Kudos to you for setting-up this space, it's been long overdue, especially since it's independent of the IRSE, despite accusations to the contrary. 
I think it's difficult to know where to go to without guidance from 'someone-in-the-know'. Personally I've found the forum invaluable, and I know I would have posted more attempts, had I been able to incognito. I don't believe anyone in the forum would allow their judgement to be coloured by people trying, (but not all casual observers are necessarily so enlightened.)
However, I believe that the solo studier armed only with past papers, the syllabus and the technical papers (standards, IRSE past papers, published study guides and modern lit. - Stanley Hall, Christian Wolmar etc.) would struggle to acheive results without this forum.
I conceed that no exam board is obliged to prepare candidates to pass, but I suspect that this link must at least be implicit, as without passing candidates they miss the reason for existence.
Maybe then that's the point, albeit a somewhat subtle line, is developed knowledge about signalling appreciation, or passing exams to demonstrate it?
I feel I've gone a bit off topic now, so I'll stop.
PJW: Unable to add a Poll here so have done so at: Poll
I think it's difficult to know where to go to without guidance from 'someone-in-the-know'. Personally I've found the forum invaluable, and I know I would have posted more attempts, had I been able to incognito. I don't believe anyone in the forum would allow their judgement to be coloured by people trying, (but not all casual observers are necessarily so enlightened.)
However, I believe that the solo studier armed only with past papers, the syllabus and the technical papers (standards, IRSE past papers, published study guides and modern lit. - Stanley Hall, Christian Wolmar etc.) would struggle to acheive results without this forum.
I conceed that no exam board is obliged to prepare candidates to pass, but I suspect that this link must at least be implicit, as without passing candidates they miss the reason for existence.
Maybe then that's the point, albeit a somewhat subtle line, is developed knowledge about signalling appreciation, or passing exams to demonstrate it?
I feel I've gone a bit off topic now, so I'll stop.
PJW: Unable to add a Poll here so have done so at: Poll