Have the exams fees shot up recently,£134.90 + V.A.T. for the 3 modules?:shock:
I thought exam fees were V.A.T. exempt. 
gsm31:
Have the exams fees shot up recently,£134.90 + V.A.T. for the 3 modules?:shock:
I thought exam fees were V.A.T. exempt.
Where did you get the figure £134.90 + VAT??
Yes, exam fees are normally VAT exempt.
From OCR’s website:
CPC — National Unit 1 £11.15
CPC — National Unit 2 £20.25
CPC — National Unit 4 £32.40
…£63.80 (No mention of VAT 
)
It’s on page 15 of this: OCR CATALOGUE
I think you will find they try and sting you for taking the test at the office. one in essex, dont recall the name charge you 90 quid for using the room and having the instructor or summit there … just their way off ripping truckers off!!!
dieseldave:
gsm31:
Have the exams fees shot up recently,£134.90 + V.A.T. for the 3 modules?:shock:
I thought exam fees were V.A.T. exempt.Where did you get the figure £134.90 + VAT??
Yes, exam fees are normally VAT exempt.From OCR’s website:
CPC — National Unit 1 £11.15
CPC — National Unit 2 £20.25
CPC — National Unit 4 £32.40
…£63.80 (No mention of VATIt’s on page 15 of this: OCR CATALOGUE
Bought the Home Study pack off R.H.A.
They sent me out a booking form with the exam location and the fees quoted in my post.
Guess I better 'phone them tomorrow,sounds like they’ve made a mistake.
Cheers Dave.
gsm31 and discoman,
CPC is strange in that there’s a syllabus and course notes, but there’s no requirement to learn in a classroom, hence the homestudy option. The only real requirement is that the exams are taken at an OCR approved premises. Somewhere at the premises you’ll see a certificate with their OCR approval number written on it. That number must be entered on your exam papers.
I’ve provided the links, but I couldn’t comment as to whether somebody is or isn’t making a profit on the fees, or whether there’s been some sort of mistake either at the RHA or OCR. I’ll get a definitive answer and edit this post. (12/7)
EDITED 13/7:
I’ve checked with two providers for whom I’ve taught CPC.
1st answer: (from a college) “we only allow people who took the course here to sit exams here.”
2nd answer: (from a “normal” training provider) “we make a charge of £150 + VAT for people sitting the exams from the homestudy route. The difference between the true cost of the exams and our charge is to cover the extra administration costs to us in providing that facility. The admin charge attracts the VAT, not the exam fee element.”
It appears that I’ve now learned something as well. Being a freelance instructor is about the same as being a driver. At the end of the shift, you put the paperwork into the office without really understanding what happens to it after that. I’ve seen the mountains of paperwork in the office after a CPC course, but I hadn’t ever considered how much of it wasn’t exam papers!! Of course, that would be very different if I was an employee of the training company… Now you know why I’m freelance 
discoman:
…one in essex, dont recall the name charge you 90 quid for using the room and having the instructor or summit there
There’s a lot more to it than that. There are extra charges, made by OCR, to the place where the exams are conducted. The person who invigilates the exam isn’t going to work for free, for instance. When I charge out for my presence, I do it by head count. Many providers have a quality assurance system that says that the instructor who taught the course ISN’T the same person who will invigilate the exam, so many of them “swap” instructors for the day. I often pick up a day’s invigilation work that way, even if I didn’t teach a particular course.
Once we realise that a CPC certificate is a legal document that can be used to obtain an operator’s licence, we should be able to appreciate why the authorities take them so seriously.
discoman:
… just their way off ripping truckers off!!!
From my conversations today, I’d say that the £90 you mentioned is actually very good value for money. I guess it’s like a lot of other things, there’s a lot more going on than we’d at first think. The main legal thing is that those charges were brought to gsm31’s attention in advance. Presumably, there’s a condition that says something like “acceptance of these charges is implied from you placing your order for the course materials,” or similar. That’s why it’s always advisable to read the small print first
Dave,your 2nd answer is basically what R.H.A. told me today.
Extra costs are down to Admin. charges.
R.H.A. book the exams,send out the results/certificates,plus you get free updated student notes if you fail any of the modules and need to resit.
gsm31:
Dave,your 2nd answer is basically what R.H.A. told me today.
Extra costs are down to Admin. charges.
R.H.A. book the exams,send out the results/certificates,plus you get free updated student notes if you fail any of the modules and need to resit.
That’s very good value then.
The RHA certainly isn’t a “rip-off” organisation, so the £134.90 + VAT just needed clarifying for you. BTW, the RHA student notes are very good indeed, so you should do just fine. Good luck, and PM me if you get really stuck.
I used study notes from www.eostraining.com. They supply to many training centres, but also supply to the indivdiual. Ordered over t’internet on a Sunday and they were delivered on tuesday.
Then I booked my Exam through the RTITB in Telford who charged me only the OCR stated exam fee, plus £25 admin fee.
It worked for me
Good Luck
Kate,the study notes R.H.A. sent me, were from Eos training as well.
The notes are well laid out.
To Kate and gsm31,
That’s what I meant when I wrote “RHA notes.” They do indeed come from EOS, but I tried avoiding introducing yet another set of initials, which might have led to confusion. CPC is difficult enough already, so I thought.
To be fair, Friendberry also produce CPC notes for both Nat. and Int. CPCs, and there are other providers of course materials, but from my experience of teaching CPC, I’d say that I’ve used the EOS notes and PowerPoint slides the most. Market forces and all that…It was interesting to note the admin fee charged by the RTITB though. It goes to show that it sometimes pays to shop around.
Presumably you passed Kate. If so, well done! (Nice cat too )
Does anyone know where in Glasgow the CPC exams are held?
gsm31:
Does anyone know where in Glasgow the CPC exams are held?
That would depend on the course provider. There are a couple of possibilities.
-
Your provider is registered as an exam centre with OCR, in which case you sit the exam at their place.
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Your provider isn’t registered as an exam centre, so you could ask them where they recommend you to sit the exam.