Upcoming 2391 exam advise

timbobelfast · Feb 10, 2012

Can anyone advise as to what questions always appear in Section B of the 2391 exam?

I know that section A is the 1 -3 mark quick answer questions but its section B that's got me worried.

As I will be one of the last ones to sit the 2391 before it gets changed to 2394/5 i just hope that they don't give us a melter of a paper!

Any one who has sat the exam would be glad to hear any tips.

I have order the exam success book although it refers to the old red book terminology so I have to get my head round EICR instead of PIR etc!

tony mc · Feb 10, 2012

Have a look at the last page.

just started the 2391

lardy · Feb 11, 2012

A big help is to go through as many old papers as you can, it was a big help.
If you do enough it puts you in the C&G "mind-set".
You know the regs,you read the question, (twice), but you dont always know what they are asking for.
Worked for me..

Put the time in and you will be fine, its not as bad as its made out to be

Good luck

parker56 · Feb 11, 2012

Read GN3 its the bible for the exam,use there terms,do lots of old test papers.
Good luck

SirKit Breaker · Feb 11, 2012

The 2391 is still based on the old terminology, because GN3 has not yet been rewritten. You will still pick up marks for using terms like Periodic Inspection Report for an electrical installation. You will not get marks if you quote abbreviations e.g PIR. You will also get marks for using new terminology, but before you do, get it right. I would say keep it simple, and stick to the old wording.

SPARTYKUS · Feb 11, 2012

I know this doesnt help, but theyre all melters!

As said if you put time in doing old questions, and use all time available in exam checking, etc (dont leave early feeling cocky!) youll prob pass.

Sparky Ninja · Feb 11, 2012

This may be helpful.

IMO these papers are getting easier each time. I think C&G are trying to increase the pass rate to clear the back log ready for them to start writing the 2394 and 2395 papers instead.

Silly Sausage · Feb 11, 2012

I agree with SPARKYTUS, lardy etc., do lots of old questions, with someone else off the course, if you can.

It's something I never did but for my 2400, one of the lads off course (almost demanded!) came round my house on the morning of the exam and we went through a stack of Qs. I don't think I'd passed if he hadn't. Cheers Paul.

Funkymonkeytoo · Feb 11, 2012

i'm in the same boat as timbobbelfast sitting my exam 15th of march and all this advice is great does anyone have any links to past papers too

cheers carl

SirKit Breaker · Feb 11, 2012

As with all exams, tests etc, they are all easy if you know the answers. Digest GN3, you will never remember it all, but you will learn and remember enough to see you through. 2391 is very big on the use of correct terminology, if you write Electricity at work ACT, not Regulations, then you will not get any marks. C&G will mark what you write, not what they think you mean. Having the exam success book is a good idea, it has a lot of very good tips and advice.

Cheers..........Howard

ian65 · Feb 12, 2012

Hi all, i sat the Oct exam and the February one above was the re take.

I was the only one to sit the exam and as i started noticed the big change in the first 20 questions and with a bit more time as you have to be quick thinking on this one the last 6 i will say a couple caught me out.
Looking back the mistakes were stupid ones and i hope i have done enough to pass this time, we were told the pass mark is 70% but from reading other parts of the forum that is prob's not the case it's higher????
Good luck to any one sitting this one and if any one can give a better idea of the pass mark it would be a help.. Cheers Ian.

For advice on the last six and including the first 20 you can expect any thing i did my revision and i am used to being told about 30ma RCD's 200ma through me until i got out of the room and thought about it and yes my meter will test upto a 500ma RCD. The questions are designed to make you think and think hard on some of them just hope i am a pass if not i will try again and again as long as i can. Ian.

LVSparks · Feb 12, 2012

Hello all i am currently revising for my 2391, my course is in march12th with exam on the thursday. I keep reading gn3 over and over, make notes on the parts i feel are the important bits. No matter how many times i do this when ever i read some of the questions from the 1st 20 on practice papers, im still struggling to recall the answers, it feels like one big memory battle. ARGGGH. Are there any parts i can omit which wont come up in the test eg- protection by barriers enclosures, insulation resistance/impedance of floors/walls, how about part A in the gn3 book, resistance of copper and ali conductors.
Also in the praticle will i be expected to do an earth electrode test, ive never done one of these in my line of work?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Why this test cant be multiple choice :mad2:

SirKit Breaker · Feb 12, 2012

Hi mate,

You are worrying about nothing.

No you will not need to test an Earth Rod, but if you did you would be shown. No you do not need to memorise all the various tables, charts and god knows what else.

When you do the written test, you will be asked in great detail about things like test procedures, how to do them, in what order, and using which test instrument, and demonstrate your ability to interpret the results, the scale and range of your test instruments and so on. If it isn't in GN3 you wont get asked it. You will need to know things like volt drop tolerances and how to calculate it, the minimum IR values and test voltages, what to do if you have equipment vulnerable to testing. Who do you agree limitations with and so on. Which form would you complete Essential test's on. If you need to work out the resistance of a given length or whatever of a particular conductor, the table you need will be included in the exam question, as will be any EIC or PIR test results that you may need to refer to. Concentrate your efforts on GN3 and you will be fine. Yes the exam is difficult, but C&G dont make it impossible.

Englishman · Feb 13, 2012

ian65 said:
Hi all, i sat the Oct exam and the February one above was the re take.

I was the only one to sit the exam and as i started noticed the big change in the first 20 questions and with a bit more time as you have to be quick thinking on this one the last 6 i will say a couple caught me out.
Looking back the mistakes were stupid ones and i hope i have done enough to pass this time, we were told the pass mark is 70% but from reading other parts of the forum that is prob's not the case it's higher????
Good luck to any one sitting this one and if any one can give a better idea of the pass mark it would be a help.. Cheers Ian.

For advice on the last six and including the first 20 you can expect any thing i did my revision and i am used to being told about 30ma RCD's 200ma through me until i got out of the room and thought about it and yes my meter will test upto a 500ma RCD. The questions are designed to make you think and think hard on some of them just hope i am a pass if not i will try again and again as long as i can. Ian.

I also took the one on Thursday, first time, not a re-take, and didn't think it was actually that bad, and a lot better than some of the previous papers i've seen, but, we all know what C&G are like with their marking so **** knows, reasonably confident that i done well, but it's hard to be confident of actually passing with this exam.

For the record, we were told that you need roughly 80% on bothe parts (doubt the bit about both parts though, can't see why it wouldn't be a combined result).