Dr Dubya:
Feedback time:
I’m pleased to say I passed all modules 
, including (to my pleasant surprise) tankers, see comments below.
Blimey, that’s some of the most thorough and balanced feedback I’ve seen in a good while.
I’ll do my best to do it justice. 
Congratulations on passing your ADR exams.
Dr Dubya:
Using the info on these forums (before the start of the course) to learn all nine classes (and their subdivisions) was a major leg up to passing the exams, excellent advice from Dave 
Cheers for that, and I’m glad it helped
Dr Dubya:
For anyone who might be considering ADR for the first time, once you’ve got these memorized, the rest of the stuff is pretty straighforward. It certainly doesn’t (in my opinion) warrant four full days of classwork (I know, this is stipulated by the SQA not the training provider).
That’s a fair comment, but having read your other comments, the timetable is actually pretty tight, if the whole of the required subject matter is taught. Just for info, the ADR driver training syllabus is actually stipulated in six whole pages of ADR itself. Even SQA must obey that, otherwise the UK (as a country) would be in breach of ADR.
Dr Dubya:
As for the training provider, I have to say Animal was right, your success with the course may very well depend on which training provider you use. On one hand, I can’t fault the instructor on personableness and the relaxed anecdotal-story atmosphere he seeks to create in the classroom, and to be fair I did pass all the modules even though I had no prior experience of the subject (though I feel some of that was due to a bit of lucky/judicial elimination of unlikely choices in several of the MCQs).
I’d say that “the relaxed anecdotal-story atmosphere” is generally a sign that the instructor is well on top of his game. IMHO, the fairest test of the instructor’s ability/knowledge is to ask how easy you found the exams? TBF, if the instructor was really crap at his job, you’d have struggled with the exams AND left with the feeling that the course didn’t cover all possible exam questions. You’ve only mentioned one question below, so maybe it wasn’t so bad and you possibly got yourself a bit stressed? BTW, that’s not unheard of, so it wouldn’t be your fault.
If (genuinely) you had exam questions that you’re very clear WEREN’T covered during the course, then you have grounds for a complaint. A relaxed style is great, but if the instructor rambles all around the houses (off topic) for extended periods of time, then that’s bound to lead to confusion because you’d end up wondering which bits you were supposed to remember for the exams. Equally, you’d also be entitled to wonder what was supposed to be covered AND whether it had been covered.
Dr Dubya:
But on the other hand I couldn’t stick my neck out and recommend a mate to spend his hard-earned moolah here without worrying what he might say to me afterwards.
Possibly a fair comment, and again I’ve noted the rest of your comments, but we’re back to how easy you found the exams. Given that you had no prior knowledge, I’d say that a candidate such as yourself would be best placed to say whether you thought that the course covered all possible exam questions, hence me asking you that.
Dr Dubya:
i don’t think it’s unfair of me to say the group concensus was fairly negative, generally we were of the opinion that we were just one of several “spinning plates” on the go during that week. Everyone was consistently miffed about the amount of time wasted on irrelevant chit-chat during the lectures when what we really wanted was a chance to go over the material until we were all comfortable with it. Several of the guys said they felt completely lost a lot of the time and they looked very stressed.
In any classroom ful of people, there are those that learn quicker/better than others and those others that suffer terminally with nerves, it’s nobody’s fault and is simply human nature. TBF to the instructor, he’s best placed to gauge whether the candidates have truly understood something. This is generally done by use of confirmatory oral questioning every so often. I’ve no idea from your post whether your instructor actually did this or not, so I couldn’t comment on that aspect. One thing I will say is that the instructor generally should proceed at an speed suitable to the average of the candidates in the class. In all fairness, sometimes a candidate is simply not able (for many possible reasons) to take everything in within the required timescale and a silk ■■■■■ can’t be made from a sow’s ear that quickly.
Dr Dubya:
The lack of punctuality from our instructor throughout the day rapidly became a standing joke, “Back in five minutes…” translating into 20-30 minutes in reality). As you might imagine our patience with this wore very thin over the course of the week.
For me, this is the most damning thing in your feedback, because (unless there’s a VERY good reason for it,) it’s completely against the rules, and certainly wouldn’t be tolerated if your course had been subject to a verification visit by an SQA external verifier. The verifiers are very keen on things running correctly to the timetable.
Dr Dubya:
Probably the most contentious issue was in respect of the tankers module training, not a single one of the dozen or so exam candidates felt they had been properly instructed in this area 
A full day of lectures devoted wholly to that subject, then after the exam all the verdicts were of the “expletive deleted” type, most commonly: “What the [zb] is a foot valve?”
TBF to the instructor, the tanker module is the most laid-back module of the whole course, but knowing what a footvalve is IS required knowledge.
A footvalve (AKA internal valve) is fitted to a tank to prevent loss of product in the event that the external pipework becomes damaged.
Note to Wheel Nut:
In this context, that’s the required answer. 
Dr Dubya:
I suppose if your employer is paying for your course you might not be too cheesed-off about these issues, but the small proportion of the group who were self-funded (myself included) were not particularly impressed with the quality of the service provided.
I fully accept your point about who is paying for the course, but for most candidates (no matter how they are funded,) it’s a matter of personal pride that they pass the exams at the first attempt, so they really go for it at exam time.
By one way of reckoning, the conclusion seems to be that you were successful in retaining the knowledge taught, but that’s balanced by comments that the course could have been made better by the instructor being punctual, not disappearing and not rambling off-topic.
