A common question amongst the stressed IDC candidates! With the right preparation, this is a rare occurrence! But sometimes, nerves can get the best of us.
Many people say that IE stands for “It’s Easy” which in all truth it should be if you picked the right IDC center and Course Director but we all have bad days or suddenly get a stress-induced brain freeze. Knowing what can happen if you fail a portion of the Instructor Exam often helps to relieve the anxiety.
Even if you breezed through your IDC, you may find you go to jelly on the day of the instructor examination. This can happen for a number of reasons, stress generally being the main one. Not to worry though, if your Course Director assured you you are ready to pass it, you are!
Depending on which part you failed you can either do an immediate resit or redo a part of the exam at a later IE. Here is a brief breakdown of all this and how to avoid it happening with the solutions if it still does.
Listen to your Course Director's opinion and trust it
Nearly everyone passes the IDC allowing them to then go on to the exam. Occasionally, one candidate may be a little lacking in experience and dive skills and either fail the IDC or just pass by the skin of their teeth. The Course Director may then recommend that they get more experience and training before they go to the IE. If this is your case, listen to the advice. Sitting the IE when you are not ready may mean losing money, or passing with a stroke of luck but not being quite ready to teach yet!
If stress is your enemy, your Course Director will give you tips and tricks to overcome it during the exam, follow their advice! Give yourself time, breathe, write things down, make your notes easy to read, get a good night’s sleep before you go in, and take the support given on the day. Remember, if you are ready but it's nerves getting in the way, you can do this, it's not rocket science!
The Instructor Examination in details
Which parts can you resit straight away and which ones do you need to sit at another later IE?
Written exams
Dive Theory:
The pass mark is 75% IN EACH SECTION. If you get less than 75% in one of the five sections you will be allowed to retake that section later in the IE. If you fail in 2 or more sections, or you fail the retake, you will have to attend a later PADI Instructor Exam and repeat all written exams. Remember to read the questions very carefully and jot down the info if needed (this avoids silly mistakes like confusing freshwater with seawater).
Standards and Procedures:
An open book exam with 50 multiple-choice questions. You can use your instructor manual and guide to teaching to find the answers. The pass mark is 75%. It is a pass/fail exam. If you get below 75% you will have to return to a later IE to retake the whole written exam section (both theory and standards). Remember to read the questions very carefully, take your time searching the instructor manual, and give yourself time to reread if you can.
Knowledge Development presentation
The classroom presentation is where you demonstrate your ability to use the PADI educational materials to assist students who are having trouble understanding a concept from the knowledge development portion of a PADI course. In short, explain the answer to one question from a PADI knowledge review.
To pass you need to score 3.4 out of 5. If you do not pass with your first presentation you are allowed a second attempt with a different question. Remember to prepare well, make clear and easy-to-read notes, use the list of topics to cover and ensure you have ticked all the 'point-making' points, relax and keep a steady chilled pace! Do not go too fast or prattle on for too long (4 to 8 minutes maaaaax depending on the topic). And make sure you have the correct question!
Confined Water presentation
Teaching presentation
Teaching one skill from a PADI course. You will brief and then demonstrate the skill. You will then have 2-3 ‘students’ (other IE candidates) perform the skill for you. They will be assigned deliberate errors by the examiner. It is your job to identify and correct these errors. You then debrief. To pass you need to score a 3.4 out of 5. You will become very familiar with the scoring system and the format you need to use to teach in confined water effectively.
Here again, if your nerves got the better of you, you can redo this one straight away during the same IE. Prepare well, write your brief and debrief clearly and make sure you didn't forget any of the point-making points, relax and take your time so you don't forget small important things like positive reinforcement for instance.
Demonstrating 5 skills
You will be asked to demonstrate 5 basic scuba skills. The five skills will be randomly selected from the 20 basic scuba skills. You will be graded on each skill out of 5 points, and you need 17 out of 25 in total. If you fail at one skill, you can redo it straight away to get a better score.
Open Water Presentation
Teaching Open water skills
Teaching two skills from a PADI course. It could be from the Open Water Diver course, Advanced Open Water Diver course, Rescue Diver course or Peak Performance Buoyancy speciality. You will brief the skills and then have 2-3 ‘students’ (other IE candidates) perform the skills for you. They will be assigned deliberate errors to make by the examiner. It is your job to identify and correct these errors. You then debrief. To pass you need to score an average of 3.4 out of 5.
If you don't quite make the grade for a pass on the Open water skill, you will have to resit this portion of the IE later at a subsequent exam. This will give you time to practice some more and build up your confidence.
Rescue exercise
A rescue demonstration. You will demonstrate Rescue exercise 7 (unresponsive diver at the surface) as though teaching it to rescue diver students. This means doing it slowly and clearly. You will be assigned to either do it using the mouth-to-mouth method or the mouth-to-pocket mask method. If you fail this, you are allowed one immediate remake.
If you do need to resit an IE it has to be more than 5 days after the previous one. Put all the chances on your side and arrange with your course director for more training if this is needed. Give yourself time to make sure you come through with flying colours the second time.
Some tips to succeed at the PADI Instructor Examination
Get a good night’s sleep before the exam days
Have some breakfast
Breathe
Take each part of the exam step by step, avoid getting overwhelmed
Do not dwell on your mistakes: if you don't get something quite right do not carry that stress onto the next portion of the exam
Take your time preparing.
Write everything very clearly so it's easy for you to reread yourself
Now that you know all the details, you can get into that scuba instructor exam with confidence and focus and get the points you need to pass the IE; remember the really important bit is becoming a conscientious, safe and fun instructor!
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