June 13, 2014 at 3:44 am
Hope someone can help. I recently had part 2 of the upgrade exam which I unfortunately failed. However, I was told my email that I would have 3 hours 15 minutes but only ended up having 85 minutes (40 minutes for 1st half of 25 questions, and 45 minutes for the next 26 questions). Is this correct? I contacted Prometric and they are saying the total time for the exam was correct. They are saying 120 minutes which included the 85 minutes exam and the rest is for the tutorial, questionnaire, etc. Seems far too short to me compared to other exams I have done. Under 2 minutes a question???
July 2, 2014 at 10:46 am
I recently took the same exam as well, and felt the time was too short. I have a methodical process for answering exam questions that has left me with several minutes left over on previous exams, but this time I had to rush the last few questions and had no time to go back to take a second look questions I wanted to look at again. As usual there was also a question that was a little ambiguous and had a different correct answer depending on how the question was interpreted.
July 11, 2014 at 8:46 am
I just took this today and failed, basically ran out of time, 2 sections of 25 or 26 questions to be answered in 40 min each (ie less then 2 mins a Q)
Given that some questions take a good 30 secs to read ans assimilate, plus maybe 30 secs to go through all the answers this means that you have pretty much NO time to consider the answers, certainly no time to go back and check what you've done
In its current format I can see very few people passing this one, quite absurn now.
I've sat quite a few MS exams over the years and time has never been a serious issue until today.
Bad move Microsoft!!!
July 11, 2014 at 10:15 am
Sorry to hear that, but I'm glad I'm not the only one and it confirms to me that it's shorter than other exams. Like yourself, I've also taken old 2008 exams and part 1 of 2012 and have always had plenty of time to check and double check.
I personally think all this will mean is a higher percentage of people who pass probably have revised brain dumps.
July 14, 2014 at 6:14 am
I've raised a formal complaint with Microsoft outling my concerns and am waiting to see what they have to say, I will keep you posted
July 14, 2014 at 9:53 am
I seem to recall in previous exams having at least 100 minutes to answer 45 questions - well over two minutes per question.
November 14, 2014 at 7:49 am
Today I have failed on the exam 70-458 because of the time limit.
I have had 85 minutes to complete 51 questions, which is ridiculous.
On my previous exams I have had 120-150 minutes to answer 40-50 questions.
The official Self Placed Learning Kit also states that the time limit is 120 minutes for 45 questions.
Even Pearson Vue gives 120 minutes as a time limit:
http://www.pearsonitcertification.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2014565
What's more, I do not how to get 30 extra minutes for not having English as a mother tongue.
In fact, nobody I have contacted (Pearson, test center, Microsoft) has any idea about how to get this extra time.
November 14, 2014 at 9:57 am
dan-572483 (7/14/2014)
I seem to recall in previous exams having at least 100 minutes to answer 45 questions - well over two minutes per question.
]]
2 minutes and 13 seconds doesn't seem to qualify as "well over" 2 minutes per question.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
November 14, 2014 at 10:06 am
shunor (11/14/2014)
Today I have failed on the exam 70-458 because of the time limit.I have had 85 minutes to complete 51 questions, which is ridiculous.
On my previous exams I have had 120-150 minutes to answer 40-50 questions.
The official Self Placed Learning Kit also states that the time limit is 120 minutes for 45 questions.
Even Pearson Vue gives 120 minutes as a time limit:
http://www.pearsonitcertification.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2014565
What's more, I do not how to get 30 extra minutes for not having English as a mother tongue.
In fact, nobody I have contacted (Pearson, test center, Microsoft) has any idea about how to get this extra time.
That's a shame it hasn't been resolved yet. I've rebooked the exam for the end of the year. I'm going to have to read very fast and know the answer without any process of elimination.
November 14, 2014 at 10:07 am
Jeff Moden (11/14/2014)
dan-572483 (7/14/2014)
I seem to recall in previous exams having at least 100 minutes to answer 45 questions - well over two minutes per question.]]
2 minutes and 13 seconds doesn't seem to qualify as "well over" 2 minutes per question.
What time does it become "well over" but before "under 3 minutes"... :blink: lol
November 18, 2014 at 1:49 pm
I too failed 70-458 today (Transition Your MCTS on SQL Server 2008 to MCSA: SQL Server 2012, Part 2).
I passed 70-457 (Transition Your MCTS on SQL Server 2008 to MCSA: SQL Server 2012, Part 1) recently. 70-457 was in two sections and you had 2 hours 40 minutes to complete both. Each section has an independent timer that counted down 1 hour 20 minutes.
70-458 was again in two sections of 25 and 26 questions giving 51 questions in total. When the timer counted down from 1 hour 25 minutes, I assumed this was just for section 1 as had been the case for 70-457. I took my time and triple checked each answer. When the timer got to zero the screen displayed a passing score of 775 for section 1 and zero for section 2 giving an overall fail. I never even got to section 2 as I thought another timer would begin giving me plenty of time.
I even think it said this at the start in the exam instructions i.e. each section would be timed separately but I can't remember the exact wording now.
Having two upgrade exams and giving you half the time in one for the same amount of questions seems ridiculous. Especially with the countdown timers behaving differently between tests.
51 questions in 85 minutes gives 1 minute 40 seconds per question. You are doing very well to read some of the questions in that time.
.
November 18, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Does the 70-458 exam cover the SSIS section? I got the MCSA the regular way (70-461, 462 and 463 exams) a few months back and was surprised at the number of questions for the 463 exam (85 or 86, as opposed to 40 and 50 something for the other two exams). I'm usually very fast answering exams and I finished the first two exams with over an hour to spare but when I took the 463 exam, I had only around 5 minutes left.
I understand the frustration as just reading and understanding the question can take about a minute already.
November 19, 2014 at 1:10 am
Yes, the 70-458 covers SSIS.
I feel sorry to hear that fellow test takers fail on the exam because of the time limit.
Next time I will follow the next strategy:
0) Set in advance a very precise time allocation.
For me this will be: 48 minutes to the administration part, and 37 minutes to the SSIS part.
1) First, read the answers and the question.
Read the detailed description only after you know the answers to choose from.
Sometimes there are misleading, completely irrelevant details in the description.
2) Select the correct answer :-).
If you are in doubt after 20 seconds, select the second best, and go on immediately to the next question.
Maybe a subsequent question can give you a hint on a previous question.
3) If there is any extra time left (this is very unlikely), review the answers.
Regards,
Hunor
November 19, 2014 at 5:11 am
Good that I came across this thread, I have the 70-458 exam next week.
I passed 70-457 and thought that it was quite easy. I had plenty of time to re-check my answers.
December 5, 2014 at 6:33 am
Good news: the time limit of the exam has changed to 150 minutes.
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