If you have little experience of signalling design, but have substantial other railway experience it is possible that one of the other modules such as mod 5 or even mod 1 may actually suit you better. Or perhaps what you are saying [now I have checked your Bio] is that you are a safety engineer (and thus ought to find mod 1 & mod 7 quite easy) but since already MIRSE thus have no real need for the exam itself, but just keen to build your railway signalling design domain expertise and just intended to do those modules as a means of doing that.)
It may be a challenge to acquire enough knowledge to fully assimilate in time for the exams. However you are not alone in this: I am currently in Lucknow with some relatively novice Indian signalling designers faced with similar challenge.
I am interested in the non availability of the Study Packs; I assume that you actually registered for the exam some time ago?
I am afraid that my experience is that the IRSE HQ leave it far too late to make this available eah year- since it rarely changes much from year to year (other than add the previous years exam paper) then I really can't see why the work for this cannot be done well prior. Once the exam has been sat in October, surely the papers could be made available to the HQ team and the DVD updated prior to the Christmas / New Year period which has the heavy exam resuts workload. Even if left after this, then surely the DVD ought to be available by March at the latest. The examiners complain (with very significant justification I personally feel) that candidates do not prepare themselves adequately- the flip side of this coin is that the Study Packs ought to be available at least 6 months before the exam. Frankly if I were in charge and someone registered for the exam before the latest DVD available, then I woud at least send the previous year's version and follow up with the amended version as soon as produced.
This is not a one-off; it is a systematic fault that reappears each year. I cannot directly do anything about it, but I am quite prepared to "rattle the cage" of those in a position to be able to do so. The IRSE does charge a significant fee for sitting the exam and includes the provision of the DVD in this- hence definitely seems grounds for complaint. I don't suggest you formally complain, but I promise that I will find the opportunity in due course to express my view of the situation. I don't mind making mysef unpopular if the cause is just.
It may be a challenge to acquire enough knowledge to fully assimilate in time for the exams. However you are not alone in this: I am currently in Lucknow with some relatively novice Indian signalling designers faced with similar challenge.
I am interested in the non availability of the Study Packs; I assume that you actually registered for the exam some time ago?
I am afraid that my experience is that the IRSE HQ leave it far too late to make this available eah year- since it rarely changes much from year to year (other than add the previous years exam paper) then I really can't see why the work for this cannot be done well prior. Once the exam has been sat in October, surely the papers could be made available to the HQ team and the DVD updated prior to the Christmas / New Year period which has the heavy exam resuts workload. Even if left after this, then surely the DVD ought to be available by March at the latest. The examiners complain (with very significant justification I personally feel) that candidates do not prepare themselves adequately- the flip side of this coin is that the Study Packs ought to be available at least 6 months before the exam. Frankly if I were in charge and someone registered for the exam before the latest DVD available, then I woud at least send the previous year's version and follow up with the amended version as soon as produced.
This is not a one-off; it is a systematic fault that reappears each year. I cannot directly do anything about it, but I am quite prepared to "rattle the cage" of those in a position to be able to do so. The IRSE does charge a significant fee for sitting the exam and includes the provision of the DVD in this- hence definitely seems grounds for complaint. I don't suggest you formally complain, but I promise that I will find the opportunity in due course to express my view of the situation. I don't mind making mysef unpopular if the cause is just.
(24-05-2013, 01:41 PM)sgarydav Wrote: I am intending to sit modules 2 and 3 this year. Though I have worked in railway related companies I have limited exposure to signalling design (hence why sitting the exams) but I think this is going to be a challenge to get the knowledge.
Still waiting for the study packs
PJW