Are you preparing to sit your officer of the watch Part A and B examinations but not sure where to start?
The first thing to do is ensure you are confident for your orals. Read on for hints and tips on how to prepare for your orals and how the assessment will be conducted on the day.
Before you are able to book your UK MCA orals examination, you will be required to pass an online computer based assessment (Part A). When you are issued with your NOE you will be provided with a link to the examination (Part A). You must pass this assessment before you can book your orals, which is part B of the assessment for an Officer of the Watch Unlimited Class II/1.
On passing this assessment, the UK MCA will issue you an orals date, which they aim to assign within six weeks of you passing part A. Part B of the assessment must be completed within 12 months of passing part A.
Candidates can fail the assessment for:
- Allowing someone to enter the room;
- Leaving the room before the end of the assessment; and
- Leaving the view of the camera during the assessment.
There are 15 questions in the assessment, 9 of these are from the following topics and you must score the following:
- International Collision Regulations – 90%
- IALA buoyage systems – 90%
- Navigational procedures – 80%
There are 6 further questions, which can be from any of the following topics, and you must score a minimum of 50%:
- Cargo work;
- Emergency procedures;
- Communication;
- Seaworthiness;
- Regulations; and
- Ship Handling, Meteorology, Safety and Security.
The SafeSeas Training part A mock assessment tool will allow you to practice answering these styles of questions. The UK MCA part A is a multiple choice assessment and includes fill in the blanks, matching and multiple choice questions. The SafeSeas Training part A mock assessment allows you to test your knowledge using these styles of questions across multiple different tests. It costs £3.99 for a 30-day access pass with 100 attempts and you can sign up here.
Once you have passed part A, you will then be able to sit part B of your assessment, which is the orals exam over teams. These are open questions and can be on anything from the UK MCA syllabus which can be found here.
If you want to practice and test your knowledge with these open questions you can use the SafeSeas Training part B oral exam question bank. The simulator draws from a bank of over 400 real questions, that are split into the different Standards of Training, Watchkeeping and Certification for seafarers (STCW) subjects. Each time you use the simulator, you will be given a unique practice assessment, that changes every time.
New questions are added on a monthly basis and the database is checked to ensure all questions are still relevant and in line with the syllabus.
You can choose to either use our free text response field, typing in your answer or you can practice answering out loud as though you are in the one-to-one assessment with the UK MCA examiner and then checking your answer.
For £2.99 a month, you will have 30-days access to the question bank.
You should get used to listening to exam questions out loud and answering out loud as soon as possible. Candidates for part B can be given an orals date as soon as five days after passing their part A exam. SafeSeas Training has developed the virtual examiner to help deck cadets. This is an online practice tool to help you practice your listening and speaking skills. You will be presented with a number of real UK MCA questions which are recorded, you should then record yourself or answer out loud, before checking your answer at the end of the mock exam with the model answer. This is designed to simulate the question and answer scenario you will have in part B of your UK MCA part B orals.
The UK MCA orals assessment part B is conducted online using microsoft teams. On the day of your orals, you will be required to:
Log into your meeting ten minutes before your allocated exam time. If you do not appear in the exam room up to five minutes after your scheduled exam time, this will be considered a fail by the MCA so ensure you have a good internet connection and you are ready in plenty of time.
The area where you have your meeting with the MCA examiner should be well lit, with low to no noise in the background that could disrupt your exam and your desk should be completely clear. The examiner may ask you to show them around the room.
If you want to a run through of the real thing, we offer a mock assessment, where you will sit part A of the assessment upto a week before your part B mock, followed by a simulated part B mock orals. After this, you will be given feedback on both part A and B of your assessment. We also offer part B only. Both options cost £49 and can be booked here.
To prepare you for both parts A and B of your MCA assessment, we recommend that you:
- Use the SafeSeas Training MCA Orals Practice tools which include the part A practice assessment, part B oral exam question bank and the virtual examiner to practice for both parts A and B of the assessment.
- Be prepared for part B of your assessment before you sit part A, as you could sit part B very shortly after getting a pass in part A.
- Know your syllabus, which can be found here.
- Practice speaking out loud and have someone critique your part B answers, remembering you only need to answer the question that has been asked – you don’t want to start giving extra information.
- When the examiner asks you a question – stop, take a deep breath and think about what they have asked you. Only answer what they have asked you, don’t try and go into lots of depth and try and answer additional questions that the examiner has not asked you about.
- If you are unsure about the question, ask the examiner to re-phrase the question.
- If you don’t know the answer, say to the examiner you don’t know opposed to trying to make it up. If you know where you can find the answer, let the examiner know.
- Remember the examiner wants you to pass as much as you do! Just remember to do your practice, think about the question and answer to the best of your knowledge and hopefully you will hear the examiner say “I am pleased to tell you you have passed!”
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Good luck!
SafeSeas Training 