Failed PTI - opinions?

[Lake]

So I failed my PTI, came up with 50% on the questions which baffled me as I felt very confident answering them.

 

I identified all of the defects on the trees, but lost mark for not recommending stump removal (we had had a different tutor the second day who specifically said if you don't want it removed, don't put it down), for not including a specific key (I went with S-M, and M) and not nothing wood pecker holes on a limb that was hazardous over a path.

 

Fungi ident, I got 3/4.

 

What bugs me is that we're given all these scenarios throughout the course, like "If an arborist was reading this would be able to interpret the recommendations", but on the survey side it was deemed "a customer may want advice on their stump". I find it hard to believe I got points marked down for that, especially with regard to what our stand-in tutour had said.

 

Then, the contrast in levels of interpretations, who's reading it.

 

I scored 58.5% so not really bad going but to only get 12 marks against 24 on the tree having picked up all defects, and to come out with 50% on the questions, I'm proper miffed.

 

Am I right to be a bit bummed? I'm not allowed to see the questions I faulted on either.

[roseyweb]

I failed mine by 1%

Seemed like they could have found a extra mark somewhere

[Kveldssanger]

I find it a little odd that you lost marks for not recommending stump removal. It's not like it's a necessity, so why suggest it as the way forward if you consider it not needed? Stumps can be left to support the growth of fungi, for example. I suppose if the tree was right by a main road you'd recommend stump removal just because some idiot can purposely trip over it and claim against the owner (cynic alert).

 

I got a little irked reading your account, actually.

 

As for the woodpecker holes, I suppose that's fair enough. As for not seeing what you got wrong - that's silly. How are you meant to know what to work on for next time, if you try again?

 

The subjectivity of marking is always an issue, and if two tutors said two differet things then I'd raise that with the course provider and ask for a partial refund.

[bluebedouin]

....I went with S-M...

Know what you mean.

[Tom D]

My understanding was that you had to get 4/4 on the fungi ident or it was a fail? I could be wrong though, it's years since i did mine.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

The paper should be marked and moderated to ensure validity. There should also be a mechanism for review in case of dispute / dissatisfaction.

 

Have you discussed it with the provider?

[Lake]

No, not sure whether to or not, but I also him remember saying things like, don't worry about the exact height of the tree, the tree numbers, he said he was really only concerned with our findings and our recommendations.

 

I didn't number the trees as they appeared, just went with common names but to be honest I don't even think they had numbers on them.

 

I guess I could speak to him about it, even if it doesn't improve my mark, the inconsistency between the two tutours and the emphasis placed on findings has left me a bit bummed. He also mentioned that I didn't bright to light the severity of the lean, which is fair enough.

[Arborist]

Who did the teaching and exam?

[Arborist]

Guy Watson did mine, it was straight forward and I is you didn't want it removed you would just put remove tree to ground level

[Gary Prentice]

My understanding was that you had to get 4/4 on the fungi ident or it was a fail? I could be wrong though, it's years since i did mine.

 

That's not the case now. If you fail an ident you don't get any marks, even if you're correct in its decay mode.