{"id":17526,"date":"2024-07-24T00:02:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T23:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/?page_id=17526"},"modified":"2026-01-08T23:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:23:59","slug":"foundation-training-books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-training-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Foundation Training Books, Manuals and Guides"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-15619\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/Foundation-Kelly.png\" alt=\"Kelly Foundation Training Photo\" width=\"200\" height=\"257\" \/>If you&#8217;re looking to study for your first amateur radio licence, having a book on the subject can be\u00a0 a great help &#8211; for study on the move, for highlighting sections of interest, or just as a handy reference and revision guide.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that there are now several options for study books, guides and manuals &#8211; you can choose a printed manual sold from suppliers like Amazon, printable PDF guides, and eBooks for the Amazon Kindle platform (so that the guidebook can be with you all of the time in electronic format).<\/p>\n<p>On this page, we&#8217;ll cover the various options available to those starting out in amateur radio.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any comments or suggestions, please add them in the comments section below.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>HamTrain&#8217;s Foundation Study Guide<\/h3>\n<p><a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/fsg-cover-275.jpg\" alt=\"Amateur Radio Foundation Study Guide\" width=\"190\" height=\"275\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>OK, we&#8217;re a little biased here as this is our own product. To support our free online course, we released a handy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-study-guide\/\"><strong>Foundation Study Guide<\/strong><\/a> in 2024. This includes diagrams, photos, tables and material from our successful online course that has helped over 14,000 students to study for their Foundation licence.<\/p>\n<p>Our Foundation Study Guide covers the current syllabus and is suitable for exams from 1st September 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The Guide covers the essentials and is broken down into sections that match our course modules. The guide ends with some handy tips on how to pass the Foundation exam, as well as a mock test. It also contains a handy glossary and an exam FAQ.<\/p>\n<p>The Guide is a handy size, with over 90 pages covering both the syllabus and how to pass the Foundation exam.<\/p>\n<p>Our Foundation Study Guide is available now from Amazon in several formats: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paperback<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgkindle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Kindle<\/strong><\/a>, <a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgapple\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Apple Books<\/strong><\/a>, <a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsggoogle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Google Books<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0 <a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgaudible\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Audiobook<\/strong><\/a>, <strong><a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgappleaudio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Audiobook<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and <strong><a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgkobo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo Readers<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgbook\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-am.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Amazon\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgkindle\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-ki.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Kingle\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgapple\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-ap.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Apple Books\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsggoogle\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-go.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Google Books\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgkobo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-ko.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Kobo\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fsgappleaudio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-au.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Audible\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fju1vi0FXl4?si=5gvQ6RMzktO_Qn63\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>HamTrain&#8217;s Foundation Mock Tests<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-mock-tests-book\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-18021\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-content\/uploads\/mocktestsbook_sm.jpg\" alt=\"Foundation Mock Tests Book Cover\" width=\"139\" height=\"190\" \/><\/a>Looking for some extra mocks to help with your revision? We&#8217;ve released a book of 6 complete mock tests &#8211; that&#8217;s over 150 questions.<\/p>\n<p>Mock tests are an important step in making sure you&#8217;re prepped and ready for the Foundation exam, and this <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-mock-tests-book\/\">Foundation Mock Tests<\/a><\/strong> book sets out the mock questions cleanly and simply, with answers and an explanation of how the answer is reached, later in the book. Foundation Mock Tests also includes some exam tips, has a downloadable marking sheet, as well as information on the exam booklet that candidates can take into the exam and a syllabus breakdown.\u00a0Rather than simply being a book of random mock questions, these are six complete mock tests, structured in the same way as the actual Foundation exam questions.<\/p>\n<p>Our <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-mock-tests-book\/\">Foundation Mock Tests<\/a><\/strong> book is available now from Amazon in two formats: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paperback<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtkindle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Kindle<\/strong><\/a>, <a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtapple\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Apple Books<\/strong><\/a>, <a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtgoogle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Google Books<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0and <strong><a class=\"inline_disabled\" style=\"color: #ba372a;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtkobo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo Readers<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtbook\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-am.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Amazon\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtkindle\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-ki.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Kingle\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtapple\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-ap.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Apple Books\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtgoogle\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-go.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Google Books\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=fmtkobo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/images\/book-ko.png\" alt=\"Foundation Study Guide on Kobo\" width=\"120\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>RSGB&#8217;s Foundation Licence Manual for Radio Amateurs<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-licence-manual\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-17588 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-content\/uploads\/foundationbook.jpg\" alt=\"Foundation Manual\" width=\"150\" height=\"211\" \/><\/a>As an alternative to our Foundation Study Guide, there&#8217;s the RSGB&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-licence-manual\/\">Foundation Licence Manual<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Again, we&#8217;re biased in favour of our own guide, which we feel is generally more up-to-date and focused on passing the actual exam.<\/p>\n<p>The RSGB&#8217;s &#8220;third edition&#8221; was released in July 2024, intended for exams on or after 1st September 2024. As with all RSGB training manuals, it&#8217;s not clear from the cover which version is which, meaning it&#8217;s common for students to be buying older manuals and studying from out-of-date versions. For more, see our page on the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-licence-manual\/\">RSGB Foundation Licence Manual<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The latest version contains 42 pages of study material, plus many additional pages of adverts. The Foundation Licence Manual (written by Alan Betts) is available from around \u00a38 online from the following places:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=foundationbookebay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">eBay Book Store (Paper format)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=foundationkindle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Amazon (Kindle format)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=foundationbookrsgb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><strong>RSGB Bookstore (Paper format)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>John Hislop&#8217;s Foundation Student Guide<\/h3>\n<p>Trainer John Hislop has released a range of free manuals in PDF format, including a Student Guide for Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>You can download a free copy of this and other manuals from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.g0hrs.org\/g7oho-training-manuals\">www.g0hrs.org\/g7oho-training-manuals<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>RSGB&#8217;s Exam Secrets<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-17838\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-content\/uploads\/examsecrets-book.jpg\" alt=\"RSGB Exam Secrets Book\" width=\"157\" height=\"225\" \/>The RSGB publishes a book of exam questions. This includes questions for all three licence levels.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, the book is available from Amazon (Kindle), or the RSGB (paperback):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=examsecrets\">Exam Secrets for Radio amateurs (Paperback, from RSGB and Moonraker&#8217;s eBay store)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=examsecretskindle\">Exam Secrets for Radio amateurs (Amazon Kindle)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=examsecretskindle\">Exam Secrets for Radio amateurs <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rsgbshop.org\/acatalog\/Online_Catalogue_Training_19.html\">(RSGB Book Store)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>M0TZX&#8217;s Foundation Radio Revision Questions<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-16460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-content\/uploads\/foundation-radio-revision-questions.jpg\" alt=\"Foundation Radio Revision Questions\" width=\"121\" height=\"170\" \/>This is an independent book containing <strong>over 200 mock questions<\/strong> for Foundation questions. As far as we know, the latest version is the 2022 edition, so it may not cover the 2024 syllabus changes.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, the book is available from Amazon (Kindle), or the RSGB (paperback):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=foundationrevision\">Foundation Radio Revision Questions (Paperback, from Amazon)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/redirect.php?id=foundationrevisionkindle\">Foundation Radio Revision Questions (Amazon Kindle)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Related content<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/traininglinks\/\">Training Links<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-slides\/\">Foundation Training Material<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-study-guide\/\">Foundation Study Guide: Training Book<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-training-books\/\">Foundation Training Books, Manuals and Guides<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/how-to-become-a-ham\">How to become a radio amateur<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re looking to study for your first amateur radio licence, having a book on the subject can be\u00a0 a great help &#8211; for study on the move, for highlighting sections of interest, or just as a handy reference and revision guide. The good news is that there are now several options for study books,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-training-books\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Foundation Training Books, Manuals and Guides&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17497,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17526","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17526"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18191,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17526\/revisions\/18191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}