Hi all,I stumbled across this forum whilst umming and ahhing about doing my TM CPC, and now I have finally got round to starting I thought I might share my experience so far, it may even help one or two people and I may get a little advice in return
Anyway, I have been working in a fairly busy transport dept as an administrator for about 3 years so have a little bit of knowledge regarding transport law/drivers hours etc but no management experience. I enjoy what I do but feel underused in my current capacity and would love to progress. I will get no help from my work as far as course costs are concerned (wonāt go into details) so had to decide whether to go for the 2 week course or the home study option. With 2 children under 4 there is not very much spare money/time for a 2 week course so I plumped for the home study.
I ordered the home study pack from the RHA at the start of August which came a few days later and I am booked into do the exams on 5th December. My first thoughts were OMG I havenāt got time to learn all of this! It covers a lot more subjects than I imagined, but this can only be a good thing I suppose.
I am going through 1 module at a time, writing down as much as info as I can (this is my way of taking it in, other people have their own methods of revision) and then doing the example questions at the end. I am finding the multiple choice questions fairly straightforward but the case study a lot harder, but I am certainly not feeling as bogged down as when the study pack first came.
I also bought last years Transport Managers and Operaters Handbook by David Lowe off ebay as an additional reference guide and have a copy of last years FTA handbook, is there anything else that may be of use? Also, for the case study exam, it says that paper references are allowed with us, what does that mean? Does it mean books or hand written notes?
Thanks for reading my long (and quite possibly boring) first post, and tips or advice would be much appreciated
I did mine last year through home study, and didnāt find it too bad at all. For part 2, you can take whatever you like in (apart from computers, smartphones etc!).
I got the book and CDs from an outfit called cpc4you, and didnāt find it a huge amount of use tbh, it seemed like a badly put together collection of notes, without any real explanation. I found doing the past papers worked really well, didnāt have too many problems with the business side of things, as I used to have my own company so was used to budgeting etc.
I found that you need to sometimes steer clear of common sense when answering - ie one if the questions got you to plan a legal schedule for a run to Paris. The correct answer has you stopping for a 45, then driving again for 15 minutes before stopping for the daily rest. It had to be this way because company policy was to max hours out, whereas youād obviously stop when you needed the break and park up then, getting you to Paris 45 minutes earlier.
Good luck with it, if you need anything clarified, ask on here. Someone will know!
Hi
I passed the CPC exam in June this year and yes I agree there is alot to learn but it is do-able with alot of time and effort! I would also recommend going on the OCR website as there is alot of useful info on there- pastpapers, examiners reports and student guides. Work through some of the papers when you have read all the modules and see how you get on. It gives you a feel for what they are looking for and how to try and answer the paper.
By āpaper referencesā they mean the exam is āopen bookā so yes you can take anything written in with you. Notes, books and any written info you might find helpful. Bear in mind though that the case study paper is only 2 hours 15 mins and this flies by so you have to be able to find the info you want fairly quickly.
All the best and post again if you want any more advice and help
I did home study and passed in 2013. I used an iphone app to create multi choice questions that I just kept doing until I took the exam and this worked perfectly. With regards to the 2nd part I spent three days prior to the exams with a training company going through mocks. Passed both straight away.
If you have a smart phone search for an app called myCQ. If you download this I can send you a link by email to the questions I tested on. Doing the questions when I was on break or just chilling worked for me.
Doing the three days multi choice at a training centre was an excellent choice as I panicked all through the test papers but come the actual exam no problems at all.
Got my part 2 exam in Peterborough tomorrow, passed part 1 in June. Got my home study pack from ESO which is the same one that the RHA uses also just completed the RHA preparation day which was a great help in clarifying parts that I wasnāt too sure about & also explained how to go about the exam with plenty of practice sections & past papers. If you have a chance I highly recommend it plus they also printed out updated pages for my home study pack as they go out of date very quickly.
Yelvan:
Got my part 2 exam in Peterborough tomorrow, passed part 1 in June. Got my home study pack from ESO which is the same one that the RHA uses also just completed the RHA preparation day which was a great help in clarifying parts that I wasnāt too sure about & also explained how to go about the exam with plenty of practice sections & past papers. If you have a chance I highly recommend it plus they also printed out updated pages for my home study pack as they go out of date very quickly.
My best advice is that you take the exam questions exactly as theyāre written.
For example, if it says āList three examples of Xā then please take them at their word.
They want a list (not an essay.)
They want three (not more.)
The marking of these exams is quite brutal.
In the example Iāve given above, theyāll put a red pen line straight through anything that isnāt a list.
Theyāll only look at the first three things you write.
If they ask for āreasonsā for something, please take careful note of how many reasons theyāre asking for and make sure that you give a proper reason that hits the target.
If you use a scattergun approach youāll very probably come unstuck in the case study.
If my post seems a little sharp, then please accept my apology.
My reason is that (as an ex-CPC tutor) the things Iāve highlighted are the commonest reasons that I saw people for re-sits, but they all stem from a simple misunderstanding of, or not heeding the instructions contained in the case-study questions. Iād like to think that you wonāt now fall into that trap.
Iāll just add that sometimes, the questions will actually point you in the general direction of the answer.
Iād also like to wish you the very best of luck.
Good luck with the studyās
I too recently bought a home study pack, thought I could start reading up whilst sitting on a bay waiting to load.
I havenāt booked a test yet, thought I would get some reading under my belt first - Be interested to see how you get on.
A mate of mine has recently attended a course at Night school.
Surprisingly, he failed the multi-choice part, and passed the case study.
Just waiting to see how he gets on with the re-sit
Good luck, keep us all posted
There is plenty of help & advice on here.
Good source of Info too
The multi choice paper is quite straight forward.
Read the mock questions over and over and test yourself for an hour a day and you will pass easy.
The written paper is more tricky.
I would spend most of my time revising the first I think 10 modules in the book as thatās where the big pointers in the exam are.
Costing, business, drivers hours, WTD, o licensing and general law stuff.
The other 15 modules are quite straight forward you just need to know where to find the info in the book.
As the other questions will be one line random answers you need to find.
For me the hardest thing is knowing were to find the info in the books.
You can take a non-programmable calculator into both exams plus for the case study you can bring in any printed material such as your course notes etc.
Yelvan:
You can take a non-programmable calculator into both exams plus for the case study you can bring in any printed material such as your course notes etc.
emwmarine:
Where are the best exam centres? iāve struggled to find where to take the exams if you do the home study courses.
Not sure whereabouts you are emwmarine butā¦I did mine at Doncaster GTA - they will only let you take the exams if you book a Home Study course (minimum) through them. But once you do this, it entitles you to do the exams plus any required re-sits. Priceā¦very reasonable Ā£250-00 all-in Home Study including exam fees & EOS notes. 10-day block course Ā£800-00 all-in incl. exam fees plus course materials & lunch everyday. Canāt fault them - they also do Passenger Manager CPC. Only downsideā¦no DCPC credit for attending Manager CPC course!!! www.doncastergta.co.uk (01302) 832831.
emwmarine:
Where are the best exam centres? iāve struggled to find where to take the exams if you do the home study courses.
I am booked on the exam on 5th December through the RHA, they have a few centres throughout the uk, I am doing mine in Bradford as itās the closest to me.
Lotās of good advice here, about answering exactly the question they ask in particular.
I will only add that the time for case study is very limited and you need to use it wisely. I had lots of notes and books but hardly used them as did not have time. So if you want to rely on material you bring, make sure you mark it somehow so you do not waste time going through the books
If you use a scattergun approach youāll very probably come unstuck in the case study.
