%$£**$$ Prometric Test Centres

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I am having no luck lately trying to book my 70-640. First of all I try to book my exam at Lancaster University where I took my 70-680 not 6 weeks before and I find they have closed for Prometric testing grrrrrrrrrrrr.
Then I ask on here about other potential test centres and get some great feedback for a couple, but they did not have the dates I needed. I then booked a Bradford Metropolitan College and took Thursday and Friday off work so I could have a good go at the revision (especially on the R2 additions), ready for Monday. Guess what....... I looked on the Prometric site and they had come up as temporarily closed. I phoned up to confirm and they said they had tried to contact everyone (yeah right).
After calming down I found another test centre in Bradford that had a slot for a Saturday, I thought great, tried to find it on Google maps and couldn't find anything that looked like a college. I phoned them and it turns out it is either above or behind a computer shop on the Main road. I thought sod it, I will take some ear plugs as I just want to get it done. So today I am off work doing some last minute revision for tomorrow......... Guess what, checked the Prometric site and it says they are now temporarily closed £$£"%"%"£%"%"%!!!!!!!
I phoned to confirm, no apology or them saying they tried to contact me.
So I have now booked a test centre in Manchester. I phoned them up first to make sure they will still be open next week and they said they would, but I will be phoning them later to confirm my booking and on Monday to check everything is ok (lets hope I don't get stopped by snow this time).
/rant off

So that is me thoroughly vented, but seriously why is this so hard? All I wanted was:
A decent test centre
No more than an hours drive.
A date that fitted in with work commitments.
To be taken before Christmas and if I passed I could buy another exam bundle.
A happy relaxing Christmas holiday after the exam and then resume studying in the new year.

What have I got:
Stress
Lack of communication

The only advantage has been more time to revise

/rant off /force /now

and breathe ......................................

 

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Ah that sounds like the test centre in shipley, it isnt a college, its a room with 3 PCs lol.
Ive been there a few times, over a year ago, it is quite hard to find, but theres a cool pub a minute up the road, with a weird name.

 

Yup that's the one. Apart from the set up was you happy with doing some tests there?

 

Yeah it was fine, was a quiet room, no real problems otherwise

 

Yup, they suck.

The thing to remember is that there is very little return for being a test centre. The venue has to jump through all kinds of hoops, provide equipment, submit to reviews, maintain standards and security, provide administrative staff etc etc - all in return for about 10p if more than 100 people test there in a month.

So, the only real incentive for being a test centre is for their own convenience - i.e. a training provider who wants to enable their own students to sit exams there. So, if you're not one of their students then you rate zero on their priority list.

I've known some really good test centres - OK, one - and yes, they generally leave a lot to be desired.

 

Well, taking exams around Christmas is going to be difficult for mulitple reasons:

1) People have time off during the Christmas holidays, and as such, they are more apt to schedule their exams during their time off. Some are doing it to check one last box on their "To Do in 2010" lists.
2) Companies are spending their remaining money that they have budgeted for training and certification, thereby filling up the test centers with the "spend it or lose it" crowd.
3) The test centers are filled with people rushing to get their A+, Network+, and Security+ lifetime certifications before the December 31 deadline.
4) Training centers often close around the holidays, as their employees and instructors want to take some time off with their families. Plus, you can't really schedule a week-long class during the weeks of Christmas and New Years. I am guessing that this is probably why you encountered the slew of temporary closings.

Glad you've got everything sorted out, from the sound of things!

 

The one in Manchester is ****, it's above a self storage place. I've never had any problems with it, but it's not the most amazing place.

The best one i've ever been to was the one at Wigan College.

 

Maybe fate was on my side this time, we had a good amount of snow over night so it would have been a nightmare getting there.
As long as I can get it and do my test I'm will put up with a rubbish test centre as I will have more choice next time hopefully. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

I've been having problems re-scheduling/booking for my exam. Like what been said here, it must be the holidays. Still I should be able to book January dates, but no luck.

Ho well, Merry Christmas everyone.

Piccadilly.

 

I agree with a previous comment about organizations not being a testing centre for financial gain - there's little if any money in it for the testing centre. I work for a UK-wide training company, we have Prometric and Vue testing at all our training centres - an interesting statistic for you is that the majority of those doing tests with us have not actually trained with us, but overall being a testing centre just "fits" our business.

Scott.

 

Same here, if it wasn't for the fact that we need our testing centre to ensure our own students are guaranteed an appointment, we would have got shot of ours a long time ago.