UK 18th Edition / BS7671 Amendment 2 Exam tips

[Hashim]

Hi

Could someone please help me with how to navigate the 18th edition amendment 2 (Brown) book in the most time efficient way for the exam. I have an exam in 6 days and currently I'm taking way too long to find the answers and I fear I will go over the 2 hour time limit and probably still fail .

• Maybe a table with which pages the exam questions will come from, will be of great help. (I know this isn't the best way to study the book but I just need a strategy for the exam)

Thanks

 

[JBW175]

The book is in sections (chapters). There’ll be so many questions from each section. They run in order, once you’ve completed all the questions in chapter one say, you’ll move to questions in chapter 2 and won’t have any more questions on the previous chapter.

Tab up your book and highlight useful information that you reference a lot. Zs tables for example.

Learn to use the index and contents page, they’re lifesavers.

Do some mock tests online, there’s plenty out there. Check out -----------

Don’t worry too much, it’s really not a hard exam.

Good luck with it.

 

[timhoward]

I was advised to go through the whole exam 3 times.
1 - look at every question and answer the ones I could do without even opening the book.
2 - then go through again and do the questions that I knew exactly where to find the answers
3 - the rest of the time spent on questions where I'd have to actually search, ideally using section content pages, and last resort the index at the back

That way as many points as possible have been collected in the shortest time, leaving the remainder of the time to scour the book.
It worked for me.

For revision, I'd focus on sections 3, 4 and 5.
Section 1 and 2 questions are obvious, near the start of the exam.
Testing & Inspection questions are fairly obvious - section 6, and special location questions are fairly obvious - section 7.

So 3,4 and 5 are the ones you have to know a bit better.
All the best.

 

[fivevoltlogic]

Remember you can use sticky notes to tab your pages. I currently have all the parts, appendicies and table of figures and table of tables tabbed. That and a couple of others like Disconnection and Zs(Part 4), abbreviations and symbols (Part 2).

I've been told you can have short annotations such as page numbers so I've put page numbers next to the chapters on the contents pages for each section. (edit: check with your exam centre what they're happy for you to do. C&G has their set of rules, but exam centres my differ)

 

[fivevoltlogic]

Sorry to keep posting in separate posts..

On the website 18th-edition.org.uk there's a section "What is covered by the 18th edition exam" which has a table of questions and the parts they cover and the percentage of the exam they account for. I'm not sure how up to date this is though.

I've been told that the exam is usually in order, so question 7, for example, will be later on in the book than question 4. There shouldn't be much or any need to be flip flopping back and forward too much.
Based on those percentages, much like @timhoward has said, concentrate on the high percentage areas. Parts 3, 4, 5 will have the most riding on them. Parts 4 and 5 are big.

Don't forget to use the index and definitions (esp abbreviations) if you're stuck.

 

[Hashim]

Hi

Could someone please help me with how to navigate the 18th edition amendment 2 (Brown) book in the most time efficient way for the exam. I have an exam in 6 days and currently I'm taking way too long to find the answers and I fear I will go over the 2 hour time limit and probably still fail .

• Maybe a table with which pages the exam questions will come from, will be of great help. (I know this isn't the best way to study the book but I just need a strategy for the exam)

Thanks

Thanks for that.

Is there any reason why in the mock exams the questions don't follow an order from what I have noticed so far. My first question in my mock was from Chapter 4 (Part 4) and then it goes into other chapters.

 

[fivevoltlogic]

That may be a better question for whoever provided the mock exam to you. I'm studying for the exam myself and only sharing the info that I've been given.

What was the question from Part 4?

 

[Hashim]

I was advised to go through the whole exam 3 times.
1 - look at every question and answer the ones I could do without even opening the book.
2 - then go through again and do the questions that I knew exactly where to find the answers
3 - the rest of the time spent on questions where I'd have to actually search, ideally using section content pages, and last resort the index at the back

That way as many points as possible have been collected in the shortest time, leaving the remainder of the time to scour the book.
It worked for me.

For revision, I'd focus on sections 3, 4 and 5.
Section 1 and 2 questions are obvious, near the start of the exam.
Testing & Inspection questions are fairly obvious - section 6, and special location questions are fairly obvious - section 7.

So 3,4 and 5 are the ones you have to know a bit better.
All the best.

That may be a better question for whoever provided the mock exam to you. I'm studying for the exam myself and only sharing the info that I've been given.

What was the question from Part 4?

I cant remember the question, since I stopped that mock paper. It was from -----------.

I am doing the mocks online since I did my course online as well.

I dont know why but its taking me soo long to find answers. I think 2 hours won't be enough for me lol

 

[Hashim]

I cant remember the question, since I stopped that mock paper. It was from -----------.

I am doing the mocks online since I did my course online as well.

I dont know why but its taking me soo long to find answers. I think 2 hours won't be enough for me lol

How much time do you need to revise for this exam? Up until recently I've been hearing from others that they can get the course completed in 3 days from some colleges. How is that enough time to revise for the exam unless maybe I'm missing something...

 

[happysteve]

Memorise these numbers:

1, 5, 7, 13, 28, 42, 46, 53.

Each number above is the first question of the next section of the Regs.

So, for instance, questions 1-4 will be on Part 1.

When you get to question 5, you will be on Part 2.

Question 7 (to 12), the answers will be in Part 3.

... and so on.

The City and Guilds specification for the 2382 Award (the 18th Edition exam) is at:

Requirements for Electrical Installations

City & Guilds Requirements for Electrical Installations qualifications. Leading vocational education and training organisation.

www.cityandguilds.com

(go to "Level 3" then "Centre Documents", the current one is the PDF titled "2382-22 L3 Award in Requirements for Electrical Installations 2022 handbook v1-0").

This document gives the specification for the number of questions on each section. Note that it does NOT state that the questions are asked in order of Parts. I took my 18th Edition exam within a week of the 18th Edition coming out, and within a day or so of the new City & Guilds exam going live. The questions were in a random order, and stayed that way for a few months... then they started putting them in order again. As far as I know (though I've been "out of the loop" as far as City & Guilds is concerned for a couple of years), they still ask the questions in order.

Note that you might have to go back and forward within a Part, it's not like you're guaranteed to aways be moving forward through the book.

The only caveat to the above, is if in the main bit of the Regs, there is to a reference to a specific Appendix, then the answer could be in there instead. For instance, question 10 (say), which you'd expext to be from Part 3, might ask a question about external influence code BA2 (or whatever), and you'll find the answer in Appendix 5, because this Appendix is referred to from Chapter 32.

The other useful tip I can give is that at the start of each Part - and, for Parts 4 and 5, at the start of each Chapter - there is a pretty comprehensive Table of Contents. So if you know (from the question number) that the answer is somewhere in Part 5, then the contents page at the start of Part 5 should help you narrow it down to a Chapter... you could then flick to that Chapter, and hopefully you'll be able to spot something that relates to the question being asked.

 

[fivevoltlogic]

It'll depend on a couple of things. If you're on the tools then you'll have picked up a lot of the more common regs and won't necessarily have to find them in the book. For the mocks I've been looking the ones I've known up anyway just to help familiarize myself with the book's layout.

You mentioned that you were taking too long. Have you timed yourself doing a full exam to see how long it's taking per question on average? Some questions might take me 3 to 4 minutes, but I average at about 1 minute per question over a whole exam.

Remember that the pass mark is about 60% ~ 36 questions out of 60. If you're using an online course, go back and look at the introduction to the exam.

 

[oscar21]

I recently sat my 18th edition with amendment 2, I left it as long as possible but NAPIT would have kicked us out if one of didn't do the 18th this time round. It was every bit as loony as I thought it would be, 90% of the questions bore no relationship with the work that I do day to day, why on earth do I need to know how long a factory gangplank can be in order to fit a few sockets in a kitchen extension, or even if I was on a gangplank why would I car how long it was. There was questions about marinas and all sorts.

I know its to see if you can find the answers to stuff in a book but it might as well have been questions on knitting as electrics it was that irrelevant. I wouldn't mind but on the rare occasion that I need to find something out on the job I just google it, I wouldn't dream of wasting 20 minutes thumbing through a 500 page book to find something, that's so 19th century.

 

[DPG]

I recently sat my 18th edition with amendment 2, I left it as long as possible but NAPIT would have kicked us out if one of didn't do the 18th this time round. It was every bit as loony as I thought it would be, 90% of the questions bore no relationship with the work that I do day to day, why on earth do I need to know how long a factory gangplank can be in order to fit a few sockets in a kitchen extension, or even if I was on a gangplank why would I car how long it was. There was questions about marinas and all sorts.

I know its to see if you can find the answers to stuff in a book but it might as well have been questions on knitting as electrics it was that irrelevant. I wouldn't mind but on the rare occasion that I need to find something out on the job I just google it, I wouldn't dream of wasting 20 minutes thumbing through a 500 page book to find something, that's so 19th century.

You surely can't expect them to write an exam tailored just to what you do in your job??

 

[oscar21]

You surely can't expect them to write an exam tailored just to what you do in your job??

No my problem is with NAPIT, they exist just soley for domestic work yet to be in their club you need the 18th edition but the exam was 90% nothing to do with domestic work so I thought it was a completely useless waste of time.

But I stand by saying that even so, most of the questions were pointless no matter what type of electrical work you do, the 18th has so much nonsense in it nowadays it seems they are just seeing how ridiculous they can be before someone finally calls them out on it.

 

[Hashim]

Memorise these numbers:

1, 5, 7, 13, 28, 42, 46, 53.

Each number above is the first question of the next section of the Regs.

So, for instance, questions 1-4 will be on Part 1.

When you get to question 5, you will be on Part 2.

Question 7 (to 12), the answers will be in Part 3.

... and so on.

The City and Guilds specification for the 2382 Award (the 18th Edition exam) is at:

Requirements for Electrical Installations

City & Guilds Requirements for Electrical Installations qualifications. Leading vocational education and training organisation.

www.cityandguilds.com

(go to "Level 3" then "Centre Documents", the current one is the PDF titled "2382-22 L3 Award in Requirements for Electrical Installations 2022 handbook v1-0").

This document gives the specification for the number of questions on each section. Note that it does NOT state that the questions are asked in order of Parts. I took my 18th Edition exam within a week of the 18th Edition coming out, and within a day or so of the new City & Guilds exam going live. The questions were in a random order, and stayed that way for a few months... then they started putting them in order again. As far as I know (though I've been "out of the loop" as far as City & Guilds is concerned for a couple of years), they still ask the questions in order.

Note that you might have to go back and forward within a Part, it's not like you're guaranteed to aways be moving forward through the book.

The only caveat to the above, is if in the main bit of the Regs, there is to a reference to a specific Appendix, then the answer could be in there instead. For instance, question 10 (say), which you'd expext to be from Part 3, might ask a question about external influence code BA2 (or whatever), and you'll find the answer in Appendix 5, because this Appendix is referred to from Chapter 32.

The other useful tip I can give is that at the start of each Part - and, for Parts 4 and 5, at the start of each Chapter - there is a pretty comprehensive Table of Contents. So if you know (from the question number) that the answer is somewhere in Part 5, then the contents page at the start of Part 5 should help you narrow it down to a Chapter... you could then flick to that Chapter, and hopefully you'll be able to spot something that relates to the question being asked.

Thank you very much for this. I will try to memorise those numbers you mentioned above.

It'll depend on a couple of things. If you're on the tools then you'll have picked up a lot of the more common regs and won't necessarily have to find them in the book. For the mocks I've been looking the ones I've known up anyway just to help familiarize myself with the book's layout.

You mentioned that you were taking too long. Have you timed yourself doing a full exam to see how long it's taking per question on average? Some questions might take me 3 to 4 minutes, but I average at about 1 minute per question over a whole exam.

Remember that the pass mark is about 60% ~ 36 questions out of 60. If you're using an online course, go back and look at the introduction to the exam.

No I haven't timed myself but I will do so to see how long it takes me to complete the exam. Thanks for the tips and advice.

 

[Fazz711]

Online simulator sparky facts is good.
I did my 18th amd 2 a few months ago and it was three day course and did the exam the evening of the last day.
All the others came back a few days later.
Glad I did mine same day as finishing course as less time to worry unnecessarily.
The exam was all in book order.
Best tip I was given was don't get fixation on one question.
Tag the difficult ones and go back.
In the end I had plenty of time to get all questions done.

 

[pc1966]

Best tip I was given was don't get fixation on one question.
Tag the difficult ones and go back.

That is good advice for all exams that have a set of questions (as opposed, say, to an essay).

Already mentioned by @timhoward good advice is to read through the whole paper first to get an idea of what is there. Don't panic, and read the question carefully. Don't assume what they are asking because of what you expect - read it and think.

 

[Hashim]

@timhoward, @fivevoltlogic, @JBW175, @happysteve, @Fazz711

Thank you very much guys for your tips and advice. I sat my exam a week ago and I passed, thanks to you guys.

I will just list below which tips I really found to be the most useful for me personally;

• Memorising the question numbers; 1, 5, 7, 13, 28, 42, 46 & 53. This helped me track which section I should be focusing on - thanks to @happysteve
• Going through the exam 3 times. I saved time and was able to collect as many marks as possible to pass. This is handy if you are someone who is slow and will end up spending the full 2 hours on the exam - thanks to @timhoward
• The questions being in order of section. So questions on part 1, followed by part 2, etc - thanks to @fivevoltlogic
• Tabbing up the book with index tabs was very helpful in navigating to the relevant part quickly, etc - thanks to @JBW175

In my opinion, I found that the above mentioned tips will only work for someone who has been reading the book frequently / has done adequate revision and has a good idea of what is contained within each part. There is no short cut to passing this exam really unless you pay someone to sit it for you. (P.S. Your not doing yourself or anyone a favour if you decide to take this route).

I hope this helps.

Good luck to anyone sitting the exam!

 

[DPG]

@timhoward, @fivevoltlogic, @JBW175, @happysteve, @Fazz711

Thank you very much guys for your tips and advice. I sat my exam a week ago and I passed, thanks to you guys.

I will just list below which tips I really found to be the most useful for me personally;

• Memorising the question numbers; 1, 5, 7, 13, 28, 42, 46 & 53. This helped me track which section I should be focusing on - thanks to @happysteve
• Going through the exam 3 times. I saved time and was able to collect as many marks as possible to pass. This is handy if you are someone who is slow and will end up spending the full 2 hours on the exam - thanks to @timhoward
• The questions being in order of section. So questions on part 1, followed by part 2, etc - thanks to @fivevoltlogic
• Tabbing up the book with index tabs was very helpful in navigating to the relevant part quickly, etc - thanks to @JBW175

In my opinion, I found that the above mentioned tips will only work for someone who has been reading the book frequently / has done adequate revision and has a good idea of what is contained within each part. There is no short cut to passing this exam really unless you pay someone to sit it for you. (P.S. Your not doing yourself or anyone a favour if you decide to take this route).

I hope this helps.

Good luck to anyone sitting the exam!

Nice one, well done!

 

[Fazz711]

Well done on the pass glad the tips worked