RSGB Announce Record Foundation Exam Passes

From Monday, April 6, 2020, the RSGB started handling bookings for remotely invigilated online Foundation amateur radio exams that people could take in their own home, since then 3,000 people have passed Foundation

On 7th March 2021, the RSGB made this announcement on Twitter:

We're delighted that the 3,000th person has just passed their Foundation licence via remote invigilation! Congratulations to them and welcome to everyone who has become a radio amateur over the last year #hamr #GOTA2C pic.twitter.com/jygrT2dqzI

— RSGB (@theRSGB) March 7, 2021

Prior to last April only around 1,350 people would pass the Foundation each year , the availability of exams to everyone, regardless of where they live, has led to a welcome upturn in numbers.

The previous exam system was essentially club based but the problem was only a minority of clubs were able to provide Foundation training and exams. This often resulted in would-be amateurs having to travel large distances to find training and to take the exam. This resulted in some parts of the country having virtually no new radio amateurs due to the difficulties in accessing training/exams.

Information about amateur radio Foundation and the online training/exam - https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/for-students/foundation/

RSGB Consultation - Direct entry to Full Licence

The RSGB’s Examination Standards Committee (ESC) has launched a consultation today to ask for the views of the amateur radio community on a new, Direct to Full licence exam which would run in parallel with the existing three-tier system.

The background to this consultation and a link to the proposed syllabus can be found on the RSGB website: www.rsgb.org/direct-to-full

There is also a link to a short survey which asks specific questions but also gives you an opportunity to add additional comments or questions.

The consultation will run until Sunday 14 March 2021 after which we will gather the results and announce them in due course.