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Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

  • Matty
  • Topic Author

Matty created the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

Hey Guys,

Unfortunately I’ve failed 4 times self study performance now which Isn’t ideal. It’s my last exam of the 7 and I’ve passed all but performance quite easily self studying Bob Tait.

It’s got me stumped as I bought the updated book and did all prac exams, passed all online prac exams and then purchased the extra timed exams and got 100% , 96% and 98% with ample time remaining. I felt confident going in and I just bombed it and I can only think it’s my execution of the answers. Majority of the answers require type in answers which is possibly the reason. I just have no idea how this is so much harder than any of the other exams and requires an exact typed in answer.

There was minimal question on Echo which was my strong point and the wording on most of the questions may have well been written in Chinese. Unfortunately I got 49%, which to make it worse I don’t get a KDR. I felt I really had my head wrapped around it and then to get this result is so so frustrating !

I guess the next option is to get a Tutor. Has anyone got any advice or heads up as this really has put a negative outlook on finishing my CPL now.

Thanks :)
#1

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  • Stuart Tait

Stuart Tait replied the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

G'day Matty

Sorry to hear that, it is a tough exam but keep your head up.

Cheers
#2

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  • John.Heddles
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  • ATPL/consulting aero engineer
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John.Heddles replied the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

A tough one, here.

If you have sorted out the other subjects (evidently without any trouble), then it wouldn't appear to be a case of exam jitters for the one subject in question.

That leaves, as a likely (?) consideration, that you have been concentrating too much on practice questions/papers to the detriment of basic technical understanding and, perhaps, deluding yourself along the way that the understanding was OK/adequate. That's fine if the next question is much the same as the last but, as the examiner so often does, that next question is tweaked a bit so that basic, technically competent, thought processes are necessary to sort out the answer, Then, any deficiency in technical understanding can be the straw which breaks the camel's back. The worst aspect of this scenario is that the candidate is left totally bewildered after a good run of practice test work. The other aspect is that it can be very difficult to self-critique, identify, and come up with a suitable strategy to address the problem(s).

At this stage, I wouldn't rush off to find a tutor - not the least problem of which relates to finding one who is sufficiently technically competent to warrant spending your hard-earned money - especially as your other subject successes suggest that you should be able to do what is a reasonably straightforward subject principally from self study. What may be the problem is that you are heading off at a study tangent while not being able to detect your basic knowledge deficiencies. First, you need to identify where your problems lie and that should be fairly easy for a competent instructor to do via some assessment work.

As an initial gameplan, you might consider getting a competent instructor (not a CPL mate who just managed to scrape through the exams himself) to spend an hour or two with you to suss out whether your knowledge and understanding of the basics is up to speed and, if not, why not. It then should be feasible to determine an appropriate strategy to overcome whatever problems may be the cause of your bedevilment. I don't think for a minute that your problems will not be amenable to solution.

Keep in mind that multiple fails create problems for CASA (www.casa.gov.au/standard-page/re-trainin...ods-and-exam-windows) and you are going to need to spend some time/dollars with an appropriate instructor to tick the CASA box prior to their giving you the nod to re-attempt the exam. Just view the exercise as a minor hurdle to clear in the track race to get to the licence at the end. Have a look around you and I'm sure you will see others who have less aptitude who have passed the exam OK - your pass won't be an undue problem, just a minor hurdle to clear.

With the PC technology available today, you should be able to take your pick of available instructors (despite geographic/covid problems) and run the exercise via direct one on one PC hook ups using software such as MS Teams or your selection from a bunch of the other stuff in the marketplace ...

Main thing, for the future, is not to allow any similar problems to progress to the CASA stumbling block situation - if you miss out, say, twice, it is essential to fix the problems before the third exam attempt.

Engineering specialist in aircraft performance and weight control.
#3

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  • baddles

baddles replied the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

Ouch. Sorry to hear that mate.

Did you get KDR's for the previous attempts?

Since you did so well on the Bob Tait practice exams (multiple-choice questions), yes, it's possible that there's a problem related to "execution", such as rounding rules for numbers, or the use of conversion factors, which only comes up when the exam requires a numerical answer to be typed in.

Or it could be the exam system... I used to work in a university maths department where we ran computer-based exams that required numerical answers to be typed in. The software gave us all kinds of grief in the beginning, because it did not handle spaces (for example you got marked wrong if you typed ' 42' instead of '42') and got upset when people typed O instead of 0, etc etc. It is possible that CASA exams are at this early stage of development, and it could be nothing to do with you...

You also said that there were fewer questions on the topic where you thought you were strongest. That's a bummer. Does that mean you had weaknesses in the material that was tested - and could you improve that?

Again, sorry to hear about this.
I will be biting my nails for this exam..
#4

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  • Stuart Tait

Stuart Tait replied the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

With good reason the pass rates have plummeted since the introduction of written answers and we cannot get an answer about the margin applied to the answers

#5
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  • John.Heddles
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  • ATPL/consulting aero engineer
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John.Heddles replied the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

The tabulated data, of course, suggest that the disparaging aphorism "multi-guess examinations" is not all that far from the truth for a proportion of candidates.

As to margins, work the sums to the best accuracy you can achieve (reasonably) and then put down the answer with a precision that is appropriate to the question.

The examiner appears to me a reasonable and rational chap, based on such discussions as I have had with him over the past year or so ....

I concur with Bob's and Stuart's regular observations that the candidate really needs to have a sound understanding of the basics so that the question can be approached in a logical and rational manner rather than just plucking stuff out of the air ...

The subject matter is not a problem in itself ... but, in the absence of putting in the hard yards, getting a pass certainly can be so. It has been my observation that the students who knuckle down and do the work, get the pass.

Sure, sometimes one has a bad day and misses out. However, if one doesn't nail it second time around, then one should be looking very critically at the preparation one has put into the subject(s).

Engineering specialist in aircraft performance and weight control.
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  • moist_croissant

moist_croissant replied the topic: Performance Failed 4 Times Help/Advice ?

Sorry to hear you haven't had much luck getting through this one. It is by far the most ridiculous exam I've sat. I do agree with seeking some professional tuition before attempting again.

Some context, I am employed to do weight and Balance and performance planning as a Loadmaster in the ADF. I gave myself 4 weeks on top of what I have already been trained to do and walked out of my first attempt with low 60's. I went back a week later and passed with 80% luckily. Fast forward 3 months, I self study ATPL performance and loading over 2 weeks and walk out with a score in the mid 90's. I have been told by the Invigilator at my testing center that a score of 90 or above in CFPA or AFPA, CASA requires the center to send them all the exam materials you used during the exam. He would elaborate as to the why though.
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