You’ve taken the exam and gotten your grade. So, what’s next? Well, that depends on your results.
Congratulations! You Passed!
Let’s start with the good news. That’s right, you did it! You passed the exam and can now move on to the next phase and receive your “ham ticket”. You’re not quite an amateur radio operator yet. Once the Volunteer Examiners have verified your score, you’ll receive a Certificate of Successful Completion of Exam (CSCE) form. This form simply states that you have completed and passed the exam elements you tested for. Do not lose this. If problems should arise, this is proof you’ve taken and passed the necessary exams. The Volunteer Examiners also have a copy that they will submit with all your paperwork that will make its wat to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Head to the section After the Exam to see what happens next.
Are you upgrading your license and keeping your current callsign? Once you receive your CSEC you can begin using your new privileges right away. Just be sure to append your current callsign with /AG (for General class) or /AE (for Extra class) until the FCC makes the change in their database to reflect your new license class.
If you’ve taken Element 2 and passed, why not give Element 3, the General class exam, and try. Your exam fee covers the cost of any additional exams you might want to take during your exam session. “But I haven’t studied.” Give a shot anyway. You might just surprise yourself. It set up just like the Technician exam, only the questions cover the General class question pool.
Not So Good News
One of the hardest things for Volunteer Examiners to do is to tell an exam candidate they didn’t pass. But, it does happen. Not all is lost. As mentioned earlier, your exam fee covers the exam session, not just the exam. This will allow you to retest for the element you did not pass. Keep one thing in mind: While it’s the same Element you’re testing for, it will be a different exam. In other words, the exam booklet and questions will be different, but still cover the same question pool. Also, while volunteer examiners may be able to tell you how many you got wrong, they cannot tell you specifically which questions were incorrect.
Now that you’ve passed, what happens After the Exam?
After the Exam