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  1. Licensing
  2. Membership & Registration
  3. Qualifications & CPD
  4. Publications & Resources
  5. Get Involved
  6. News

Exam News - Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals and Advance Diploma of Railway Control Engineering 

This page will be kept up-to-date with information for Candidates and their supporters for the IRSE Professional Examination

 

You are invited to join the IRSE Younger Members for their AGM and exam review on 20 March 2024

You are invited to join the IRSE Younger Members Section for their AGM and exam review on 20 March 2024. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person in London UK and Dublin Ireland and online via MS Teams.

This will be an opportunity to hear about the Younger Members' work over the last year, their plans for next year, and then to hear and give feedback on the October 2023 exams

Please see https://www.irse.org/Get-Involved/Events/Event-Details/eventDateId/1526 for further information and to book your place

March 2024 exam

News: Wednesday 20 March 2024:

All candidates have been sent final information for their exam on Saturday 23 March. If you have not received this, please check your junk mail for any emails from exam@irse.org. The email gives this information for you - IRSE Candidate information - exam March 2024 (also available in document library below)



Information has been sent to all candidates about accessing the IRSE exam website, registering their photo ID, downloading and installing the remote invigilation software, and their practice exams

Candidates have been asked to register their ID, download and install the software and practice early to help them and the IRSE team resolve problems before exam day. Many previous exam candidates have found issues on or near exam day which they have not been able to resolve, for example their work IT policy not allowing them to download and install the remote invigilation software

October 2023 exam

Update 9 February:

Module B, C and D candidates:

  • All results were issued by email to candidates yesterday (8 February). 
  • 'N' feedback will be issued shortly to all those who gained a 'near miss' grade. Unfortunately examiners are unable to give meaningful feedback to those who gained a 'failed' grade as they find that many candidates gaining this grade have answered two or three questions poorly. 
  • The IRSE Younger Members' section is arranging for an online exam review (expected to be in early March) when examiners will give generic feedback on October's exam. It will be recorded and made available in the study Vimeo area https://vimeo.com/showcase/study for those unable to attend.
  • Those candidates who passed one or two modules but have not completed their Advanced Diploma have also been sent a letter to confirm their pass(es). 
  • Those who have successfully completed their Advanced Diploma are asked to check their postal details by 1 March for certificates to be sent to them.

Certificate (Module A) candidates

  • All certificates were sent out by Royal Mail last week (week commencing 29 January).
  • Royal Mail's international postage gives expected delivery within 2 working weeks. If you have not received your certificate by 19 February, please let us know at exam@irse.org and we will arrange for another to be sent to you. 


Update 30 January:

Module B, C and D candidates - your exam papers have been marked and are in the final stages of moderation, checking and collation of N feedback. The analysis of the remote invigilation and anti-plagiarism software has been reviewed. We expect to release the results in early February. All candidates are asked to give feedback to improve IRSE's processes and communications via https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZQ67L8H


Update 6 December:

Certificate (Module A) candidates - all results have been emailed to Certificate candidates and successful candidates have been asked to check their postal addresses and inform us by 8 January.

Module B, C and D candidates - papers are being marked and moderated, the analysis of the remote invigilation and anti-plagiarism software has been reviewed. We expect to be informing candidates of their results during January.


Update 1 November:

Exam papers continue to be marked, reviewed and moderated whilst the outputs of the remote invigilation and anti-plagiarism software are reviewed and checked.

We are prioritising the Certificate candidates for their remote invigilation reviews and have contact some candidates today to ask for additional information. We will issue results as soon as possible.

We are always interested in feedback about the exam process, to improve it and make it more accessible and relevant. Candidates are therefore asked to spend about 15 minutes completing the appropriate questionnaire - questionnaire for Certificate candidates or questionnaire for Module B, C, D candidates, thank you.


Update 12 October:

October 2023 exam papers are now being marked 
Certificate (Module A) candidates - your papers have been marked and now are being reviewed and moderated. The analysis of the remote invigilation software has to be reviewed. We expect to inform candidates of their marks at end October / beginning November but this may be delayed if there are a lot of issues flagged by the remote invigilation software.
Module B, C and D candidates - your exam papers have been allocated to examiners for marking and then moderation. The analysis of the remote invigilation and anti-plagiarism software has to be reviewed. We at present we do not know when we expect to inform candidates of their marks and it may be delayed if there are a lot of issues flagged by the remote invigilation and anti-plagiarism software.



Update Exam Day 7 October:

We apologise to those candidates who have had problems accessing their exam module in the first two time slots - this issue has now been resolved and the timeslot extended accordingly.

Those candidates who cannot "see" their module are advised to go to My Courses and look under "removed from view" - some candidates are finding that their module is there. Others are finding that it appears after logging out and logging back in again.



Update 13 September:

Some candidates are trying to log into the exam system using their IRSE website logins and/or are attempting to access the exam software via the IRSE website. Please see your email of 24 September for details of your case-sensitive login and password for the IRSE Moodle system (https://irse.moodle.tituslearning.com/login/index.php

Our SmowlTech partners (remote proctoring software) have informed us that their system will be unavailable on Wednesday 4 October between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC. 


Update 5 September:

A few candidates have had "001 security error" messages when attempting to use the remote invigilation software (Smowl) on their work computer - Please talk to your work IT people to get them to fix this for you - it could be that you have not gained permission to install software on your work computer.  To guide your work IT team, they may find the Smowl FAQs of use - https://smowl.net/en/faqs-proctoring-smowl/  and the specific instructions for students/candidates https://smowl.net/en/faqs-proctoring-smowl/user/  

All candidates are reminded that they must register for the remote invigilation software (Smowl) before starting their exam module(s) on Saturday 7 October, and that the software must be downloaded on their computer and running with no security issues.


Update 25 August:

All candidates have been sent details of how to register for the remote invigilation software (Smowl) and how to access their practice exam sessions.  If you have not received this email (dated 24 August), please check your junk mail and if it is not there, get in touch with the exam team at exam@irse.org

All candidates must register for the remote invigilation software (Smowl) before sitting their exam module(s) on Saturday 7 October.

All candidates are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with the exam software before exam day, even if they have used it before.

Future IRSE exams

Future exams are expected to be held in March (for Certificate (module A) only) and early October (for Certificate (module A) or Modules B, C and/or D) every year.


The 2024 exam dates have now been announced -

  • Saturday 23 March 2024 for Certificate candidates only - booking is now closed.
  • Saturday 5 October 2024 for all candidates - booking to be open May/June 2024.  See below for ruleset agreed by Education & Professional Development Committee for the 2024 exams. The cost is to be announced.


The ruleset for the 2024 IRSE professional exams has been agreed by Education & Professional Development Committee as:

  • Candidates for the Certificate (module A) do not need to be IRSE members
  • For October exams - Candidates will be able to sit either the Certificate (module A) or between one and 3 of Modules B to D
  • Those candidates wishing to sit Modules B, C and/or D must be fully paid-up members (at any grade) and have previously passed an exam module.  Note that potential candidates interested in taking modules B, C and/or D are encouraged to apply to become members of IRSE as soon as possible so that they can gain access to the full suite of exam study material - if they apply after February 2024, it cannot be guaranteed that their membership application will be processed and agreed before the exam booking closing date


Younger Members' study webinars for all exam candidates

The IRSE Younger Members are running a series of webinars on the 'Back to Basics' series of articles from IRSE News, which will be of particular interest to exam candidates for all modules.

Keep an eye on the IRSE events page,  the Younger Members' Eventbrite page, or get in touch with them at younger.members@irse.org for more details.  Recordings of previous sessions are held on the IRSE Study Vimeo page.