I would consider anecdotal and a statistically insignificant sample. There’s anecdotal evidenced n this discussion and elsewhere that suggests the contrary. “I know a guy…” is often not the most compelling evidence.
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Sure, I agree with that and have argued that in this thread myself. In this case though, we are only discussing one specific exam. Not the chart plot in general, just one specific chart plot that was only given to one group of people. So when the pass rates change so dramatically from historical data, it should be analyzed.
Maybe he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express?
For what it’s worth, I went through every single published chart plot question last week, both “operational” and “management” level. I actually did about 30% of the operational plots and 100% of the management plots.
There is a staggering about of bullshit questions I must say, including keyed answers that are wrong. A classic is the “your Fathometer reads….”. Given a draft in the beginning of the test, you’d imagine you need to deduct this from the sounding at your fix. However, there exists a few cases where the correct answer is the sounding without subtracting the draft. Others, you do need to deduct the draft.
There’s also questions about deviation, but there’s one or two plots where the variation is not provided. No year for the plot is given either. You’re supposed to, in these cases, use the compass rose variation with no increase/decrease applied. Most plots, however, give you the variation.
Additionally, there exists an array of distractor answers that are WAY too close to the actual answer. Even challenging for experienced paper chart navigators, let alone academy cadets.
This is already known stuff though, I was just reminded of it recently due to exam taking.
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