Exam time! Stress, lack of sleep and red bull pretty much summed up this week for me, though I know I spent my week off re-going over my books and did the whole of aviation exam at least once for each subject. I don’t know how I could have prepared more but still went in feeling nervous. The CAA examiners were there and you needed to sign in, show your passport and have your calculator checked before each exam. You weren’t even allowed to take your own pencils!

The exams were very much like school finals and were all done on the computer. I finished most of them well before the time limit which gave me time to check. Met, Instruments and PoF were all very hard as I expected and I even got a dodgy question in Human performance which is one I was hoping to do well in. The instructors have all been very supportive after the exams though when relating these questions to them. I also love the support you get from the other students here who help you to stay positive. In the end the only exam I felt confident I’d done well in after leaving was the two Comms papers.

The results were due to be posted on the Friday and you had to wait by your computer knowing that they could be released any time before 5pm; refreshing the browser every 2 minutes was still a necessity. Mine came through one by one but I am pleased to say I passed them all with an average of 88%, maybe slightly lower than I was hoping for at the start of the course but much better than I had thought considering how the exams did go. My lowest grade was Instruments (80% but hey, I passed!) and my highest was IFR Comms (96%). That day I went to the airport to assist with showing a group of students around the school, I love doing things like that, before preparing for a relaxing weekend of celebrating and not having to do any work for the first time since being here.

I started phase 2 today and they really didn’t go easy on us even though it was the first day back and we had only a weekend to recover from EASAs. It was strange having new subjects and new teachers (though we did keep some of our old ones which I was very happy about). The timetables are fun; not only is AP365 getting scarily close to the top of the list, the week is back to number 1, we are to start doing CBTs again AND it also has new colours for the new subjects, yay!

School Finals 1!

It’s been so hard to keep up to date with this, I thought I’d be more likely to forget than anything else but I’ve been spending my time practising questions online for my exams and after I’m done with that I can’t seem to bring myself to look at a computer again. I do apologise to my few readers out there. Ground school is certainly to be endured, not enjoyed.

I had my school finals the week before last, it was tough. All exams were within two days and I found you’d be so tired by the end of the day you were making mistakes, you knew you would be making mistakes but just couldn’t seem to see it. It also didn’t help that there was a ‘computer malfunction’ during our Instruments exam which was the first one on Monday so that got added onto to the ones on Tuesday. My results were okay, HP and Comms I got 92% in each which I was quite happy with (definitely didn’t dedicate as much time to these as for other subjects). I improved upon my engines mark and managed to pass instruments, which is honestly all I was hoping for at this point. My big disappointment was Met, I got 71% which qualifies as a pass in School Finals but it was one of those that I’d hoped to do well in, I love Met L Hopefully I’ve focussed enough on it this week to pull that grade up.

We did the exams in a separate exam hall and they’re all computerised now. The computers even have a funny polarised covering which means it looks blank if you view it from a different angle; I found this so annoying on my eyes! One thing I really loved though was how positive and supportive the other staff and students have been here when they see you waiting outside the room, it really gives you a nice boost before going in J

We’ve been given this week off for studying which has been brilliant, especially since all my housemates have still been at school so it’s been quiet and I’ve been able to get on. I don’t feel particularly nervous for these exams; I just want to get them over and done with now. I’m sure I’ll change my tone on Monday morning when I realise I know nothing. Oh, and it’s Met first thing so at least I’ll be getting it out of the way.

The exam timetable is a little friendlier than for School Finals in that we only have two a day so there’s at least a break in between each of them. I really just hope I can pass instruments again. The results are on Friday so it’ll all be over soon. This weekend will be amazing.

Last weekend was another Oxford open day only this time the lectures were inside the graduation tent which just looks magical, I love it. I also can’t believe how fast a year has gone by, I attended that open day as a potential candidate only last year. Scary.

Wish me luck, my first real EASA is tomorrow morning !!