Cash test dummies

A significant number of businesses have started cashing in on the need for continued professional development. Shockingly, there are training providers offering three-day City & Guilds 2391 (Inspection, Testing & Certification of Electrical Installations) courses irrespective of your current skills, competency or occupation. So they make outrageous claims that, whatever you do, you only need three days worth of guidance. You can draw your own conclusions as to the quality of this training and how this affects the average pass rate.

Many who attempt the required assessments fail unnecessarily. This is in part due to poor electrical testing and inspection skills, though low standards of writing or arithmetic are also contributory factors, as is nervousness.

Although City & Guilds’ examination pass rates have dropped across the training industry, there is a view that this could be due to poor preparation. As an accredited training provider, delivering both City & Guilds and NICEIC courses, Total Electrical Training is involved in constant dialogue with prospective delegates. Often, a controversial point is the delegates’ existing level of competency. At best, potential candidates will say, “I can test and inspect already”. At worst, they will say, “I already know what I am doing”.

Sometimes candidates are right – they really are skilled in the required areas already. However, there’s a significant number who are simply not aware of the basic elements or have gaps in their knowledge. Unfortunately, it is this group who feel that they are ready to take the full 2391 practical and written assessments without preparation, and are most likely to fail. They are also more sceptical than most about the need for the qualifications.

As we say time and time again, there is nothing wrong with the questions set by City & Guilds, and they haven’t got harder since Part P came into force. Indeed, if you compare the questions set before January 2005, when the regulation was introduced, with those set after that date, you’ll see little has changed. In truth, candidates often fail due to their own inability to understand the concept of the 2391 question on inspection and testing.

It’s not as simple as sticking in a few leads here and there and writing down the results. It’s about analysing those results and determining whether further action needs to be taken to ensure the installation is safe.

Training providers make outrageous claims that, whatever you do, you only need three days worth of guidance

Because 2391 is a closed book exam, literacy, the ability to perform simple calculations and the delegates’ own vocational experience all play a large part. If you are planning to sit a 2391 exam you will have to honestly assess your own abilities in these areas. If your own assessment indicates you need more training, don’t be embarrassed – just get some help. The only reason to be ashamed is if you are making non-compliant and unsafe installations and plan to continue to do so.

Before the introduction of Part P, the 2391 exam was mostly taken by practising electrical engineers who actively carried out periodic electrical testing and inspecting, usually on commercial and industrial installations. In other words, time-served, competent and skilled individuals. As a result, the pass rate was rather high – in the order of 60% or more. In addition, further education colleges played a role in the delivery of this qualification and carefully selected candidates who they felt were eligible.

However, since the introduction of Part P, 2391 has been seen as a must-have. You will now find everyone from heating engineers and installers through to kitchen installers and plumbers sitting the exam. Naturally, this has contributed to a lower average pass rate. Quite simply, we feel that a significant majority are trying to fly a plane without any training.

Though there are many reasons why we have reached this state of affairs, one thing is clear – investment in quality training increases an individual’s underpinning knowledge as well as improving his or her overall attitude towards the exam.

Our best advice is to seek practical electrical testing and inspection training and make sure you are able to carry out basic calculations. And remember, although the 2391 exam is a challenge, it’s designed for those who are versed in the skills required to carry out periodic testing and inspecting on electrical installations. As a professional electrical engineer, you already have a head start over some of the delegates we see.

Simply put, if you want to pass the two modules of the 2391 qualification, you have to apply yourself and be prepared to study, study, and study some more.