The first class cadet exam.....

    "Before the exam I felt very nervous. My friends and I were very anxious and were all doubting ourselves. I thought that I ad a good chance to pass this time, as the previous time I failed by 8 marks. I came in to the classroom and I felt the tension that was gathering around us. The C.I. who took us and was making sure we did not cheat told us to start and then you just heard the sound of pens scribbling away!

    When we started the test I found that the things I learned in the classroom helped a lot with the test. As I looked around, trying to think of answers, I saw that everybody was nibbling on their pens! As I answered question after question, I grew in self-confidence and the answers came flooding back. After 30-45 minutes on the test I finished!

    As the C.I. took my paper and the others were collected, we all huddled in a circle. Tick, cross, tick was the usual pattern. At last after 10 minutes the teacher finished correcting my paper. As he called out my name and said that magic number: 56, I jumped for joy knowing that I blitzed the test. YIPEE! Luckily everyone passed and we were happy for the whole night. Wahoo!"

Cdt. Chakli

    "On the night of the exam I wasn't really that worried because the C.Is at the last session of cadets told me I would not be taking the exam as I had not been there that long.

    When I arrived at the hall the C.O. said that I would be doing the exam! My stomach churned because I had not revised for this yet!

    During the exam the questions were easy and hard. They were multiple-choice so I think most of them were just lucky answers! People kept writing and concentrating. I expected smoke to come out of people's pens!

    After the exam the C.Is called out some cadets, and we were all very worried that we had failed, but we PASSED and got to a higher rank."

Cdt. Tolson

      "On 27th January, when the test was due to be done, I came into the hall and went through the inspection. When we set out the tables our C.O. handed out the papers. By then my stomach was upside-down. During the exam  found that the questions were quite easy, as I had studied the whole night. I had also had lessons with a variety of teachers in the squadron.

    In the end I passed the test and became a 1st Class cadet. This allows me to join in with other cadets on occasions like flying, shooting, gliding and anything else they do.

    After the exam my stomach settled down and I felt relieved!

Cdt. Ford-Lissenden

    "On the night of my first class exam I felt very unprepared and nervous. I had a lot of doubt in my mind and thought I wasn't going to pass. Once I got into the room and was sitting down waiting to start, I didn't feel as nervous, because the answers were multiple-choice and I was expecting to have to do written answers. If I got stuck on a question I could guess out of four, though! After I had finished the C.I. collected my paper in and marked it.

    I got 52 out of 75 and the pass mark was 39, so I was quite happy as it was the first time I had taken it (but everyone else was doing a retest!). After I was told my score I felt really pleased with myself but I do not want to take another exam!"

Cdt. Ward

    "Before the test I was worried about failing it. I was so scared... I needed to pass.

    The first question came and it was quite easy but then it started to get harder and then really hard. We needed 39 marks to pass. There were 75 questions, and even though it sounds easy I had a hard time answering them.

    We formed up after the test and our C.O. added the marks up. Some cadets were called outside. I knew I had failed! The next exam was one month later, and I knew I could fail , so I tried my hardest and passed!"

Cdt. Meacham

    "Before the test I knew that I was going to fail because I missed a couple of lessons as I was ill. I still tried my best in the test though, and managed to get the highest of the cadets that did not pass. Unfortunately I still was not a first class cadet. I was told the next test would be in a month's time, so I had to get ready for it. Unfortunately, all the notes I had went through the wash! I had nothing to revise over the month so I was quite unlucky!

    I was still lucky enough to pass the test the second time round, which enabled me to go flying. I will now be trying to get the rank of Corporal over the next couple of years. To achieve this, I will have to listen to as much as I can in class and keep my notes safe!"

Cdt. Ingram