Exam Format

The exams are all laid out similarly to each other. They have a set number of scored questions and a set time limit in which to answer them. After you finish the exam, you are (unless you are for some reason taking a beta exam where the score isn't returned for as long as three to four months) provided with your score at the end of the exam and told at that point whether you have passed or failed.

Beta exams are exams released several months before the "official" exams are ready. These exams have questions similar to the ones that will be on the official exam when it is released; however, there are more questions, and the time allotted for taking the exam is extended. For example, as of June 2004, the Oracle 10g upgrade beta exam has been announced. You have three hours to complete the exam, and you may have to wait up to 10 weeks for your score. Only the questions that make it into the official exam are scored, but you have no way of knowing what those question are. For the inconvenience, you only have to pay a fraction of the normal fee for taking the exam.

If you pass, you are given a passing certificate (your official certificate will be mailed to you later, along with a plastic card the size of a credit card for your wallet) that the testing center embosses with its stamp. If you fail, do not throw away the print out. It gives you directions on when you can retake the test (typically after 30 days) and tells you where you need to apply more study effort and which types of questions you missed, if not the actual questions that you missed. Use this paper as a study aid to direct your future study sessions.

Layout and Design of the Tests

The tests are primarily multiple choice, although I have taken a few tests that had a couple of completion questions on them. There are two types of questions using the multiple-choice layout: One has a single answer, and one has multiple answers.

The single-answer question has a radio button as the means to select the answer (see Table I.2). It lets you select exactly one answer, and if you select a second, it automatically unselects your original choice.

Multiple-answer questions, themselves broken down into two distinct categories, are answered by means of a check box. The first kind of multiple-answer question tells you, explicitly, how many different answers you are expected to have. You will have no fewer and no more than the specified number of answers. The question will have that number in the question (for example, choose two). If you attempt to provide more than the specified number of answers, it tells you that you can only give the specific number of answers requested, and if you want to answer something differently, you must unselect one that you have already selected. The other kind simply tells you to select all the answers that apply. This is my least favorite kind of question because you have to know when you are finished. I often find that I second guess myself and go back to make sure that I have gotten all the ones that I really wantand that I really want all the ones that I have selected.

Table I.2. Question Selection Options

Example	Description
	Radio button
	Check box

Finally, some of the questions require you to examine an exhibit to answer the given question. These exhibits may be a picture, an extended piece of code, or a multiline command that requires you to look carefully and to go back and double-check what they are asking. Occasionally, the exhibit spans more than one question. You can resize your windows on the monitor screen in such a way as to have both the question and the answers (scrollbars included) on the screen at the same time, or you can switch between the different full-sized windows to answer the relevant questions.