New Operator Certificate of Professional Competence

Syllabus changes to the Operator Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) have been imposed to incorporate both national and international qualifications as one. So what’s new? Tachodisc’s Managing Director, Karen Crispe, explains what operators can expect from OCR’s new syllabus.

OCR’s new CPCs in Road Haulage and Passenger Transport will both consist of a single multiple choice assessment and a single case study assessment.  Both elements will test national and international knowledge / application and have been built around reduced and more relevant content.  The good news is that to achieve the new International CPC, candidates will only need to take these two units.

Multiple Choice Assessment: the multiple choice assessment will be available as a quarterly, paper-based test from March 2012.  From June, OCR have stated that it will also be available on screen and on demand, allowing candidates to sit or re-sit an assessment at a convenient time and to enable results to be received quickly.  Candidates will need to achieve 70% over the whole paper to pass.

Case Study Assessment: the new case study assessment, which is also available quarterly as a paper based test, will no longer be preceded by a pre-release scenario.  Instead, a shorter, more relevant scenario will be issued with the papers at the start of the two hour assessment.  This shorter case study will only contain information that will enable the candidate to demonstrate application of the knowledge they have acquired.

An additional improvement to the case study is that it will now only assess core areas.  Furthermore, OCR has simplified the pass mark so there will be no sections A and B; candidates will need to achieve 50% over the whole paper to pass.

Some items in Part B of the case study assessment were previously regarded as peripheral.  These areas will now be selected periodically and assessed as part of the new multiple choice assessment.  The case study will focus on the application of knowledge, making candidates more adept at in the skills required in relevant transport careers.

Candidates will also now be able to take any notes or books of their choice in to the case study assessment and questions will test application of knowledge only.  For example, candidates will no longer be asked to identify and explain but just to explain, allowing them to demonstrate they can apply their knowledge and use relevant sources of information.  OCR state that this will ensure that those who gain the OCR CPC are well-prepared for the real world of transport management.

For further information on the core areas which will be tested in each assessment visit www.tachodisc.co.uk.  For details of Tachodisc’s complete range of training courses, including CPC refreshers, Driver CPC, ADR, Digital Tachographs and Drivers’ Hours Law, please telephone 01925 283328 or email sales@tachodisc.co.uk.  Alternatively visit www.ocr.org.uk

Published: 25/01/2012