{"id":15359,"date":"2020-02-14T18:37:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T18:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/?p=15359"},"modified":"2025-03-16T17:31:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T17:31:55","slug":"exam-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/exam-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Struggling with the exam? Some revision advice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Exams aren&#8217;t for everyone, and some of us haven&#8217;t had to sit an exam for 20-40 years since leaving school.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve recently been contacted by someone who&#8217;s after some extra help in passing their amateur radio exam.<\/p>\n<p>We put together some suggestions for that person, and thought we&#8217;d share the notes on studying for the Foundation exam, in case it&#8217;s helpful to others.<\/p>\n<table class=\"mid\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jGMbQsoSfnc?si=OCxwKyu6gfdxn9nr\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Ways of studying<\/h2>\n<p>There are several options, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Online, distance-learning study &#8211; Our free <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-online\/\">Foundation Online<\/a><\/strong> course is a good place to start, with text, handouts, slides, videos and mock tests<\/li>\n<li>A classroom-based training course with a local club. See <a href=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/clubs\/club-finder\/\">RSGB Club Finder<\/a><\/li>\n<li>One-to-one tuition from an experienced radio amateur<\/li>\n<li>Studying from a book<\/li>\n<li>Study groups with others in the same boat<\/li>\n<li>Taking mock tests<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Foundation content<\/h2>\n<p>There are several modules that have to be studied for Foundation, and they all require a slightly different approach when it comes to studying. Looking at it section-by-section:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Licence &amp; Operating \u2013 This is 9 marks of the 26, so worth studying carefully. It&#8217;s largely \u201cremembering stuff\u201d and looking stuff up in the 4-page booklet supplied for use during the exam.<\/li>\n<li>Safety \u2013 Largely common sense with some \u201cremembering\u201d<\/li>\n<li>EMC \u2013 Some understanding is required, but there&#8217;s also a number of things that you&#8217;re required to remember<\/li>\n<li>Technical Basics \u2013 This I grant you can be challenging, especially if you have little basic electronics knowledge. You also have to &#8220;understand&#8221; the content, not just remember it. It\u2019s only 3 marks though<\/li>\n<li>Transmitters &amp; Receivers \u2013 The box diagrams can be tricky<\/li>\n<li>Feeders &amp; Antennas &#8211; A lot of \u201cremembering\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Propagation \u2013 Just two marks, and it&#8217;s mostly the basics about the ionosphere and how waves travel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>The numbers game<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If there is something you don\u2019t understand \u2013 don\u2019t stress. At Foundation, you can get 7 questions wrong and still pass. Here\u2019s our guide:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Licence Conditions and Operating Procedures<\/strong> \u2013 9 marks (a third of the exam), and you\u2019ll need to know most of this when you have your licence. Put in some effort, and take your time here! At least 3 marks are in the 4-page exam booklet somewhere, so use it!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safety <\/strong>\u2013 3 marks, mostly common sense<\/li>\n<li><strong>Interference (EMC)<\/strong> \u2013 3 marks, fairly straightforward stuff<\/li>\n<li><strong>Propagation <\/strong>\u2013 Only 2 marks, and useful stuff to know<\/li>\n<li><strong>Antennas<\/strong> \u2013 3 marks. The antenna types is useful information. Remember that the gain table is in the 4-page booklet<\/li>\n<li><strong>Transmitters and Receivers<\/strong> \u2013 3 marks &#8211; The box diagrams and Sidebands can be tricky<\/li>\n<li><strong>Technical Basics<\/strong> \u2013 Possibly the hardest section, with the formulas and circuit stuff. Most new hams don\u2019t need to know much of this, and the good news is you can fail this section, get another 4 questions wrong, but still pass. Don\u2019t stress this one too much!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Memory<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If the problem is that you just can\u2019t remember the facts (like callsigns, what goes where in the box diagrams, etc), then there are a bunch of tricks, such as repetition, making up rhymes, mind maps, etc. Here are a couple of links on the subject that may be of help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"DefangedMsoNormal\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/intranet.birmingham.ac.uk\/as\/libraryservices\/library\/asc\/documents\/public\/Short-Guide-Memory-Techniques.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/intranet.birmingham.ac.uk\/as\/libraryservices\/library\/asc\/documents\/public\/Short-Guide-Memory-Techniques.pdf<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"DefangedMsoNormal\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxford-royale.com\/articles\/memory-tricks-exam-success\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.oxford-royale.com\/articles\/memory-tricks-exam-success.html<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Understanding<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you fundamentally don\u2019t understand something, then you need it explained to you in a way that makes sense. We all learn differently. If you\u2019re reading the book, watching our videos and it\u2019s not making sense, then you need to find a way that it can start to make sense.<\/p>\n<p>The best way of doing this, is often to find someone patient and sit down with them one-to-one and gaining that understanding. They may need to draw you diagrams, show you an antenna or point you at things to read. It\u2019s hard to remember things you don\u2019t fully understand, so perhaps write down a list of all of the concepts that you just don\u2019t \u201cget\u201d, and go through them with people until it all starts to make sense.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Exam style<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you understand\/remember everything but get thrown by the style of question, then that\u2019s down to practice \u2013 do as many mock tests as you can, over and over again, until it\u2019s second-nature. As well as our mocks, there\u2019s the RSGB mock papers, the Exam Secrets book (with mock tests), an app of mock tests, and websites offering mock tests. You\u2019ll see that question authors are all different and write in different styles, which should prepare you for any question style thrown at you.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes you may see a question that seems to have two right answers. Here is an example that a student reported to us: He was asked what would happen if he transmitted without having an antenna connected. The two answers that looked correct were:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(A)No-one will hear him<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(B) He\u2019d damage your radio<\/p>\n<p>Both answers are correct, BUT you should be more worried about blowing up your radio, than people not hearing you. Using a radio with no antenna or with a broken antenna can cause expensive damage to the radio. For that reason (B) is the MOST CORRECT answer, as buying a new \u00a31,000 radio is worse than someone not hearing you.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Exam Nerves<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It may be that you know and understand everything, but the stress of the exam gets you. That is a tricky one, and the best advice is \u201cnot to stress\u201d. This is a hobby, not a work qualification, so try to treat it as such. There are plenty of websites that give tips on how to prepare for an exam, and if you know your stuff and can ace mock tests, the actual exam shouldn\u2019t present a problem.<\/p>\n<h2>Next Steps<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re struggling, I\u2019d suggest the next step is to list out where you feel you are weak, and concentrate on ways of understanding the material or remembering the facts, then keep testing yourself until you\u2019re 100% on each item.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"bighead\">Related Links<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-online\"><strong>Foundation Online<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; Free Internet-based distance learning course<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/exam-tips\/\"><strong>Exam Tips<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; Foundation Tips, Tricks and Hints<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/foundation-exam\/\"><strong>Foundation Exam Information<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; Details on taking the Amateur Radio Foundation Exam<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/amateur-radio-and-dyslexia\/\"><strong>Exam Support<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; Need help help and support? Help is available<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/clubs-training\/for-trainers\/training-guide\/training-assessment-guide\/\">RSGB Examination Guidelines<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Good luck with your studies and exams. Any tips we\u2019ve missed? Share them below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exams aren&#8217;t for everyone, and some of us haven&#8217;t had to sit an exam for 20-40 years since leaving school.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve recently been contacted by someone who&#8217;s after some extra help in passing their amateur radio exam. We put together some suggestions for that person, and thought we&#8217;d share the notes on studying for the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/exam-advice\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Struggling with the exam? Some revision advice&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-15359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exams","tag-exam"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"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=15359"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17900,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15359\/revisions\/17900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essexham.co.uk\/train\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}