It has today been announced by the RSGB that exams based on the new RSGB exam syllabus are likely to start from August 2019, giving trainers approximately one year to prepare for the changes.
Work on the Syllabus was reportedly completed and approved by Ofcom several months ago, but tutors have still not seen the changes to the controversial draft issued last year – but that is about to change.
The new RSGB Syllabus, that’s been in preparation for the last 5 years, is set to be published next week (week commencing 13th August 2018), and trainers around the UK are keen to find out just what’s in store. For the last ten days, we’ve been running a poll amongst tutors to get a feel for attitudes ahead of the syllabus release, and here is a snapshot of the findings.
| Update: Syllabus 2019 was released on 15 August 2018. See our Syllabus 2019 Overview for coverage. |
Survey Overview
We released a short RSGB Syllabus Survey on the 31st July 2018, and has had 36 responses so far. Here is an overview of the responses to the main questions:
How will you personally be dealing with the release of the syllabus?
48% of tutors will be reading the new syllabus in full, 23% will be working from a summary of the changes and 17% will be working through the syllabus as part of a team. 9% will be waiting for new training material to be prepared by someone else.
Will you be actively involved with creating new training material to be used by you or your club, based on the new syllabus?
22 trainers responded that they would be working on creating new training material for the new syllabus.
How will you be working on creating new material?
42% will work on content as part of a team, with 25% working on their own.
What training material does your club use?
75% of clubs use their own content, 58% use another club’s material and 17% don’t use material
In an ideal world, which ways would you like to chat, share information and work with others to ensure your group’s training is ready in time?
51% will be using the RSGB Tutor email Group, 25% using other tutor groups, 58% will be using other club’s material. Use of Facebook, forums and collaborative tools ranked low.
Do you or your club make use of any of the following? HamTrain’s free Foundation slides Essex Ham’s free training material Foundation Online
62% of the tutors polled make use of Essex Ham’s free training material
Which of the following statements best describe your feelings (as a trainer) to the RSGB’s new syllabus
Ranked in order of number of votes:
- As a trainer, I’ve been kept in the dark
- The syllabus review has been poorly handled
- I am dreading the amount of work needed to get ready
- I have little confidence that the new syllabus will be appropriate for training and exams going forward
Six of the 36 respondents felt “I am confident that the changes will be appropriate for training and exams going forward”.
Of the 36 respondents, no-one selected “the syllabus review has been well handled” or “trainers have been kept well informed throughout the process”
Once the new syllabus has been released, and tutors have had time to digest the changes, we will be re-running a poll.
Want updates from us about the RSGB Syllabus Review? Join our unofficial UK Trainers Discussion Group
