RSGB Exam Syllabus v1.5 Update

A syllabus update, from v1.4 to v1.5 was released by the RSGB on the 17th of February 2022. On this page, we’ll review the changes.

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What has changed?

The big change is EMF. Ofcom updated our licences last year, mandating that all amateurs comply with International radiation guidelines. As this now forms an important part of the licence, the sections affected are Section 1 (Licence Conditions), Section 4 (Antennas), and Section 8 (Safety).

For the full version of Syllabus v1.5, and the RSGB’s summary of changes, go to the RSGB Syllabus 2019 Page

When will the new syllabus be live?

For exams on or after 1st September 2022?

What is the impact on trainers?

Any syllabus change involves extra work for us trainers, including:

• Trainers will be required to update their training material, slides, etc
• Mock tests will need to be updated to include questions on the new material
• Changes will be made to potentially all three training manuals, the exam secrets book, and online text / videos
• Clubs will need to understand the changes, to support their students who may be studying, and in the case of EMF, to help complete the EMF assessments and calculations that now form a part of the syllabus

Updates to our free online Foundation training material, inc slides, will be made available before the new exams.

The specific changes?

As the document has just been released, we’re still reviewing the changes. This section will be updated occasionally over the next 2-3 days. So far:

• Licence Conditions (Foundation): Questions 5 and 6 were on the frequency schedule. This becomes only one question, allowing for Question 6 to be dedicated to the rules on EMF. The purpose of the restrictions, what they apply to, and the need for a record of assessments.
  • Strangely, details of how to make an assessment aren’t examinable until Full, and the definition of ‘general public’ is also “Full”
• Antennas (Foundation): Candidates are now expected to remember that “10W EIRP is equivalent to 6.1W ERP”
  • Yes, noted that this is a term found in the revised licence, but this is yet another number that newcomers must “recall”. Students, especially those not good with numbers, struggle to retain the human hearing range, the height of the Ionosphere, and other numbers that can be forgotten immediately after passing the exam. It is unclear why RSGB requires such numbers to be remembered, when it is easy to look up when completing an EMF assessment.

Talk about the changes?

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