Amateur Station Licence Examination

When and Where?

Examinations for the Amateur Station Licence are held twice yearly at the end of June/early July with a repeat examination at the end of September/early October.  Under an arrangement with ComReg, IRTS is responsible for setting, organising and correcting the theory examination.  The examination is usually held in the ComReg Offices in Dublin but, where the numbers warrant it, examinations can be held at other centres.

The Next Examination

The next Amateur Station Licence Examination will be held in end of June / early July 2012.  The exact date and the venue(s) will be announced nearer the date.

How to Enter

Places for examinations at the ComReg Offices are limited and are allocated on a first come first served basis and will only be reserved on receipt of an application form and the examination fee.  Intending candidates should forward a completed application form and the appropriate fee to Seán Nolan EI7CD, 12 Little Meadow, Pottery Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin in order to reserve a place for the exam.

Download the application form here.  The fee is 50 Euro or 25 Euro for full-time registered students, repeat candidates and those who are retired, unemployed or have a disability.  Cheques and Money Orders should be made payable to the IRTS.  The closing date for applications to sit the examination is announced on each occasion but is usually two weeks before the examination date.

Photo ID

Intending candidates should note that anyone who fails to produce a photo identity on the day of the examination will not be allowed to sit the examination.  The photo ID can be a driving licence, a passport, an employment photo identity card or a student card containing a photograph.  A national Garda photo ID is also acceptable.

The Examination Paper

The examination consists of a question paper of 60 multiple-choice questions divided into two main sections:

• A.  Amateur Radio Regulations and Related Topics (30 questions)
• B.  Amateur Radio Theory and Related Topics (30 questions)

The time allowed is two hours.  The pass mark is 60% and a pass is required in each of the two main sections of the paper.  Intending candidates should note that negative marking is not used in the examination i.e. marks are not deducted from the correct answer score for incorrect answers.

Tell me more ...

• Details of the revised examination format, effective from 1 January 2012, are here.
• The document Studying for the Harmonised Amateur Radio Examination Certificate tells you a lot more: it includes the Syllabus / Notes for Candidates and a Sample Paper.
• A copy of the Syllabus / Notes for Candidates on its own is available here.
• Our page of Radio Theory Links has many useful links to web sites containing information on radio theory.

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