Exam Stress Over!
Entry posted by Azores Hi
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Some of you (those that care about such things) may have noted that I have been largely absent from Netweather for some time. The reason for this is that last week I had an extremely difficult exam to pass and I've been working hard revising for it.
The exam in question is called BASIS and if I pass it means that I will be qualified to advise people on pesticide use. The exam itself is taken over two days and is divided into several sections. There is an identification exam where I have to correctly identify 20 different pests and diseases of plants as well as correctly identify 10 broad leaved weeds and 5 grasses. Pass mark is 85%
Trust me, all weeds look the same when you don't know your bittercress from your shepherds purse!
The next stage is a multiple choice paper. Pass mark is 70%
The final exam is a viva (a live exam where you are directly asked questions) This is in 4 parts, 3 field station exams where you are quizzed on a specific crop situation and finally a panel viva where you are grilled for 10 minutes by 3 guys.
In addition to all this we have to submit a project, something we have found out or a crop situation we have studied.
All in all, it's been a stressfull couple of months but it's finally over now and I can relax a bit. I haven't had to study for anything for about 13 years and my brain is like swiss cheese these days so I've found it really tough, the wealth and depth of knowledge needed is vast.
Did I pass?
Well, I passed the Ident and the multiple choice paper, I also think my project is ok. It's just the viva that I'm not sure about, I think it was OK but it's difficult to tell what they thought of me. I found out if I qualify in 2-3 weeks.
No pressure but there is a company car, a laptop and a 10% wage increase riding on this. As well as the respect of my colleagues, no-one in our company has failed yet and if I do, I will be the first and won't be able to do my job properly until I can retake the exam in the Autumn.
yelp!
The exam in question is called BASIS and if I pass it means that I will be qualified to advise people on pesticide use. The exam itself is taken over two days and is divided into several sections. There is an identification exam where I have to correctly identify 20 different pests and diseases of plants as well as correctly identify 10 broad leaved weeds and 5 grasses. Pass mark is 85%
Trust me, all weeds look the same when you don't know your bittercress from your shepherds purse!
The next stage is a multiple choice paper. Pass mark is 70%
The final exam is a viva (a live exam where you are directly asked questions) This is in 4 parts, 3 field station exams where you are quizzed on a specific crop situation and finally a panel viva where you are grilled for 10 minutes by 3 guys.
In addition to all this we have to submit a project, something we have found out or a crop situation we have studied.
All in all, it's been a stressfull couple of months but it's finally over now and I can relax a bit. I haven't had to study for anything for about 13 years and my brain is like swiss cheese these days so I've found it really tough, the wealth and depth of knowledge needed is vast.
Did I pass?
Well, I passed the Ident and the multiple choice paper, I also think my project is ok. It's just the viva that I'm not sure about, I think it was OK but it's difficult to tell what they thought of me. I found out if I qualify in 2-3 weeks.
No pressure but there is a company car, a laptop and a 10% wage increase riding on this. As well as the respect of my colleagues, no-one in our company has failed yet and if I do, I will be the first and won't be able to do my job properly until I can retake the exam in the Autumn.
yelp!
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