The Student Room Group

RAF CBAT Testing disaster...

Hello, long story short..

Last year I was applying for WSOp and passed my CBAT tests but failed my filter interview so I was prosponed for 6 months. Fast forward to this year and I pass my interview so I was booked in for my OASC on the 23rd of may, brilliant news!...

..No. My CBAT results from last year ran out on the 19th of may so I was booked in to do those the day before my OASC Whilst I was already at Cranwell (they wouldnt give me just a few days benefit of the doubt), and lo and behold, I fail them! Absolutely gutted. I missed out on my OASC and possible career by the space of 3 days. Devastated does not even come close.

So the point of this post is to ask just how the results are calculated? Last year I was hitting 100's across the board, and this time I barely scraped 70s.

(For those who havent been through CBAT yet) Some of the tests have an amount of questions to complete in a certain amount of time, and it's very difficult if not impossible to complete all of them!

See, last year I aimed to complete as many questions correctly as I could in the time given, meaning I usually hit about 6-7 out of the 15 or so and then finished that particular test there. BUUUT this time, when the time ran down to about 30 seconds I just randomly entered answers(usually ABC or 123 answers) to try and scrape as many extra marks as I could instead of leaving them blank, (because why not, right?) I can't help but feel like this was my downfall.

I'm basically asking, are the CBAT results calculated as a percentage of answers given? for example if you only answer 6/15 questions, are the other 9 instantly marked as incorrect? Or is the result calculated from a percentage of the correct answers 6 you answered, so answering all of those 6 correctly leaves you with a score of 100% and an effective pass? confusing I know but I dont know how else to word the question hence the long explanation and back story. Thanks in advance.

Spoiler

Reply 1
Original post by FattyHater
Hello, long story short..

Last year I was applying for WSOp and passed my CBAT tests but failed my filter interview so I was prosponed for 6 months. Fast forward to this year and I pass my interview so I was booked in for my OASC on the 23rd of may, brilliant news!...

..No. My CBAT results from last year ran out on the 19th of may so I was booked in to do those the day before my OASC Whilst I was already at Cranwell (they wouldnt give me just a few days benefit of the doubt), and lo and behold, I fail them! Absolutely gutted. I missed out on my OASC and possible career by the space of 3 days. Devastated does not even come close.

So the point of this post is to ask just how the results are calculated? Last year I was hitting 100's across the board, and this time I barely scraped 70s.

(For those who havent been through CBAT yet) Some of the tests have an amount of questions to complete in a certain amount of time, and it's very difficult if not impossible to complete all of them!

See, last year I aimed to complete as many questions correctly as I could in the time given, meaning I usually hit about 6-7 out of the 15 or so and then finished that particular test there. BUUUT this time, when the time ran down to about 30 seconds I just randomly entered answers(usually ABC or 123 answers) to try and scrape as many extra marks as I could instead of leaving them blank, (because why not, right?) I can't help but feel like this was my downfall.

I'm basically asking, are the CBAT results calculated as a percentage of answers given? for example if you only answer 6/15 questions, are the other 9 instantly marked as incorrect? Or is the result calculated from a percentage of the correct answers 6 you answered, so answering all of those 6 correctly leaves you with a score of 100% and an effective pass? confusing I know but I dont know how else to word the question hence the long explanation and back story. Thanks in advance.

Spoiler



Mate I can't answer your question with any certainty as I don't know (is the simple answer!) Did the instructions at the start of the CBAT not explain the scoring process? However, from what you say, your own explanation sounds plausible ie a percentage of correct answers on attempted questions. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me the first and last time I did CBAT in 2002. Previous aptitude testing in 1976 was paper based and Heath Robinson machines ( which were fun but like an amusement arcade!) In your case I can't believe your natural aptitude has deteriorated by that amount in a year, so either the test is flawed (surely not!) or they've calculated the number of correct answers from all your attempts.

Might be worth appealing, but they can afford to be intransigent, so don't raise your hopes. Nothing ventured etc.....

Good luck mate
Reply 2
Original post by Ikaruss
Mate I can't answer your question with any certainty as I don't know (is the simple answer!) Did the instructions at the start of the CBAT not explain the scoring process? However, from what you say, your own explanation sounds plausible ie a percentage of correct answers on attempted questions. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me the first and last time I did CBAT in 2002. Previous aptitude testing in 1976 was paper based and Heath Robinson machines ( which were fun but like an amusement arcade!) In your case I can't believe your natural aptitude has deteriorated by that amount in a year, so either the test is flawed (surely not!) or they've calculated the number of correct answers from all your attempts.

Might be worth appealing, but they can afford to be intransigent, so don't raise your hopes. Nothing ventured etc.....

Good luck mate


Thanks for the reply!
The instructions were very clear and I have no complaints there, but unfortunately they didn't detail how the results would be calculated overall.. and without sounding big-headed, I cannot see my natural aptitude decreasing by that much either, so I was wondering if there was a mistake I made that wasn't aptitude related. I sent Cranwell an E-Mail explaining the situation but they were less than helpful, I passed for ATC Officer but that just doesn't interest me so unfortunately my app was closed down :-(

Ah well, It's just irritating that I need to wait 12 months before I can retake, it puts a real brake pedal onto my life and career. Considering trying for the RAF Police as a dog handler or the marines, I need a long think.

Cheers buddy!
Original post by FattyHater
Hello, long story short..

Last year I was applying for WSOp and passed my CBAT tests but failed my filter interview so I was prosponed for 6 months. Fast forward to this year and I pass my interview so I was booked in for my OASC on the 23rd of may, brilliant news!...

..No. My CBAT results from last year ran out on the 19th of may so I was booked in to do those the day before my OASC Whilst I was already at Cranwell (they wouldnt give me just a few days benefit of the doubt), and lo and behold, I fail them! Absolutely gutted. I missed out on my OASC and possible career by the space of 3 days. Devastated does not even come close.

So the point of this post is to ask just how the results are calculated? Last year I was hitting 100's across the board, and this time I barely scraped 70s.

(For those who havent been through CBAT yet) Some of the tests have an amount of questions to complete in a certain amount of time, and it's very difficult if not impossible to complete all of them!

See, last year I aimed to complete as many questions correctly as I could in the time given, meaning I usually hit about 6-7 out of the 15 or so and then finished that particular test there. BUUUT this time, when the time ran down to about 30 seconds I just randomly entered answers(usually ABC or 123 answers) to try and scrape as many extra marks as I could instead of leaving them blank, (because why not, right?) I can't help but feel like this was my downfall.

I'm basically asking, are the CBAT results calculated as a percentage of answers given? for example if you only answer 6/15 questions, are the other 9 instantly marked as incorrect? Or is the result calculated from a percentage of the correct answers 6 you answered, so answering all of those 6 correctly leaves you with a score of 100% and an effective pass? confusing I know but I dont know how else to word the question hence the long explanation and back story. Thanks in advance.

Spoiler



Mate,

So sorry to hear, how unbelievably frustrating.

12 months sounds like a long time; but in retrospect, it isn't and it soon flies by (no pun intended)

The very best of luck!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 4
How annoying! Sorry for your situation.

I passed my CBAT two weeks ago and one of the tips I was given was to be accurate even if that means only answering a few questions. Some of the tests actually took marks off if you didn't answer correctly. They are designed to be tough so you are not really expected to answer all the questions. I came out on my first break thinking I had failed already and might as well go home before lunch!

Could you not join as NCO then retake next year? At least you would be in then?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do
Reply 5
Original post by 0902
Mate,

So sorry to hear, how unbelievably frustrating.

12 months sounds like a long time; but in retrospect, it isn't and it soon flies by (no pun intended)

The very best of luck!

Posted from TSR Mobile


Thanks pal! It's just irritating as I put all of my eggs in one basket and don't have much else going on right now as I was pretty set on it and I'm now stuck for a year, ah well though. There's other things I can do!



Original post by Mac0303
How annoying! Sorry for your situation.

I passed my CBAT two weeks ago and one of the tips I was given was to be accurate even if that means only answering a few questions. Some of the tests actually took marks off if you didn't answer correctly. They are designed to be tough so you are not really expected to answer all the questions. I came out on my first break thinking I had failed already and might as well go home before lunch!

Could you not join as NCO then retake next year? At least you would be in then?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do


Yeah mate, It would appear the unanimous idea is that they're taken off for incorrect marks, damn I kinda shafted myself there then. Ah well, you live and learn don't you!
Well, I passed for ATC Officer so I was considering that, but that really doesn't interest me at all, I was also considering going for RAF Police as a dog handler, but I'm also considering the Marines. Just got a few things to think about..
Same to you mate, what are you going for?
sorry to hear that. I've heard a dirty rumour that if you've previously done CBAT they knock points off subsequent tests.
Reply 7
Yeah mate, It would appear the unanimous idea is that they're taken off for incorrect marks, damn I kinda shafted myself there then. Ah well, you live and learn don't you!
Well, I passed for ATC Officer so I was considering that, but that really doesn't interest me at all, I was also considering going for RAF Police as a dog handler, but I'm also considering the Marines. Just got a few things to think about..
Same to you mate, what are you going for?

Cheers mate, I'm going for Int Officer. Got my filter interview next month so researching for that now!
Reply 8
Original post by Mac0303
Cheers mate, I'm going for Int Officer. Got my filter interview next month so researching for that now!


Nice one mate! Filter interview is pretty straight forward so don't let it stress you out, it's good to know all of the information though as it's just a toned down version of your final interview at Cranwell.
Ouch.

I did mine yesterday, with every index being 115+ (shame I'm not qualified to go on to be a pilot...), somebody said that guessing - and guessing incorrectly - can actually lower your marks. Even if you don't finish a certain section, it'd look better if you had 10 complete questions and 10 correct, instead of 20 complete and only 10 correct.

There was a few fellas who walked out of the CBAT disappointed knowing they missed the grade for their preferred choices but decided to go through another route. You could always join in a different field (RAF Police as you considered) and then in a year then retake your CBAT and advance into what you wish to do that way.
Did the cbat today and failed. Devastated.
I failed on one test mainly as far as I can tell. Every branch category had the same fail bar in it 'percept'. Instructions were scant and I didn't get them.
The one where you see a contour map, then sheets with buildings in 2d, then other tthings in 2d. In the end you get a 3d representation and have to say if it is accurate.
Other info was that houses do not move but vehicles and people can.
Can anyone give me more info on that please. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to have everything where it was on the 2d, calculate if people could have moved off, or what.

Thanks.
Reply 11
Hey, sorry to hear you failed.

For this test, you had to say whether the houses or vehicles were in the right place on the 3D image compared to the 2D. If I remember correctly, the only things that moved were the airplanes and helicopters towards the end of the test and you had to work out whether they were moving in the right direction, speed and altitude. This was made more difficult by the fact that you were often looking at the 3D map from a different direction than the 2D.

Will you try again next year?
Thanks for that. Yes, definitely, but never felt such a failure in my life. Needed 112.
Do you know whether you can do the pilot guild civil set at Cranwell without triggering a new 12 month bar?
Hi Mate, I did the aptitude tests 3 times before passing, first time I got 110 then 86 and then 130. The first 2 times I was stressing and practising any tiny test relentlessly that I thought might help me. The 3rd attempt, I practised loosely my speed, distance, time equations, didn't drink for a few weeks before and got my head down as soon as I arrived at Cranwell.. Chilling out really helped me and don't let a poor score deter you from re-applying, most of the people I know who are currently going through training failed it at some point.

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