Examinations

Examiners as appointed conduct examinations. The venue will be such that each candidate can be seated in a well lit room so it is not possible for them to overlook one another.

A training seminar for the candidates will be held by the Examiner a maximum of one week before the date of the examination proper, with each candidate being provided with:-

The Rules & Guidance Book which contains the current rules with Guidance for referees and Referees calling procedures.

The talk and discussion will take around 2 hours, the Examiner will endeavour to cover all points that occur in the examination paper, taking care not to refer explicitly to any question.

The examination fee will include the cost of the Rules & Guidance plus an amount to be retained by the Examiner to cover expenses, with any residue going to the County or Regional Association funds. The Examiner, using the paying in book provided, pays examination fees due to the EPRA into the EPRA account. A completed paying in form will be sent to the Treasurer, which includes the date and numbers taking part in the examination.

'E' Grade' Examination

This is a multi-choice paper with 80 questions; three options are given for each question; within the time limit of 90 minutes, the candidate has to identify the correct answer. This examination is primarily aimed at those who wish to be qualified for local league level.

'D' Grade Examination

This involves a written test with around 60 questions covering all rules and procedures. There is a practical section, which will be held in a separate room with a pool table. The table must not be within earshot of candidates; in turn each candidate is called and presented with practical situations with 6 or more questions being asked. The Examiner will have an assistant who will invigilate whilst the Examiner conducts the practical section.

On completion of the examination the Examiner will mark the papers using the model answers and marking regime. The answer papers are then sent to the Examination Secretary for scrutiny. The Examiner must ensure that the County that the candidate is registered with is correct. The County where a candidate resides may be different.

The Examination Secretary will then return the results to the Examiner, together with a letter for each candidate which the Examiner will forward on to the candidates.

For the successful candidate the letter will indicate if any important point was answered wrongly (it is possible to reach a pass mark if only one, or at most two, important points were not 100% accurate).

For the unsuccessful candidate the letter will indicate the areas where the candidate was in error. This may encourage the candidate to try again.

Should a 'D' Grade candidate narrowly not attain the required pass mark, the Examination Secretary, at their discretion, may award and 'E' Grade pass.

Any candidate who gains a pass at any grade will be considered a new member until the end of that current year. A renewal form will be supplied for continued membership.

The Rules of the EPA are their copyright. Therefore any Examination paper, Guidance for Referees, Calling procedures and examinations answers must be submitted to the Rules Revision sub-committee of the EPA. The Referee's Delegate will normally sit on this committee.