The new Officer of the Watch (OOW) Unlimited MCA Part A & B Exam Structure

What You Need To Know

The MCA has just announced that online oral exams are here to stay. Not only that, but the exam itself will now follow a new structure and will be divided into two parts for OOW Unlimited candidates. So what does that mean for candidates looking to sit their OOW Unlimited MCA oral exam? Read on.  

The new MCA OOW Unlimited split-exam scheme

Starting Spring/Summer 2023, the OOW Unlimited oral examination will be split into two parts. This new approach will apply to all OOW Unlimited candidates who are on their first attempt and had their Notice of Eligibility (NoE) issued after the end of April 2023 and all candidates (including resits) with an NoE issued after 1st June 2023.

Part A will be an “on-demand” examination, conducted under strict examination conditions and monitored throughout via the candidate’s webcam. Having passed Part A, candidates will then be able to book Part B, which is the traditional oral exam, conducted face-to-face over Teams.  

What do we know about the Part A OOW Unlimited exam?

The MCA will utilise the online platform My Know for the Part A examination. The Part A examination will last for 40 minutes and consist of 15 questions. Each question relates to a topic and the candidate is required to answer four sub-questions for each of those topics. These questions will be drawn randomly from a bank of hundreds of questions. 

The questions will comprise three questions each on the topics of the COLREGs, buoyage, and navigational procedures. The remaining six questions will be drawn from the rest of the syllabus. Candidates for the Part A exam will not be able to revisit questions that they have already answered.

To pass, the candidate will be required to achieve a minimum of 90% in each of the topics covering COLREGs and buoyage, 80% in the topic covering navigational procedures, combined with a minimum of 70% across the entire examination.  

Won’t it be easier to cheat?

The Part A exam is a proctored exam that must be taken under exam conditions to avoid the candidate being flagged for malpractice. Proctoring uses a variety of tools to confirm the identity of the candidate and ensure that examination conditions are maintained throughout. 

There are many elements to this but the system is meant to be able to detect whether the candidate is wearing headphones/earbuds, is communicating with or listening to someone, whether another person enters the room and even if the candidate appears to be looking away from the screen excessively.

The result will not be given upon completion of the exam to allow for the proctoring process to be completed, with results expected to be emailed to the candidate within 5 working days. If a candidate is determined to have been attempting to cheat, the exam will be considered a fail and penalties may be applied to the candidate.  

Why is the MCA implementing a split-exam for OOW Unlimited candidates?

According to a Freedom of Information request to which we have access, the MCA believes that this scheme offers significant benefits, without affecting the integrity of the MCA oral exam process. 

They report that while “carrying out oral exams online provided huge benefits to seafarers as it negated any need for physical travel [and] the associated costs for accommodation and flights”, an unintended consequence was that this approach made the oral exams “readily available [to] candidates who have not prepared adequately, [because the] cost and time associated with an online exam are greatly reduced.”

As part of the Modernisation of Assessment program, the MCA believes that the use of a split oral process will act as a filter, requiring that candidates demonstrate sufficient basic knowledge in Part A before proceeding to an oral exam with an MCA Examiner. In their words, “this will reduce the number of failures and resit demand [and have] a positive impact on the backlog.”  

How should you prepare?

The most important piece of advice is to take this exam seriously. It is part of a serious examination system and failing it will prevent candidates from progressing on to the next stage of the split-exam process, the oral exam. It will also require payment of the resit fee.

Based on private and public sources to which we have access, it appears that there are at least three types of multiple-choice questions in Part A of the split MCA oral exam for OOW Unlimited candidates. These include matching questions (such as matching symbols with their meanings), true/false questions and fill-in-the-blank questions.

It’s important to prepare fully and ensure that you are strong on all elements of the syllabus before attempting the exam. However, computer-graded online examinations inevitably require questions and answers which are structured to be objective, rather than subjective, which can give us clues as to how the questions will be designed.

For example, if the question is regarding enclosed space entry, it is more likely to ask a specific question about the gas levels required before entry can be permitted or how frequently enclosed space drills should be conducted, rather than a long-form question about how to conduct the entry. The information remains the same but the structure of the answer is different, so candidates should focus more on ensuring that they learn facts, wording (especially COLREGs) and definitions, than the longer-form answers which will be required at the Part B (oral) exam.  

How long will this new approach last and will it be rolled out for other tickets?

It looks like it’s here to stay. The MCA has stated that the pilot scheme for the OOW Unlimited was successful and, although the new approach will continue to be reviewed, the Part A/B exam structure for OOW Unlimited candidates seems set to remain, alongside online exams.

The MCA has currently only trialled and implemented this approach for OOW Unlimited candidates but they have stated that it may be rolled out to other tickets in due course.  

Can Whitehorse help you to prepare?

Of course we can! While the MCA is keeping the details of the new exam approach quite close to its chest, we are in a great place to collate candidates’ feedback and ensure that our candidates are as prepared as they can be for both parts of the exam. 

Furthermore, our best-in-class eLearning content is already packed full of the type of closed, objective exam questions which are likely to appear in this exam, so they remain an invaluable (and, with the Cadet discount, a very affordable) resource for OOW Unlimited candidates.

Finally, if you have any other info about the Part A exam, want to ask questions or just fancy a chat, please do reach out. WhatsApp is best.