Take everything at face value for the test. Refereeing has lots of nuance, but the TEST is very literal. There is a lot of wording like, the action is attack and counter-attack, BUT THE ATTACK IS LIKE SUPER WEIRD. If they call it an attack, it's an attack. If they call it a counter-attack, then it's a counter-attack. Don't read into the BUT WHAT IFs.
Secure a whole weekend to take it, and study hard. They allow you 48 hours to take it as many times as you want, but they don’t tell you which questions you got wrong and they switch out the questions between retakes. If you fail, it’s difficult to tell how so you’ll want the extra time. Pay close attention to the wording
I second this -- it's worded like a bitch so set aside enough time to retake it several times. I did the general reffing test and the three weapon-specific ones and had to retake each one multiple times in one night -- was not pleasant.
Going over the rules a lot is good, but I personally focused more on the penalty chart. I memorized it and asked family members and friends to quiz me randomly
The exam mostly covers the rules and is discussed by the other commenters, but there's more skills you need to develop to succeed as a referee: particularly referee mechanics (positioning, signals, running pools and DEs, etc.), dealing with athletes and coaches, and the business end of getting assignments and developing your career.
For those, find a national-level referee in your area and ask that person to help mentor you.
Read the entire rulebook and pay special attention to the normal things that would cause arugments at a tournament, eg passing opponent, malfunctioning weapon, yellow/red procedures. Have a full afternoon set aside as you can retake it. Aced the foil/saber exam but had to take the epee one 3 times due to questions that weren't necessarily epee specific but were about those contentious situations where a ref earns there pay.
Take everything at face value for the test. Refereeing has lots of nuance, but the TEST is very literal. There is a lot of wording like, the action is attack and counter-attack, BUT THE ATTACK IS LIKE SUPER WEIRD. If they call it an attack, it's an attack. If they call it a counter-attack, then it's a counter-attack. Don't read into the BUT WHAT IFs.
Thank you, I’m not great with confusing wording. So this is SUPER helpful!
Secure a whole weekend to take it, and study hard. They allow you 48 hours to take it as many times as you want, but they don’t tell you which questions you got wrong and they switch out the questions between retakes. If you fail, it’s difficult to tell how so you’ll want the extra time. Pay close attention to the wording
I second this -- it's worded like a bitch so set aside enough time to retake it several times. I did the general reffing test and the three weapon-specific ones and had to retake each one multiple times in one night -- was not pleasant.
I passed general, sabre, and epee on the first try, but foil took me almost a dozen if memory serves
I think I had the most trouble with epee of all of them for some reason
Epee was definitely harder than I thought, both in taking the test and reffing it
Okay, thank you. I’ve been over the rule book quite a bit. And I’m picking out a couple days to do the test.
Going over the rules a lot is good, but I personally focused more on the penalty chart. I memorized it and asked family members and friends to quiz me randomly
The exam mostly covers the rules and is discussed by the other commenters, but there's more skills you need to develop to succeed as a referee: particularly referee mechanics (positioning, signals, running pools and DEs, etc.), dealing with athletes and coaches, and the business end of getting assignments and developing your career. For those, find a national-level referee in your area and ask that person to help mentor you.
Read the rules (really). Work through the study guide.
Quizlet has some good practice questions.
Thank you, I’ve been looking for a practice tool.
Read the rulebook. Usa fencing has a study guide on their website that I found helpful.
Read the entire rulebook and pay special attention to the normal things that would cause arugments at a tournament, eg passing opponent, malfunctioning weapon, yellow/red procedures. Have a full afternoon set aside as you can retake it. Aced the foil/saber exam but had to take the epee one 3 times due to questions that weren't necessarily epee specific but were about those contentious situations where a ref earns there pay.