The final preparations for your SRC exam

Prerequisites for taking the exam
Candidates of any nationality or residency are eligible to take the RYA/MCA UK SRC exam provided they are 16 years old or older on the day of the exam. Candidates should have satisfactorily completed the RYA SRC online course or the RYA SRC classroom course, prior to the exam taking place.

Applying and payment of the SRC radio license
Please be aware the fee for the online course does not include the examination fee for the certificate. The examination fee can be paid either directly to the RYA (76 GBP) or to C-MASTERS (110 Euro). This payment must be effectuated before doing the exam.

If you prefer to pay directly to the RYA then login to https://www.rya.org.uk/exams.
Following your payment, RYA will send the Exam Application Form to your email address. You should bring the Exam Application Form to the exam. Upon successful completion of the exam, our examiner will submit it to the RYA Certification department for processing your license. You will receive the SRC certificate by mail at your address.

Alternatively if you prefer payment to C-MASTERS, then fill this booking form and transfer the amount, and we will take care of the process.

What to bring with you to the exam
• a recent photo (for the certificate) 
• your SRC online knowledge check certificate
• your ID
• your SRC Exam Application Form (if you paid your exam fee directly at the RYA)
In addition, you may bring your course book or notes, to be used when practicing with our radios before the start of the exam.

Certificate
Following your examination at our centre, we will send your results to the RYA for processing of your certificate. The processing time at the RYA (including postal services) may take in average 6 weeks. At times (spring) this may be longer.
The RYA offers a Fast Track service, shortening this duration significantly. Details on this service including the additional cost can be found on the RYA website; see RYA fast track certification. Please book this service before joining the exam, in case that you would like us to send your results via the Fast Track process.

Program of the SRC VHF marine radio examination
The examination for your SRC license takes place in English. You will receive the date and time of the exam in a separate e-mail from our Customer Service.
The program consists of:
• Introduction and administrative procedures
• Familiarisation and practicing with our training VHF radios (manuals are available)
• Theory assessment
• Practical assessment
• Debriefing
The overall duration of the program is approximately 2 hours.

Theory assessment
The theory assessment consists of a written paper and will be closed book with a time limit of 30 minutes. Please study the VHF handbook in addition to the classroom workshop or online SRC course.

Practical assessment
Revisiting the practice scenarios in the training modules will help to make sure you are well prepared, especially when your pass mark on the knowledge check was below 80%. The practical test will approximately take 45 minutes.

Elements of the assessment
The following elements give the general make-up of the assessments. Each element is annotated with a depth of knowledge requirement, as follows:
A = Good knowledge. No errors in Principal;
B = Working knowledge.
C = Understanding of procedure / outline knowledge

Distress Situations
1. Identify a distress situation.
2. Initiate a DSC distress alert, with position and time input manually or automatically.
3. Send a distress call and message by voice.
4. Respond appropriately to a DSC distress alert, call and message, including relay of a
distress message.
5. Know how to deploy an EPIRB and a SART.
6. Know the procedure for cancellation of a DSC distress alert sent in error.

Urgency Situations
1. Identify an urgency situation.
2. Initiate a DSC urgency announcement.
3. Send an urgency message by voice.
4. Respond appropriately to an urgency message.

Safety Situations
1. Identify a situation in which a safety message is appropriate.
2. Initiate a DSC safety announcement.
3. Send a safety message by voice on an appropriate channel
4. Receive Maritime Safety Information by NAVTEX.

Routine Communication
1. Initiate a routine call using DSC, selecting an appropriate working channel.
2. Establish communication and exchange messages with other stations by
voice using appropriate channels and power level
3. Test the radiotelephone by means of an appropriate test call.
4. Enter a DSC group or individual MMSI number.
5. Maintain an appropriate listening watch on DSC and voice channels.
6. Use the International Phonetic Alphabet and prowords.
Pass or Retry debriefing

During your debriefing, we will discuss your results on both assessments. Although the pass rate of the SRC exam is high, there is always the risk of making small mistakes in the theory and practical assessments. In case you don’t meet the required standard on a single, minor and specific element of the exam, you may be offered a partial retry on the same day or at a later date (within 28 days of the original exam). The offer of a partial retry is at the exam Assessor’s discretion.