Hi AllI asked the IMI to send me what the assessments will be on. It's a bit long, so apologies.
Here is what they said:
Each level of ATA will rest upon a discreet and unique assessment process covering:
•Knowledge: There will be a multiple choice on-line knowledge test for each level of accreditation.
•Practical Competence: A series of practical assessments that cover several areas of the vehicle, during which the practical skills of the technician will be assessed.
The time allowed for each assessment will depend on the level of accreditation sought, and therefore the complexity of the task:
•for service maintenance and diagnostic technician assessments:
Each assessment is 45 minutes in duration, which would allow the accreditation process to be completed within one working day.
•for master technician assessments:
The practical tasks are more complex to allow for the MT to diagnose faults / carry out the set tasks. Therefore each assessment will last for a longer time period (60 minutes).
This level comprises the on-line knowledge test and the following practical assessments:
•Braking Systems (ABS)
•Engine Electrical Systems (Engine Management)
•Instructional Support
•Supplementary Restraint System (SRS)
•Customer Liaison
To enable the master technician to complete each of the assessments successfully, he/she should be able to use equipment such as oscilloscope, electronic system diagnostic test equipment (fault code reader / scan tool) and air conditioning equipment.
At each assessment workstation, the technician should be able to correctly record the system fault on workshop job sheet and provide an explanation of the fault, which will provide the customer with evidence and an explanation of work carried out.
Note.The customer liaison and instructional support modules require the additional support of an additional two persons to provide an interactive assessment.
I have included just one of the content of the modules - ENGINE ELECTRICALS. The others are CUSTOMER LIAISON, BRAKING SYSTEMS, INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT, SUPPLIMENTARY RESTRAINT SYSTEMS
The detail of the module is as follows.
Engine Electrical (Engine Management) - 60 mins duration
The technician should be able to diagnose an engine electrical fault when the engine management ECU has no fault codes stored applicable to the actual fault.
Examples: Engine runs weak – the engine load sensor / air mass sensor (Hotwire) has a restriction over the hotwire element or similar. The ECU senses low air flow and reduces the fuelling accordingly. The ECU will probably produce a fault code after a period of time, i.e. oxygen sensor, fuel trim etc.
Engine non-start – Faulty engine speed sensor (no fault codes).
The technician should be able to diagnose the cause of engine running weak. The task should include, accessing the engine management system ECU diagnostic information including fault code serial data and actuator tests.
The technician should be able to check the operation of the possible sensors and actuators by viewing the serial data, use of the gas analyser and other test equipment (multi-meter / oscilloscope etc) and make a diagnosis as a result.
The technician must correctly record the diagnosis and repair work carried out on the worksheet, which will allow a service advisor to provide a detailed invoice to the customer.
The Knowledge Assessment is carried out on-line. It consists of 30 multi-choice questions to be answered in a period of 45 minutes (60 minutes for master technicians). These compliment the areas in which the practical assessments are based.
The random selection of the questions ensures that if technicians are from the same workshop etc. they cannot discuss the questions and answers. The questions presented to each technician will be different and the answers presented in a different order.