The price of passing exams
Page 71
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MY HUSBAND, after reading the article in CM (August 31, 1979) entitled -Hard Study Needed for CPC'', decided to make the necessary inquiries before attempting the exams himself.
He contacted the RTITB in Wembley from whom he bought some past exam papers; they also showed him a pictorial selfstudy booklet costing over £30 a copy (by no means value for money).
He was also informed of expensive residential courses available. As he did not have hundreds of pounds to throw away, he declined these opportunities. He also contacted the FTA, who informed him that the best way to ensure passing both national and international exams was to take their residental course available at very high, cost.
He decided to book an exam date with the RSA in London and was told that as a lorry driver he would stand a good chance of passing with some time spent training at home. Then he returned to CM and purchased the books listed in the article for a mere £40. He spent three months studying in the evenings for the national exam, and just two evenings studying for the international exam.
During his training period he took his family to the Road Transport Show in Brighton and there met an official on the RTITB Group Training Association stand who informed him that it would be impossible to study at home and pass the CPC without tutoring.
On December 7, 1979, he passed both exams, largely due to D. Lowe's Manual of Professional Competence, Croner's Road Transport and CM's CPC sections.
The total cost did not exceed £50, compared with the residential FTA and RTITB courses available at costs exceeding £500 including vat.
He still has all the books for future reference. The past exam papers from RTITB were also helpful. He has .applied for Licentiateship of the CIT and hopes to take the qualifying exams in years to come.
MARY JO BEAL (Mrs) Hove East Sussex