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Tea-OCC

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bphill22

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2021
Messages
8
Location
Manchetser
Hi,

Hope everyone is well during these hard times.

I just had some questions regarding the Tea-Occ test as I have mine coming up soon with the OPC. I did sit this test back in 2019 and failed but this time round I have do a lot more preparation. I just wanted to clear some things up for myself so any help/ answers would be most appreciated. I will write down how I remember doing the test and if I'm incorrect I'm sure someone will correct me.

The first part of the test will be the high and low tones test, before starting the test you will be told a story about being in San Francisco. You are in an elevator and you need to count the number of low tones you hear on the recording which will be played to you, the recording will be played for X amount of time. What I can't remember for this test is, say on the first recording you hear 5 low tones for example, this would mean you are on floor 5, then the recording plays again for the next set of low and high tones and you hear another 5 low tones would this just be the next answer is 5 or would it mean that you are now on floor 10? Or after each time you are asked to write down you're anser and the next recording is played does the elevator reset back to 0?

The second part of this test you will be given a phone directory and told another story about how you need a plumber to fix something in you're house, You ned to use the phone directory to find a plumber. I do remember for this part in the instructions it tells you to circle anything which has a paired shape next to it, for example if something was to have a double plus ++ then this would be circled no matter what business it is, whether its a restaurant or barbers etc. The type of business is irrelevant. Am I correct?

Lastly you do two things at once, both the tones and the phone directory. One part which I'm struggling to be remember is the tones in this test, are they the same as the first part, high and low tones or are they one same consistent tone? I seem to remember that they are one tone and you just need to count how many are played while circling the paired double shapes again and to ignore what business they are next to as this is again irrelevant.

I have read some other threads and this may be the reason as to why I am a little confused. For part three of the test some people have said it's high and low tones where as others have said it's just one consistent tone.

I'm just hoping for some clarification so I know exactly what I'm doing when I walk into the test room.

Any comments will be most appreciated

Thankyou.
 
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iwasyoungonce

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15 Dec 2019
Messages
263
Location
uk
All questions you would be entieled to ask the invigilator to clarify on the day, if you don't understand the instructions ASK
 

Zooboy1980

Member
Joined
24 Oct 2020
Messages
19
Location
Wolverhampton
Hi,

Hope everyone is well during these hard times.

I just had some questions regarding the Tea-Occ test as I have mine coming up soon with the OPC. I did sit this test back in 2019 and failed but this time round I have do a lot more preparation. I just wanted to clear some things up for myself so any help/ answers would be most appreciated. I will write down how I remember doing the test and if I'm incorrect I'm sure someone will correct me.

The first part of the test will be the high and low tones test, before starting the test you will be told a story about being in San Francisco. You are in an elevator and you need to count the number of low tones you hear on the recording which will be played to you, the recording will be played for X amount of time. What I can't remember for this test is, say on the first recording you hear 5 low tones for example, this would mean you are on floor 5, then the recording plays again for the next set of low and high tones and you hear another 5 low tones would this just be the next answer is 5 or would it mean that you are now on floor 10? Or after each time you are asked to write down you're anser and the next recording is played does the elevator reset back to 0?

The second part of this test you will be given a phone directory and told another story about how you need a plumber to fix something in you're house, You ned to use the phone directory to find a plumber. I do remember for this part in the instructions it tells you to circle anything which has a paired shape next to it, for example if something was to have a double plus ++ then this would be circled no matter what business it is, whether its a restaurant or barbers etc. The type of business is irrelevant. Am I correct?

Lastly you do two things at once, both the tones and the phone directory. One part which I'm struggling to be remember is the tones in this test, are they the same as the first part, high and low tones or are they one same consistent tone? I seem to remember that they are one tone and you just need to count how many are played while circling the paired double shapes again and to ignore what business they are next to as this is again irrelevant.

I have read some other threads and this may be the reason as to why I am a little confused. For part three of the test some people have said it's high and low tones where as others have said it's just one consistent tone.

I'm just hoping for some clarification so I know exactly what I'm doing when I walk into the test room.

Any comments will be most appreciated

Thankyou.
Hi there, do you have a date for your assessment at the OPC
 

SJN

Member
Joined
20 Oct 2012
Messages
388
Location
Birmingham
The best thing to do is ignore all the stories they tell you in this test. The first one you just write down the number of low tones you hear. The paper ones you circle all the matching ones. Don’t waste time checking the nature of the business. Just circle all of the matching ones that you find.
 

bphill22

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2021
Messages
8
Location
Manchetser
All questions you would be entieled to ask the invigilator to clarify on the day, if you don't understand the instructions ASKBri

Hi there, do you have a date for your assessment at the OPC
Hi,

Yeah I do :)

The best thing to do is ignore all the stories they tell you in this test. The first one you just write down the number of low tones you hear. The paper ones you circle all the matching ones. Don’t waste time checking the nature of the business. Just circle all of the matching ones that you find.
Yeah, that's exactly what I thought, thanks :)
 

Applepie356

Member
Joined
23 Sep 2019
Messages
190
Location
UK
IMO it’s one of the easier tests of the day.
For the tones close your eyes & count the low tones with your fingers (under the table of course)

“Phone directory” is literally looking for MATCHING symbols and circling them. That’s it. Ignore everything else just look for matching symbols.

Third section. Sounds complicated but it really isn’t. Circle matching symbols while counting the tones with your other hand under the table. Looking for & circling symbols isn’t a mind intensive task so you should have the capability to accurately count tones while doing the task. When the tones stop, write down how many you heard in your booklet then resume circling symbols while getting ready to count the next set of tones.
 

Bluenosemase

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2020
Messages
15
Location
Birmingham
IMO it’s one of the easier tests of the day.
For the tones close your eyes & count the low tones with your fingers (under the table of course)

“Phone directory” is literally looking for MATCHING symbols and circling them. That’s it. Ignore everything else just look for matching symbols.

Third section. Sounds complicated but it really isn’t. Circle matching symbols while counting the tones with your other hand under the table. Looking for & circling symbols isn’t a mind intensive task so you should have the capability to accurately count tones while doing the task. When the tones stop, write down how many you heard in your booklet then resume circling symbols while getting ready to count the next set of tones.
I agree, I found this pretty straight forward as well. I found that it happens quickly enough for you to get into a really good rhythm. The third section sounds complicated but you’ve literally just got to count to tones as there are all one tone and then circle the symbols. I’d already finished the symbols before the tone part ended.
 

SJN

Member
Joined
20 Oct 2012
Messages
388
Location
Birmingham
I found it the easiest too, when I was expecting it to be the hardest. I think people complicate it by checking for plumbers etc instead of just looking for the symbols they need to circle.
 

bphill22

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2021
Messages
8
Location
Manchetser
Hi guys/ girls,

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm probably overthinking it haha. I have been using the software on traindriverinfo to practise for this test and have been getting 100% correct so should be fine. What confused me the most is people saying in the third part its high and low tones and some saying its one tone so thanks for confirming it's just one tone. I know exactly what to expect on Monday, many thanks guys!
 

RPOMan

Member
Joined
9 Oct 2017
Messages
90
Location
Kent
The best thing to do is ignore all the stories they tell you in this test. The first one you just write down the number of low tones you hear. The paper ones you circle all the matching ones. Don’t waste time checking the nature of the business. Just circle all of the matching ones that you find.
This is how I approached the test, passed it. Don't get distracted by the stories, they're not relevant!
 

SJN

Member
Joined
20 Oct 2012
Messages
388
Location
Birmingham
This is how I approached the test, passed it. Don't get distracted by the stories, they're not relevant!
Yep. I passed too. Someone else told me about ignoring the extra info and just count the beeps and look for the symbols. Worked for me.
 

Twotwo

Member
Joined
10 Aug 2018
Messages
586
Do the tones come at you really fast?

I won't lie, I did find it hard. It wasn't the speed, it was more the tones were starting to sound the same. It wasn't low and high tones, more low and medium. Glad to say I passed tho.
 

LewMac98

New Member
Joined
25 Jan 2021
Messages
2
Location
Fort William
Many thanks for both of your replies. I have mine next Monday so fingers crossed! Well they won’t be crossed when I’m counting tones :p
 

dzdoris

Member
Joined
29 Sep 2020
Messages
111
Location
Solihull
Many thanks for both of your replies. I have mine next Monday so fingers crossed! Well they won’t be crossed when I’m counting tones :p
Good luck! I've been watching with interest as I'm waiting on a new assessment day date which was cancelled just before Christmas :)
 

SJN

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Joined
20 Oct 2012
Messages
388
Location
Birmingham
Honestly. I was really dreading this test. From the way people described it, I thought it would be the hardest one but I found it a lot easier than expected.
 

DJP78

Member
Joined
26 Nov 2019
Messages
71
Location
Bristol
IMO it’s one of the easier tests of the day.
For the tones close your eyes & count the low tones with your fingers (under the table of course)

“Phone directory” is literally looking for MATCHING symbols and circling them. That’s it. Ignore everything else just look for matching symbols.

Third section. Sounds complicated but it really isn’t. Circle matching symbols while counting the tones with your other hand under the table. Looking for & circling symbols isn’t a mind intensive task so you should have the capability to accurately count tones while doing the task. When the tones stop, write down how many you heard in your booklet then resume circling symbols while getting ready to count the next set of tones.


Great advice thanks. The top thread has confused me though. I’m due to sit the TEA-OCC test in couple days time.

Having researched this forum, I thought all I have to do is completely disregard the distracting story and simply count the low tones which forms the answer.

To 100% confirm, this business of counting floors etc is to be ignored and all that’s needed is to count the total number of low tones and disregard EVERYTHING else.

Nerves are kicking in, as you can tell from this question
 

SJN

Member
Joined
20 Oct 2012
Messages
388
Location
Birmingham
Great advice thanks. The top thread has confused me though. I’m due to sit the TEA-OCC test in couple days time.

Having researched this forum, I thought all I have to do is completely disregard the distracting story and simply count the low tones which forms the answer.

To 100% confirm, this business of counting floors etc is to be ignored and all that’s needed is to count the total number of low tones and disregard EVERYTHING else.

Nerves are kicking in, as you can tell from this question
Yep. Just count the tones. Ignore the stories.
 
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