OISC competence assessment tips
Updated 9 September 2020
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1. Before your assessment
1.1 Exam resource book
Please familiarise yourself with the content and structure of the exam resource book as much as possible.
Please note that the resource book won’t necessarily provide specific answers to questions in your assessment but will act as a guide and provide background information to help with your answers.
1.2 Preparation
We recommend that you sit the appropriate sample paper at least once under timed exam conditions before allowing yourself to see the answers. Allow 2 hours and 30 minutes if you are a level 1 candidate (1 hour and 15 minutes per section), 2 hours and 15 minutes for level 2 and 3 hours for level 3.
The sample papers on the OISC website provide the test paper first, followed by the test paper including model answers, so you can avoid inadvertently seeing the answers before you take your assessment. If possible, ask a friend or colleague to mark your answers objectively.
2. During your assessment
2.1 Time management
Level 1
Plan your time to allow a maximum of 1 hour and 15 minutes for the multiple choice section, this will then leave you a further 1 hour and 15 minutes to answer the questions in section 2. As there are 20 questions in section 1, 1 hour and 15 minutes allows for an average of 3 to 4 minutes per question.
You may wish to go through the 20 questions initially and answer any questions you are able to use your own knowledge, without the use of the exam resource book. The online assessment will allow you to put a flag on any questions you might want to revisit at the end and will show you any questions at the end that you have not answered. It is worth looking at these tools in the onboarding session so you can make use of them during the test.
Level 2 and 3
You should read through all the assessment questions before you start, in order to gain full knowledge of the scenario in which you are being tested and to see where marks are allocated. As scenarios progress, this can avoid you including answers that may only be required later in the assessment, thus saving you time.
The above is just a guide and you are of course free to use whatever assessment technique you feel suits you best.
2.2 Achieving top marks
There is one mark available for each of the 20 level 1 multiple choice questions.
The maximum marks available for each of the level 2 and 3 questions are indicated in the brackets at the end of each question. You should use this as a guide for the number of points you should include in your answers. For example, if there are 5 marks available then you should expect to make 5 separate points in your answer to score full marks.
There may also be bonus marks available for showing extra knowledge of the immigration rules, appropriate use of language and a suitable structure to letters.
The examiners will be assessing this in addition to the marks gained for the content of the answers so you should provide answers that are legible and communicate advice clearly in plain English.
The OISC provides further information in its marking scheme.
2.3 If you are running out of time
If you don’t think you can provide as full an answer as you would like, try and make a few bullet points in order to get your point across to the examiners. You may achieve a few extra marks and it could make the difference between a pass and a fail.