowing this.....and always mentioned to ask permission from THE PERSON ORDERING THE TEST OR ANY OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES...before undertaking any work (inspecting and testing in this case)....and dont neglect to mention about doing a safe isolation before undertaking dead testing and that a safe iso is done using an APPROVED VOLTAGE INDICATOR TO GS38....together with a known source of supply such as a proving unit.......these are all things you are likely to be asked during this exam.....stay alert....

 

[jeremy]

I hadn't done a written exam of this nature for 25 years, one of the problems I had was hand cramp. It seemed the most difficult exam at the time, though I passed it but didn't pass A level geography (or maths or physics!) probably just a more realistic view on what I may know or not and the consequences of passing (or not)

 

[efcsnakes]

here you go i'll keep going with what ive got, hope they help. sorry about the notes on them

 

[efcsnakes]

section B

 

[i=p/u]

im currently doing the 301 and 302 this year aswell and was given booklet/assignment this week to fill in my hand was cramped too.... some writing in 2 hours

 

[efcsnakes]

another one... sections a and b.. answers on next post

 

[efcsnakes]

answers

 

[efcsnakes]

another past paper.... this takes me a while scanning them in but i remember how hard it was for me too get past papers! and answers