Exam Information

An exam proctor will begin reading exam instructions approximately 15 minutes before the exam start time. Students must be in the exam room with their exam at this time. If taking the exam on a laptop, it must be booted up and have passed the security check. Hand writers must not have a laptop with them in an exam room, unless otherwise allowed according to the professor’s instructions. A student entering the exam room after the proctor begins reading instructions will not receive additional time for booting up their laptop, passing the security check, and/or reading exam instructions.

When instructed by the proctor, write your exam number on the cover page of your exam, bluebooks, and any scratch paper you turn in as part of your exam. Handwritten exam answers must be written in blue books in blue or black ink. Number the bluebooks you use (1 of 1, 1 of 2, 2 of 2, etc.). Proctors will allow time to read the professor’s instructions. Other than counting the number of pages of the exam, students are not permitted to turn the page of an exam past the instructions page until the proctor instructs them to do so.

When taking a closed-book exam, no books, outlines, book bags, purses, or scratch paper (other than the scratch paper provided) may be at your seat during the exam. These items must be left outside of the exam room or in the front or sides of the exam room. Students may not begin to write anything, including on scratch paper, before the proctor begins a closed-book exam.

Students taking in-class exams are prohibited from having any electronic communication device, other than a laptop as allowed per the professor's instructions, during the exam. Cell phones and smart watches must be turned off during the exam and placed in a bag or backpack. Violations of this rule may be considered an Honor Code violation. A clock in each exam room will be the official timekeeper for the exam.

Non-alcoholic beverages are permitted in exam rooms; however, the container must have a lid.

After the exam instructions have been read and the exam begins, the proctor will remain in the room. Any student who has a question or problem during an exam should see the proctor.

Students may use the restroom or take a break during an exam. However, all exam materials must be left in the exam room and no additional time will be given. Students must sign in and out at the front of the room with the proctor.

Prepare for the CAP Exam

ISA offers a variety of resources to help you prepare for the Certified Automation Professional (CAP®) exam.

A Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge is the primary text resource for the CAP exam and provides a complete overview of all technical topics. Order the Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge.

The CAP Study Guide is a comprehensive self-study resource that contains a list of the CAP domains and tasks, 75 review questions and answers complete with justifications. References that were used for each study guide question are also provided with the question. The Study Guide also includes a recommended list of publications that you can use to do further study on specific domains. Order the CAP Study Guide.

A CAP review course is available in several formats as preparation for taking the certification exam. This course is offered by ISA and can also be offered at your location.

ISA also has a variety of training courses that would be helpful in preparing for CAP. NOTE: The CAP exam fee is not included with the CAP review courses (EC00, EC00V, EC00E, and EC00M). Visit the Automation Professional Training page for a complete list.

Questions on the exam were derived from the actual practice of automation professionals as outlined in the CAP Role Delineation Study and job task analysis. Using interviews, surveys, observation, and group discussions, ISA worked with automation professionals to delineate critical job components to develop exam specifications to determine the number of questions related to each domain and task tested. This rigorous program development and ongoing maintenance process ensures that CAP certification accurately reflects the skills and knowledge needed to excel as an automation professional.

The following six questions were taken from the CAP exam question item bank and serve as examples of the question type and question content found on the CAP exam.

'Unsolvable' exam question meant for 11-year-old leaves adults defeated

A baffling exam question meant to test 11-year-old students has been leaving adults defeated - and the 'unsolvable puzzle will make you glad you're no longer in school

Image: Getty Images)

A mind-bending maths question designed for school children has left adults stumped - with some saying the puzzle is completely 'unsolvable'.

Do you remember sitting your maths exams at school and scratching your head at the strange real-life quiz questions you'd be presented with? The questions are designed to encourage students to use logic to pick out the important parts of the often long-winded story and then figure out which maths discipline they need to use to find the correct answer.

They're not always easy and for many of us, they will have been the least favourite part of any exam. And it's no different for kids today either, as one maths question designed for 11-year-old students has been leaving children and adults alike baffled as they struggle to find the answer.

The question came from a Chinese exam paper that was designed for schoolchildren aged 11 in 2018. According to the BBC, a translation of the question asks: "If a ship had 26 sheep and 10 goats onboard, how old is the ship's captain?"

That's it. That's all the information you're given for this question - so try and answer it. Surely there must be some way to work it out, even though it certainly feels like you haven't been given enough details about the imaginary ship and its captain to truly reach a solution.

Other people who tried to work out the correct answer thought the same, and thanks to the South China Morning Post, we can even see some of the answers that clever students gave. One pupil argued: "The captain is 36 years old. He is quite narcissistic, so the number of animals corresponds to his age."

Another defied the question writers and refused to answer, as they said: "The number of the sheep and goats is irrelevant to the captain's age," and a third dejected student simply wrote: "The captain's age is ... I don't know. I can't solve this."

One answer from an adult on social media also tried to work the puzzle out using very sound logic, as they said: "In China, if you're driving a ship that cargo you need to have possessed a boat license for five years. The minimum age for getting a boat's license is 23, so he's at least 28."

But what is the correct answer? Well, there isn't one. Yep, that's right. Unfortunately, when we said this puzzle was "unsolvable", we meant it. As infuriating as it is, apparently the whole point of the question is that there's no way to work out the answer, and students will get the question right on their exam if they explain they don't have enough information to give a solution.

In a statement, Shunqing Education Department confirmed there was no answer, as they said: "The role of education is not to produce standardised spare parts ... Each answer can reflect a different personality. A question that can have different answers is a good question."

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