My challenge was clear: to complete all three UK amateur radio exams and obtain my full license in a single year. I naively underestimated the amount of work involved!
In the UK we have a tiered amateur radio license structure (Foundation (read more), Intermediate (read more), Advanced), all new amateurs have to go through this progression, you cannot take the Advanced exam straight away.
Each license tier gives the UK amateur a different callsign:
- M6ABC (Foundation)
- 2E0ABC (Intermediate – using regional identifier for England)
- M0ABC (Advanced)
Through passing all three exams i now hold three call signs (M6JCQ, 2E0JCQ and M0JCQ). I got my M6 in January, my 2E0 in March and my M0 in December 2013.
Each tier allows progressively more benefits to the licensee:
| Foundation License | Intermediate License | Advanced License |
|
|
|
The progression and benefits are clear here and for me it become a personal objective to do all three in a year.
Personal Experience
Everyone has different experiences with studying for these exams, some seem to find it easy and some very hard. As a technical person, but not someone with much electronics/engineering experience i found the Foundation easy, the Intermediate slightly more challenging and the Advanced very hard.
The difference between the Foundation and Intermediate isn’t huge, it’s mostly around the introduction to the basics of electronics. I found the advanced license to be a different beast and significantly harder than the previous two.
How I Studied
The first thing i noticed when looking to do my advanced test was that very few clubs offer training for it. The subject matter is complex and personal training would take a lot of time.
In light of this i also didn’t feel like i could just read the advanced book and pass, so i decided to do the Bath Distance Learning Course set up by Steve Hartley (G0FUW). This course runs for 20 weeks and each week you have parts of the book to read, backed up with excellent lecture notes, homework questions and a mock exam every 3 weeks. Based on this you should start to understand the scope and difficulty of the advanced exam!
See my Studying for the Advanced Amateur Radio License: Distance Learning post for more on this course.
I also used the QADV Program which is a question and answer program for PC covering the advanced syllabus. I found this to be a good tool for identifying gaps in my knowledge. It lets you choose the area you want to take exams from, so if you’re struggling with Semiconductors and Valves then you can try just questions from that area.
Mock Exams
You can try your hand at a number of mock exams to get a flavour for the level of difficulty. I’ve collected the following links to various sample papers:
- RCF Sample Papers (issued by the examining authority)
- Advanced Mock Exam 1 (written by Steve Hartley G0FUW)
- Advanced Mock Exam 2 (written by Steve Hartley G0FUW)
- QADV Practice Papers (with answers)
Don’t worry if the questions don’t make much sense, i didn’t get many right until at least week 10 of the distance learning course!
The Exam
Unlike the Foundation and Intermediate licenses no practical assessments are required and the the exam is pure theory. The exam consists of 62 multiple choice questions which need to be completed in 2 hours.
I found the exam hard and used nearly the whole 2 hours to do it. The multiple choice questions sound easy in theory, but some questions will have several correct options to choose from, but one is more correct than the other two! The exam consists of applied knowledge questions, so simple memory recall won’t work here.
Would I do it Again?
The short answer is Yes… but i mostly say this because it’s all done and i have all three licenses now! The amount of work involved, especially for the advanced license, is not to be underestimated. To do all three in a year takes quite a lot of determination and towards the end of the year i really didn’t want to do it any more.
But now i can feel a sense of achievement, be safe in knowledge that i’ve learnt a lot and can go back to enjoying this great hobby of ours.
Hi. I’ve put a link to this story on the HRD forum in the hope that it’ll motivate some of those who’ve sat on M3/M6 for years and those who have said they’ve found it impossible to get to a club for an advanced course.
Congratulations….onwards and upwards.
73
Thanks Conor, i agree that it can be hard to find a club doing the advanced course, but the Bath distance learning course is a great alternative so there really is no excuse if you want it enough. The key is just that.. wanting it enough!
73s, James (M0JCQ)
Hi James, and well done on the M0!
I managed to go from zero to M0 in 14 months (2010-11), so your story sounds very familiar. The M6 was a breeze, with Intermediate being not much of a problem. The Full exam was hard-going, especially given the emphasis on theory and electronics, not operating and RF.
I was lucky that my local club in Chelmsford offer a 12 week Intermediate, and a 6 week Advanced crash course. 6 weeks is not enough, but with home study and a small trainer-to-candidate ratio, it’s helpful to get clarification on troublesome topics (semiconductors and formulas being my weak areas).
I’m now helping out on local training courses, as it’s nice to be able to help those doing what I was doing just a couple of years ago.
Enjoy the M0,
73 from Pete
Thanks Pete, i totally echo the point about the emphasis on theory and electronics, that was tough work on my morning commute on the train to work! Semiconductors was one of my weak areas as well, but it does get easier if you can talk to someone about what your struggling with.
Well done on helping out with the local training course, i’m only where i am because of people like you helping out and pushing the hobby forwards 🙂
Thanks,
James M0JCQ
I am a tutor on Steve’s BBADL courses. Thank you for a well written and revealing account of your studies, very useful to me especially as, of course, I have not seen the actual exam papers. Thank you very much for posting it. I would like, with your permission, to recommend this to future students — it will give them a very good idea of what to expect.
Hi Harry,
Please by all means share this with future students, anything i can impart for the benefit of others is fine by me 🙂 Glad you liked the article and found it interesting to see things from the other side of the fence. You tutors do a great service to the amateur community, Alan Betts was my tutor and he was very patient, despite some school boy mistakes made by me through out the course!
Thanks,
James M0JCQ
Sorry, I was trying to include my congratulations in my first comment. Please discard whichever your feel is redundant — I don’t want to spoil it all.
Thanks, now for that permission. I am sure it will be a great benefit to future student. I am taking a rest for the next course, Jan to Jun 2014, but I hope to resume again for the next one. 73, Harry M0SOP
No problem Harry, second comment hidden now.
Enjoy the rest, i’m sure it’s well earned, there must be a lot of time that goes into it from the tutors side 🙂
73s and Merry Christmas,
James M0JCQ
Hi James,
Well put together info that will hopefully encourage people to take up the hobby and progress with their knowledge and licences.
I took 13 months (2011-2012) from M6 to M0. The M6 and 2E0 with Bolton Wireless Club and the M0 training with the great help of BBADL (and my mate who I and passed revised with). As I’ve said in my own blog “I’d really recommend buddying up with another student. I believe that it really made the difference for me”
I wonder what percentage of M0 passes each year are with the help of BBADL ?
73 Stew M0SCU
Hi Stew,
That’s great advice to buddy up with another, that would have helped me when i was less than enthusiastic about revision!
I think Steve mentioned BBADL accounted for around two thirds of candidates sitting the advanced exam. In the last exam 95% of their 60 candidates passed, so the course definitely works!
73s, James M0JCQ
Hi James congrats on the MO,
I am also treading the same path as yourself and fellow MO responders.
I got my M6 on 20th November and simply carried on studying at the same rate and passed the 2E 17th December. I have just enrolled on the Advanced Bath course. I now feel lost without the studying, sad I know but I need to keep up the momentum whilst things are still fresh and I`m back in the study habbit (its been a long time).
Your success and comments have inspired me even more. What a challenge!
73
M6DQU (for now)
Hi Rob,
Good luck with the distance learning course and congrats on the 2E0. I found i also got into a groove with the studying, but now i have a big hole with nothing to study for! It is nice just to read about amateur radio stuff i’m really interested in!
73 James (M0JCQ)
I read this with interest and I have to say going from M6 through 2E0 to M0 took me around ten months of this year (2013) so I probably had a fairly similar experience and admire your achievement. The first two exams I thought were easy enough but the advanced exam was a very different beast. I also did the Bath distance learning for the Foundation and Intermediate but I was a bit slack in signing up for the Advanced there and I was not 100% sure I could commit at the time. in the end I had some excellent tuition on a course run by G8ROG in Reading, Berks and I was able to get the full licence this month (Dec 6th). The advanced exam preparation certainly tested my grey matter and I tried to make good use of both QADV and Hamtests as well as reading the excellent books by Alan Betts and Steve Hartley. To the M3,M6,2E0 and even SWL’s that are thinking about the Advanced you have nothing to lose and lots to gain. I spent over 20 years as an SWL wishing I could get a call sign but not actually getting my act together to do anything about it and in the end it took just a few short months to be an M0.
73
Andrew M0TLS
Thanks Andrew, sounds like your journey was a similar one to mine and congratulations on the new M0 call! You’re right, nowadays there’s no real barrier to SWLs getting into amateur radio, book a foundation course with a club and you can be a licensed ham at the end of the weekend! I remember being a young SWL listening to the HF amateur bands longing to get on the air, but the RAE exam and Morse test put me off at the time 🙂
73s James M0JCQ
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I think it’s a great shame that people can’t get their full licence, as I did, in one *hour*.
I signed up for the RAE in 1975, sent off the examination fee, and forgot about it.
You had to take a two-part test, which I think lasted about an hour, one on radio theory and the other on the terms and conditions of the licence. It was an essay-type exam. The theory part was mostly about valves, which I had no intention of using, I’m scared of HT. A 12V dc-powered transistorised wide-deviation FM transceiver on 2m was what I was after. I was studying Physics at the time, so the theory part took no time to swot up.
I remembered I was meant to be taking the exam at University College London, just in time, and hadn’t even looked at the licencing part, I read this up on the tube between Chiswick and the nearest tube station, I think it was Russell Square. I passed both parts and got my G5 – in those pre-CEPT days you callsign went by your country of origin, and as an Irishman with a Class B I had a G5M not a G8 – in January 1986. This became a G8 when they changed the rules.
Sooooo simple.
I’ve never done morse.
I’ve never done a practical.
I’d say the multiple-choice questions for the current full licence are often ambiguous. I’d probably fail if I took them now. At least with the essay-type exam I took, the examiner could tell if you knew what you were talking about.
We truly have a disincentive licensing scheme in the UK. I would like to contrast this with the Canadian scheme, by which you take the Basic and if you get 70% right you get a limited licence, and if you get 80% right you get more privileges.
Now I will step off my soapbox,
Richard G8SHE
I always intended to do the RAE before they abolished it. I fully agree that the current system is offputting for people who already have a physics/electronics background. I will have to do foundation practicals, foundation exam, intermediate practicals and intermediate exam (in that order) before I can get to attempt the full exam. The fact that they all have to be done in the right order, coupled with the fact that many clubs aren’t geared up to offering the assessments and exams without having to to do a full course, makes scheduling the whole process rather tedious.
The idea of having to sit through hours of training on Ohm’s law and basic circuit theory would really put me off going anywhere near the hobby – fortunately I’ve found a nearby club that’s able to schedule just the practicals and exams for me. Even bought myself a copy of the new edition of Horowitz and Hill and am quite enjoying brushing up on my electronics. So I’ll be doing my foundation this weekend and with luck I’ll be able to schedule a full license exam for May.
I’m glad you found a nearby club Roy that will let you sit just the exam and practicals. It must be frustrating if you know it all already, I however didn’t so found it useful, if not a bit time consuming.
73 James M0JCQ
Hi both,
Being in the unusual position as to having taken and passed both the old RAE in 87, and the modern progressive exams last year, plus pushing on and becoming an RSGB registered assessor, I’d say that lots of people who cone from a background and believe they should bypass the first 2 is flawed, the practicals in the foundation teach safe putting together of a station, and how to operate that station, which I think is a much better way, when I passed the RAE I had a full license (B), but never touched a ham radio! The intermediate adds to this with better health and safety, emc and a good understanding of basic electronics. I find as an assessor, chatting to the students who feel aggrieved at doing this, that they actually get lots out of it, as only a small section is electronics.
I’m a big supporter of the new system, but would like to see less spectrum at foundation to drive those students who get an M6 and are happy to sit there. The power limit is just not enforceable in my eyes.
Peter G0NWI
Good to hear your point of view as an assessor Peter. You are entirely right of course, the electronics part is quite small for the foundation and only slightly larger for the intermediate exam. I found the practicals from both to be useful in backing up the theory and of course helped me setup my own station after passing.
The advanced exam was for me very heavy on the electronics & physics side of things and struggled at the time to relate it back to something tangible. Of course now It’s starting to fall into place as I have a need for the knowledge 🙂
73, James M0JCQ
In respect to the power limit levels for each license, I do agree a band approach is much more enforceable and I believe the ARRL take this approach. Granting VHF/UHF bands to M6’s would stimulate these quiet bands, maybe alongside access to one or two WARC bands on HF. This would certainly drive more M6’s to carry on learning.
At the moment I don’t blame some M6’s for sitting there, they have access to almost all of the bands and even limited to 10w you can have a lot of fun (I still rarely use more than that!). The only thing that drove me to do all three was for the challenge and because I wanted to operate abroad.
Hi Peter,
I don’t necessarily think the progressive approach is a bad thing per se. What I find unnecessarily prescriptive is the requirement to do all the five elements required to get a full license in a specified order. Combined with a lack of any central coordination or information on where and when the various elements are being scheduled, and the limited availability of standalone assessments for people who don’t need full courses, it just makes the logistics harder than it needs to be.
The RSGB point at the fact that almost no one takes up the option of doing all three exams in a single session as evidence for the absence of demand for a fast track – I put it down more to the difficulty in scheduling the standalone assessments that would be necessary for any candidate that wanted to sit all the exams in a single session.
I certainly don’t know it all! Advanced is going to require a fair bit of work on my part, although a fairly large portion of it is going to be brushing up on things I did know and understand 20 or 30 years ago, which is of course a huge help.
roy
And congratulations on doing the whole thing in a year! For someone _without_ a background in electronics and physics that’s quite an achievement.
Hi James,
I’ve just passed my M6 this week and found it quite simple once I’d read the book. I tried a 2E mock at HamTests and got 77% first try, and was then amazed to see that only 60% was required for a pass!? I’m reading the 2nd book now and will put in for my test asap, and then go for the Advanced after that.
Just a question as I don’t have my certificate as yet to apply for my M6 number. What happens to your M6 once you get a 2E, does it go back into the pot or do you then have 2, seems silly not to go back?
Regards
Peter
Hi Peter,
First of all congratulations and welcome to the hobby! You’ll have a blast, there’s so many different aspects to the hobby 🙂
Book an exam/practicals asap and then read the Intermediate Book, it sounds like you’re ready 😉
If you login to the Ofcom website you’ll probably find it already lets you apply for your M6, you don’t need to wait for the certificate.
Your M6 and 2E0 callsigns will stay with you as of right now, this could change in the future, but currently I hold 3 calls (M6JCQ/2E0JCQ/M0JCQ). The funny thing is I’m still receiving QSL cards for my 2E0 call!
Cheers,
James M0JCQ
Hi James,
Just wanted to pop back and give you my news, after reading your blog it inspired me to push on and I completed my 2E at the end of March, and sat the Full in June. I’m now the proud owner of a G0 callsign!
So I’m 0 to G0 in under 6 months 🙂
Fantastic news Peter! Well done that’s a huge achievement!! And all the sweeter for getting a G0 callsign, now everyone will think you’re a pro on the bands 🙂
Now the pain is over with, you’ve reached the top license tier and can sit back and enjoy full privileges 🙂
73 James M0JCQ
Congratulations, I spent 10 weeks studying for the Foundation at the Carrickfergus Amateur Group in November 2013, then worked hard for the Intermediate in May 2014 over another 10 week course.
The intermediate is easy but its best to be aiming for at least 43 out of 45 in the mock tests when moving ahead to the Advanced.
Luckily for me there was an Advanced exam four weeks later so I stuck my name down & after 4 weeks studying at home I passed with merit 🙂 So about 7 months from Foundation to Full. I found the Advanced exam and the reading material to be very difficult, but I had no prior experience in electronics or radio.
It’s definitely a good idea to sit the exams close together while the information is still fresh in your head. The Hamtests website was helpful for the Foundation & Intermediate while the QADV program was a brilliant help for the Advanced.
I also found a ‘hole’ in my life after the last exam 🙂
Regards
Andrew MI0OBR
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As of 14/01/2016 The Advanced Mock Exam Sites give:-
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The requested URL /murray.g3kzb/Advanced Mock Exam 1 V6.2.pdf was not found on this server.
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The requested URL /murray.g3kzb/Advanced Mock Exam 2 V3.1.pdf was not found on this server.
Thanks, I’ve corrected those links now. They will work now.
73 James M0JCQ
Thanks,
Robert MOZTX
Although the third exam is indeed the advanced exam, AIUI the licence you get is a full licence, not an advanced licence.
Might seem like I’m picking nits, but there’s actually a practice question in the RSGB Exam Secrets book that relies on knowing the correct name of the licence!
Well done james on passing all three????. I’m not so lucky , I passed my foundation on my 3rd attempt and intermiediate on my 5th. I do have some learning difficulties tho.
But I’m still trying which is something I guess!, waiting for results of my advanced this week, at least theirs no limit on how many times you can take the exam, which works in my favour. Great website, some really good links, I didn’t realise their was a distance learning course?. Wanting to pass all three is addictive, so fingers crossed.
I keep returning to this site, really interesting.
73
Matt (2E0KIA)
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your message. I hope you pass the advanced exam this time around. If not do take a look at the distance learning course, it will help the subject matter really sink in before the exam. I’m not sure I would have passed by self-study alone!
73, James M0JCQ
Hi James, fascinating reading the many messages from fellow amateurs, my story is as follows, I took the foundation course over two days last October with the Mid Sussex Amateur Radio Society and passed first time, I struggle with electronics and find circuits difficult to get my head around especially working out component values and as a result i found that part of the Intermediate course a nightmare, however something must have sunk in as I passed the exam with 39/45 which included at least two silly mistakes from what my tutor told me.
So the two exams were nearly 11 months apart and I’m now thinking of the Advanced now either via the Bath distance learning option or with my 2E0 tutor.
Thanks for your reports of your amateur radio journey-very inspiring!
73s
Andy M6LSL (soon to be 2E0)
Glad it was useful for you Andy! Best of luck with the advanced license and well done on passing your Intermediate. The electronics theory really gets going for the Intermediate exam and prepares you for what is to come for the advanced license.
Just remember, no matter how hard it may seem, once you have passed your advanced test there’s nothing more left to do except enjoy the full privileges it offers!
73, James M0JCQ
Hi
Very interesting I did all the UK exams as well
And am the youngest full licence ham in Northern Ireland
But…
Noticed though an older ham said would be great if you could pass it in an hour like I did
Well you can
And save ur self a lot of time
You can do the Irish Republic exam that is like the old Rae exam these older hams are talking about and just reciprocate it for a full UK licence and callsign as its a harec
Lots of ni hams are doing this hardly anyone is doing the advanced UK
So if your in a rush that’s the way to go
73’s hope to meet you on air
MI0YLT
Summer
Congratulations Matt 2e0kia
Excellent
Really glad to see the 2e0 on your callsign
Know you worked really hard to get it
Congratulations again
Hope to talk to you on air
Summer
Congratulations Matt. It’s great to see new people coming into amateur radio and make the effort to get the full licence.
I’m ambitiously planning on doing all 3 exams on one day. I’ve done most of the practicals for Foundation with our local club and will progress on to Intermediate and have about 2 months to study before the exams, so you’ve really scared me now with the tales of how hard you found it !
I was going to stop at Intermediate as that’s all I need to operate my BitX 40 which I’ve built and modified. So I won’t be too disappointed if I fail the advanced – I’m only really taking it because the Intermediate callsigns look too cumbersome for CW 🙂
Best of luck taking all three in one day Andrew. To be honest just revising for the advanced license would get you a pass in the other two. It’s a major undertaking and hope it all goes well!
73 James M0JCQ
You are very lucky, I’ve been waiting 12 years or so to find a place to do the intermediate exam… I am starting to think there is kind of conspiracy in the ham world…
First, congrats on your Amateur Radio exam 1 year journey.
I’ve just passed my Foundation exam and studying now for my Intermediate. My own experience so far with the Amateur Radio route is one of initial frustration simply locating a centre for the practicals and exam. Suddenly the UK seems such a big country and the number of radio clubs carrying out training and exams are very few and far between. I finally located a club almost an hour’s drive away from my home and attended it once for the practical work and a second time for the exam. All my preparation was by self-study.
I can accept having to travel in order to sit an exam, but I have to admit that I resent the Practicals side of the Foundation and Intermediate levels, and I regard the practical exercises as a waste of my time. But I am determined to obtain my Full licence, and looking forward to the Advanced exam, which I can finally sit without first going through yet another set of practical exercises.
Well done, and great website.
I recently passed Advanced level and obtained my Full Licence. From Foundation to Advanced took me five and a half months. My own thoughts about the journey are: Foundation – ridiculously easy. I honestly can’t understand how anyone can fail this. Intermediate – barely any more difficult than Foundation. Again, anyone who fails at Intermediate just can’t be taking it seriously.
Advanced. Phew! Advanced was a quantum leap from Intermediate. Total contrast to the two previous exams and very, VERY tough work. I have no background in radio theory whatsoever, and I found it very hard going. Self studied for two months, at the end of which my RSGB Advanced manual looked as if it had been the subject of an armed assault; it is in tatters. lol.
To be perfectly frank, towards the end, with just a week or so to go before the exam, I hated the book, I loathed Amateur Radio, and I wanted to strangle whoever had invented decibels, transistor amplifiers, superheterodyne and EMC. But the day I disovered that I had passed was a true high point, and I am still smiling. 🙂
Well done Tony! I agree with all of your comments, now you can enjoy the hobby and learn at your own pace 🙂
I did it in 9 months 🙂
73 MW0ODY
Well done Chris!
Hi James,
Very interesting read.
There is a thread on QRZ.COM “UK remotely invigorated online Foundation exams are operational”.
You should pop in & give a link to this page as many would find it helpful.
Some old timers are moaning about the exam structure being far too easy.
There is also another thread on that forum re the American online exams. They have ALL their exams available online “FCC allows remote testing”.
I was surprised to say the least that 2hrs is allowed for the top exam.
When l sat the RAE 30yrs ago there was no staged structure. Meaning l could sit 2 exams then that was the end of it. Only the Morse to sit for those who chose to do it.
First exam, time allowed 1hr 15 Min. 2nd exam time allowed 1hr 30 min.
Although l managed to do both in under half the allowed time, l found the 2nd exam to be very difficult as it was a City & Guilds exam in electronic theory.
So congradulations on your achievements. And as l said, l am sure that your opinions on those above mentioned threads would be both helpful & welcomed.
73 Jim G7NFP
the law on mobile phone use is very confusing ? as i have a full licence m0igp am i allowe to use it whilst driving like the police are allowed to do
So did you ever hold all THREE Classes of License?
Yes, I still hold all three 🙂
Great post thanks, It was one of the first I found a last month when researching what this amateur radio thing is all about – great links to resources! I had no prior experience in this area (bar GCSE Physics 33 odd years ago and occasionally replacing blown caps in retro computers). It inspired me to have a go and get all three levels asap.
I think the RSGB has been made it a lot easier to get through these exams now in 2022 by going online with no practical part (I had no time for clubs/courses), and Youtube is a great resource. I first heard about amateur radio last month – booked a Foundation exam and spent a couple of weeks reading, then after passing that I booked the first Intermediate exam available for 2 weeks later and passed that last night. “In for a penny in for pound”, the Full exam is now booked for 2 weeks time. I suspect it is a bit overambitious but I heard the Sept 2019 onward new syllabus moved the Intermediate to nearer the Full in terms of content and electronics theory, rather than the huge jump up it had been, and I don’t want to forget the theory I’ve learned so far.
I can’t comment on the previous syllabus/exams but for anyone interested in 2022 this is what I’ve thought so far (caveat, I’m a bio-scientist and handle data all day, units measurement conversions etc. are automatic and reading speed is faster than most):
Foundation – ridiculously easy (following 2 weeks immersing in the handbook taking the Essex Ham Fast Track course, YouTube videos and mock exam (hundreds of questions)) – it took 6 or 7 minutes, but I did get one wrong from not reading it correctly as noisy childrens’ patience was getting thin so I was racing though it.
Intermediate – way, way harder than Foundation, quite a jump up due to the electronics and radio theory element and volume of information to learn, which was new to me but interesting. Again, immersing in the handbook most nights, YouTube videos (Cornish Radio Amateur club) and hundreds of mock questions multiple times. It took around 20 minutes, going back to 5 or 6 questions I’d flagged at the end, eventually guessing one. Scored more than I thought, getting 3 wrong.
Full – Absolutely no idea, still waiting on the syllabus/handbook in the post. I have the”Exam Secrets” book, but revision starts tonight online.
Mock exam questions I found: https://radiotutor.uk some out of date I think, maybe old syllabus but still useful. GM6DX’s Course and (lots of mock exams and you can’t proceed until you get 90% in each mock exam!) – really useful! https://gm6dx.thinkific.com/courses/GTG-UKI