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Has anyone had problems with their ITEC practical exam, in particular failing when they thought they should have passed? The reason may be that you were judged on the results of the mock exam at your College and not the actual ITEC exam, as happened with me.
Earlier this year I failed the ITEC Indian Head Massage practical by 4 marks, even though I completed a near faultless routine with which my 'client' was extremely pleased. The reasons given for the failure were precisely those weaknesses highlighted at the mock, at which I had admittedly seriously underperformed due to lack of practice.
When I asked ITEC for a breakdown of my marks they insisted several times that they did not have it. I eventually obtained them through a third party, and found that they were simply the marks I had been awarded at the mock scaled down to take me just below the pass mark! In addition, I was able to see the range of marks for my fellow candidates, and each of these - amazingly - differed by only a couple of percentage points between the mock and actual! Not surprising, then, that ITEC were so reluctant to let me see the figures.
I have long felt that ITEC's examination methods for massage treatments is deeply flawed: observation from afar of maybe 10% of each candidate's routine is hardly satisfactory, surely one can only form an accurate opinion by actually receiving the massage. I am also worried by the number of people I have met who have received unsatisfactory Indian Head Massages from qualified therapists, which I believe is a result of the poor examination methods. By the same token they seem to be failing good candidates by default.
ITEC appear to be a very complacent body - why else would they continue to retain the Louise Tucker Anatomy and Physiology book as their standard text when it has been slated in the medical press ("inaccurate", "unhelpful", "alarming for students" and "patronising" are some of the comments I've seen) - and as such I am concerned that they are doing the profession a disservice. Has anyone else out there had a similar problem with ITEC, and if so can they suggest what I should do next: since I exposed them as liars they have refused to respond to my letters. The easy option would be to resit the exam, but that would mean giving in to them, which I am not prepared to do as a matter of principle.
I failed my gym instruction practical. How? I don't know. I thought I'd done really well. My answers to my oral questions were correct and I was confident and thorough with my teaching. What more the examiner didn't have the assesment form which gives a breakdown of our marks, instead the examiner just wrote our marks down on an A4 pad and the examiner had their mobile phone out in their hand, doing what looked like texting during the exam. Wasn't impressed when I got my result and I'm still not. I haven't questioned it as I've now entered the following year of my course and will be repeating - all my other results were either 84 or 88 including two other practical exams, how I can fall so heavily in one exam is beyond me when I performed so well in others. Haven't even bothered to raise the issue with my tutor either, didn't see the point. Have considered rebelling and pursuing a gym instruction diploma from another organisation.