Final assessment: mock exam

About this paper

You have reached the end of the course. Lessons 1 to 39 took you from the parts of a yacht to radar plotting and offshore strategy; this lesson puts it all together in a single mock exam: a practice theory paper at Yachtmaster level, set on the Isle of Kerran practice chart and the course’s own almanac data — the Port Kerran tide table for June 2027, the Kerran Roads differences, tidal diamonds A to D, the yacht’s deviation card and the lights on the chart.

It is practice. It is not an official exam paper, and nothing here leads to a qualification. What it gives you is an honest picture of what you can do on your own, against the clock if you like, and a clear list of what to revise.

How it works:

• Answer everything first. Nothing is marked as you go, just as in an exam room.
• Use the extracts. Questions that need the tide table, the differences, the tidal curve, the stream table, the deviation card or the light list have buttons to open them beside the question.
• Time yourself if you want to. An optional 60-minute timer runs in the bar at the top of the paper. You can pause it, and when the hour is up it tells you — it never hands your paper in.
• Mark the paper. You get a score for each section and overall, the correct answer to every question, a step-by-step worked answer and a link to the lesson that teaches it.
• Sit another. “New paper” builds a fresh paper from the same templates: new dates, positions, bearings, tides and targets, every answer computed from the course data.

Exam technique

Most lost marks have nothing to do with not knowing the subject. They come from misreading the question, skipping a step or slipping on a sign. Five habits catch nearly all of them.

1. Read the question — twice

Underline the facts that matter: the date (springs or neaps?), whether times are UT or BST, whether bearings are true, magnetic or compass, the draught and any clearance the skipper wants. Then write down exactly what is asked for — a time, a height, a course, a position — and in what units.

2. Sketch it first

A thumbnail sketch takes ten seconds. For a course to steer it shows which way the stream will set you and so which side of the track you must steer (Lesson 29); for a tidal height it shows whether the tide is rising or falling and roughly how far. If your careful answer disagrees with the sketch, one of them is wrong.

3. Show your working, in the same order every time

Lay each problem out as a form: for a tidal height, the port and date, HW and LW (times and heights, converted to BST), the range, the time from HW, the factor and then the answer. Written out like that, your own mistakes jump out — and in a written exam an examiner can follow your method even if the final figure is out.

4. Check units and T/M/C

Before you write an answer down, run through the classic slips:

5. Sanity-check against the chart

Finally, look at your answer where it belongs: on the chart. A fix on dry land, a course line across a drying rock, a speed over the ground faster than boat speed plus stream, or a height of tide above the HW height all mean something has gone wrong. So does a clearance that looks generous on a big spring tide but leaves you aground at neaps.

The paper

The paper below opens on its cover page. When you start, a bar stays at the top of the screen with your progress, the timer (if you switch it on), the question map and the “Mark my paper” button. Plot questions have plotting tools under the chart: draw position lines through charted objects and lay off vectors, then tap your answer.

After marking

The marked paper shows your score for each of the eleven sections, with a link to the lesson to revise wherever you dropped a mark. Use it like this:

1. Read every worked answer — including the ones you got right. Check that you got there the same way, not by luck.
2. Sort your mistakes. A slip (BST, a sign, a misread number) needs a habit; a gap in understanding needs the lesson again.
3. Revise the weakest section first. Rewatch the lesson’s video, rework its examples, then do its “Practice more” questions until they feel easy.
4. Sit a new paper. Give it a day or two, then try again. One good score can be luck; three in a row is knowledge.

The score tells you where you are. The worked answers tell you how to get better.

As a rough guide, aim for 70% or more overall, with no section where you dropped most of the marks, on more than one paper. Real exams set their own standards; treat this one as a training tool, not a target.

What this does — and doesn’t — certify

A good score on this paper shows that you can do the theory on the course’s practice chart and data. It is not an official exam, and it does not certify you to skipper anything. Certificates come from a recognised training centre’s shore-based course and exam, together with practical training and real experience at sea, in all sorts of weather, by day and by night.

The skills transfer directly to real charts and almanacs — that was the point of drawing the Isle of Kerran in Admiralty style. But the island is fictional: never use its chart, its tide tables or any part of this course to navigate a real boat. Use current official charts and publications, and keep practising: every passage you plan and every fix you plot on a real chart makes the next one easier.