PTS result

[Steam Man]

I did my PTS test last week I got my result back yesterday I’m not sure if my result was good or not I scored 90%

 

[tiptoptaff]

I did my PTS test last week I got my result back yesterday I’m not sure if my result was good or not I scored 90%

Is this a heritage one or a network rail one?

In all fairness, you should be getting 99-100% on the PTS. It's really not that hard

 

[185]

90% is still very good - almost certainly a pass, and for the failed answers any reasonable professional PTS assessor should be walking you through the errors, ie "Competent with Prompting".

 

[tiptoptaff]

90% is still very good - almost certainly a pass, and for the failed answers any reasonable professional PTS assessor should be walking you through the errors, ie "Competent with Prompting".

91% was the pass mark at our place. And anything below 95 was looked at with a raised eyebrow

 

[43066]

90% is still very good - almost certainly a pass, and for the failed answers any reasonable professional PTS assessor should be walking you through the errors, ie "Competent with Prompting".

No it isn’t. It’s below par, frankly. Most of the PTS paper could be passed just using common sense.

91% was the pass mark at our place. And anything below 95 was looked at with a raised eyebrow

Same experience here.

 

[tiptoptaff]

No it isn’t. It’s below par, frankly. Most of the PTS paper could be passed just using common sense.

Yep. Reckon you could get 95% as a lay person using common sense, the other 5% being the specific distances and some of the technical definitions. And even they could probably be got with an educated guess

 

[185]

One major firm employing apprentices has a pass score of 75%, or 18 of 24.

Several TOCs have the mark at 85% or 90% ...if some choose to have it higher, that's up to them.

Group standards merely states competent in PTS - and make no mention whatsoever of any percentage.

No it isn’t. It’s below par, frankly. Most of the PTS paper could be passed just using common sense.

Some awful employers may jump at an option to kick those who struggle with training, but I must be lucky having never worked at any of those firms so far and where a training issue is identified, we do not (Japan-style) tell people how rubbish they are.

 

[43066]

One major firm employing apprentices has a pass score of 75%, or 18 of 24.

Several TOCs have the mark at 85% or 90% ...if some choose to have it higher, that's up to them.

Group standards merely states competent in PTS - and make no mention whatsoever of any percentage.





Some awful employers may jump at an option to kick those who struggle with training, but I must be lucky having never worked at any of those firms so far and where a training issue is identified, we do not (Japan-style) tell people how rubbish they are.

I couldn’t care less about apprentices. And it’s not about “telling people how rubbish they are”.

Have you seen the PTS paper? PTS papers I’ve taken include questions along the lines of “what’s the safest way to cross the line? Answer: use a bridge rather than walk across the tracks”. Etc.

I’m sorry, but someone who struggles to pass an exam that most lay people could sail through, using their common sense alone, should not be doing a safety critical role on any kind of railway (absent a learning difficulty which could be addressed during the training phase and, with appropriate support/adjustments, they still need to pass it).

 

[tiptoptaff]

I don't care how low these PTS training providers set their pass mark. I've seen 1000s of Pway contractors working lineside, and it's a wonder they don't get themselves killed.

PTS is basic. As basic as it could be for a safety critical role. If you can't hit that out the park, you're really going to struggle with the nitty gritty of rules

 

[Stigy]

I don't care how low these PTS training providers set their pass mark. I've seen 1000s of Pway contractors working lineside, and it's a wonder they don't get themselves killed.

PTS is basic. As basic as it could be for a safety critical role. If you can't hit that out the park, you're really going to struggle with the nitty gritty of rules

Depends what job the candidate has as to whether they need to worry about rules assessments etc. I’ve held a PTS since joining the railway and the nature of my work before becoming a trainee driver meant that I hardly ever had to apply any of the training practically.

PTS, being largely multiple choice, is relatively simple, and I’ve never got below 96% or so on one, but you have to factor in a person’s learning style.

I miss multiple choice tests....

Not sure what you mean about our lot raising eyebrows with test results lower than 95%? Assuming you mean just the PTS, but whatever really. A pass is a pass. PTS is one of the few tests you can actually “fail”, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who has indeed failed it.

 

[tiptoptaff]

Not sure what you mean about our lot raising eyebrows with test results lower than 95%? Assuming you mean just the PTS, but whatever really. A pass is a pass. PTS is one of the few tests you can actually “fail”, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who has indeed failed it.

Yeah - just the PTS, as obviously our benchmark for everything was 91%. I think the attitude was, to PTS, "you'd pass with 91 but you really should be getting 95+"

Although I believe it's changed again now to this new system of marking, without percentages

 

[PupCuff]

I did my PTS test last week I got my result back yesterday I’m not sure if my result was good or not I scored 90%

It shows you've got a good grounding in it, but there's still room for development. Rather than this being a thread dedicated to debating the ins and outs of an arbitrary percentage, perhaps you might like to share the questions which you lost marks on so members here can offer you some guidance on areas which you might not have fully understood or you didn't quite click with the trainer on.

 

[Dynamonic]

Everyone bar one person on my Rules course got 100% in their PTS. I think we were only allowed one or two mistakes if I recall correctly, obviously because it involves personal safety.
But, being multiple choice, it does lean on the ‘easy’ side and should pose little challenge to anyone who’s revised.

 

[the sniper]

PTS, being largely multiple choice, is relatively simple, and I’ve never got below 96% or so on one, but you have to factor in a person’s learning style.

But, being multiple choice, it does lean on the ‘easy’ side and should pose little challenge to anyone who’s revised.

I do wonder whether this might be key to there being variations in pass marks between TOCs and peoples experiences of how easy PTS is. I've never done a PTS test which was multiple choice.

 

[2L70]

Some awful employers may jump at an option to kick those who struggle with training, but I must be lucky having never worked at any of those firms so far and where a training issue is identified, we do not (Japan-style) tell people how rubbish they are.

A Manchester Based Manager used to do that. Not been a manager for couple of years, I thought about him after getting 100% on PTS and other exams.