how difficult is the acs - ccn1 cen1 and flue gas analysers

[gasgb]

i have booked in to do the ccn1 cen1 and flue gas analysers.

nvq level 2 qualified
nvq level 3 qualiffied
unvented bpec
4 year apprenticeship.

basically my employment ended 2 months ago i had enough evidence to complete level 3 luckily enough - but obviously my employer is now not funding my gas qualifications - i have just paid 950 for one day training and intial assessments... the company that does the assessments have told me i may need a few more days training at 100 a day, and that the first day i will be sort of judged on my knowledge and will be informed if i can go ahead onto the assessments - of course i understand this as they want to pass me but i would hope to be able to go staright to the assessments without the extra days training.

can anyone explain to me what to expect in the assessments or somewhere on the web a layout of what is done - i have the bpec gas book, what i want to know is how many querstions etc how many are closed book and how many are open book - how difficult from experience are the closed book questions - i know the regs but i have trouble remembering what reg is what etc, i also know how to gas rate, pipe sizing etc, sometimes have difficulty with the differences between AR and NCS. How many do you have to get right, 100% how many goes do you get etc on the closed book ones?

sorry for long winded first post but any help but would be appreciated - it means a lot to me and my family i get this qualification and i am doing everything i can to succeed

 

[Pssst]

I predict that you will need extra training and that you will pass with flying colours....

 

[gasgb]

well if thats what has to happen then i will still be happy, any thoughts on the other questions lol

 

[AWheating]

Its really hard to say how well you will find it, many experienced enginners struggle due to the stress and environment also many first timers sale through it. Have you spoke to you college tutor to ask his/her opinion?

 

[moony]

He said I should be fine but to look up ventilation as that trips some up. I'm more concerned with layout how many closed book questions etc cheers not back in college now either as that side is all finished.

 

[blayedrunner]

1 closed book and its VERY VERY easy. the rest open book. Then a practical. Thats the hardest bit. So 4 years in job you should be fine.

 

[AWheating]

the closed book questions are not to bad, you will not get questions that require deep knowledge of the regulations. I have sometimes struggled on pappers that require you to to find specific answers out of regs/text books because i think im slightly dyslexic. Maybe somebody on here has some training guides/mock questions you can have off them to help you revise?

 

[kirkgas]

He said I should be fine but to look up ventilation as that trips some up. I'm more concerned with layout how many closed book questions etc cheers not back in college now either as that side is all finished.

depends what certification body the centre uses whether you get closed book or not, bpec dont have any closed book, but TBH any closed book questions should be easy to a working engineer, they will be straight forward, i only know bpec structure which is CCN1 approx 50 Q's each on safety, legislation and flues, then appliances have their own questions, HTR1 has 19, CENWAT has 5, CKR1 has 3, CPA1 has 5, then you move onto the practicals, CCN1 should be done in a day, but i have sen people take 2, 3-4 appliances can be done in 1-1.5 days depending on how good you are, the price you quote isnt great to be honest, we do 3 days refresher training and 3 days assessment for the elements i have quoted for £995 plus VAT, it looks loke they will assess you on day 1 then tell you to take more training, you dont have to have any training you are allowed to go in for assessment only, but it has been known for people to come in for assessment only and crash and burn by mid afternoon on day 1, you need to get 80%+ after 2 attempts at your written exams or you have failed and are out the door, if you get more than 80% you get oral verification questions on the ones you got wrong as you need to get 100%. again with the practicals you get 2 goes at everything, if you are drastic at certain things the assessment will be stopped on safety grounds, but really needs to be seriously bad before that happens, the usual problem for candidates is taking to long and running out of time, it is up to the centre whether they stop the assessment right on time and refer you for another go at more cost, or whether they allow a little more time to see if you get there, after all it is about safety and not speed, but they need timeframes as a base line. send me a PM with an email address and i will send you some tutorials i have made up to give you a feel for the way questions are asked

 

[moony]

missis's brother using my computer, any welcome to the board danny.

 

[baronwills]

I did my ACS assessments 5 weeks ago. I didn't find the papers that difficult tbh. Only 1 paper was closed book, and they were the type of questions you should know without having to look in a book. The open book papers were relatively straight forward. Take your viper if you have one, and all the other reference material will be there for you to use. British standards, gas regs etc. And you will get three attempts at the questions. Say you get 6 wrong out of 25, you get given back those 6 questions for another go. So its worth going with your gut on the first attempt, then if you get a few wrong you can delve a bit deeper into the reference material.

Remember the assessors aren't there to fail you, my experience with them was really positive. Just think safety, safety, safety when it comes to the practical work. Better to take your time and get it right than try and rush through it and get your assessment stopped because you didn't use temporary bonding. You get the idea.

Anyway, with your quals and experience, sounds like you'll be fine.

 

[fuzzy]

i have booked in to do the ccn1 cen1 and flue gas analysers.

nvq level 2 qualified
nvq level 3 qualiffied

How did you get NVQ3 without ACS?

 

[gasgb]

hi fuzzy,

nvq level 3 is seperate to the acs, the level 3 gives you evidence and a qualification you can use to sit your gas certs, but never the less is different and althought the college funded my level 3 as i was in work - my previous employer would of had to pay for the ccn1 cen 1 and analyser assessments - the college was under no obligation to fund this as part of the nvq qualification. Although they do for some people, its at the discretion of the college. You do not need your acs to get your level 3 its the other way around if anything.

 

[fuzzy]

hi fuzzy,

nvq level 3 is seperate to the acs, the level 3 gives you evidence and a qualification you can use to sit your gas certs, but never the less is different and althought the college funded my level 3 as i was in work - my previous employer would of had to pay for the ccn1 cen 1 and analyser assessments - the college was under no obligation to fund this as part of the nvq qualification. Although they do for some people, its at the discretion of the college. You do not need your acs to get your level 3 its the other way around if anything.

sorry mate but this is not the case. The acs IS part of the nvq 3 in plumbing. the college must put you through it and therefore there is an obligation. i have heard of some centres using the 'get out clause' which is you can gain your nvq3 only if you do not work on gas and therefore couldnt pass acs as you couldnt gain workplace evidence. in this case the company and student must sign a disclaimer to say as such. only then can the centre apply for the NVQ without passing the acs. have a look inside your nvq3 port folio and it will tell you

 

[gasgb]

our tutor has told us completely different to you then fuzzy - just had a look through the level 3 portfolio i have and apart from the tracking and my work there is not a mention of the acs never mind that its part of it? i will check up with the college as i am not doing the gas there as they were fully booked until september - there is a likelihood i could of got funding and done it through them but i would of been looking at november time lol.

our nvq 3 consisted of

2 tech certs
portfolio of evidence signed off by a gs engineer.

and i have had all my certificates through and have used these to book in with the local gas training centre... so its strange you saying i needed the acs to get my level 3. but hey i will check with my tutor. i will print this thread out to show what your saying.

cheers

 

[fuzzy]

its on page 10 of the candidate book nvq 3

 

[fuzzy]

If you follow this link [DLMURL="http://www.cityandguilds.com/46339.html?s=4"]NVQ in Mechanical Engineering Services - Plumbing (Domestic) | Construction and Building | Plumbing | City & Guilds[/DLMURL]

open the qualification hand book and read page 20, along with your own workplace evidence book on page 10.

If you wish to question the centre you did the NVQ 3 at, it is better to know the background and have this information at hand from C&G rather than a post on a forum from a stranger. If you signed the decleartion form they are within their rights to award the NVQ 3 without putting you through your ACS. Do you remember signing the appendix a form? If so why did you sign it?

 

[MyLondonPlumber]

As long as you do your revision and reference your books (time flies in the exams) you should be fine. dont forget to make sure you are up to speed for the practical assesments as well as it tripped up some guys on my assesment

 

[wetdrip]

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