Failed 70-271

spiderjedi

I took the exam on Friday. Thought I did well enough, but I guess not. I got 654.

I didn't know about the free retry before I setup the test. Anyone know if I can still take advantage of a free retry?

Thanks!

skrpune

Sorry to hear you didn't pass.

You can't take your next shot at the exam for free - unfortunately, it has to be set up before the taking of your first exam for it to be applied towards your second exam. However, you can register for the second shot offer and then pay for/register for your second exam and then you can have the safety net of having a free third shot.

spiderjedi

That's what I figured. Thanks for the confirmation.

I will have to wait 2 weeks if I do not pass (I hope to pass THIS time!) to test to use the free retake, right?

Microsoftman

Exam re-take Policy

• General MCP Exam Retake Policy
  • If a candidate does not pass an exam the first time, he/she may retake it after at least 24 hours have passed. If a candidate does not achieve a passing score the second time, you must wait at least 14 days to retake the exam a third time. A 14-day waiting period will be imposed for all subsequent exam retakes. A candidate may not take a given exam any more than five times per calendar year. In order to take a given exam more than five times per year, a candidate must obtain prior permission from Microsoft.
  • If a candidate has passed an exam, he/she cannot take it again.
  MCP Beta Exam Retake Policy
  • Beta exams may be taken only once.
  • This policy supersedes the general retake policy.
• Exam-specific Retake Policy exceptions
  • In some cases, Microsoft may have special policies for specific exams.

Please ensure accuracy of your e-mail address. Microsoft uses this information to send you valuable benefits that you have earned through your certification, free training materials and important updates about the MCP program.

Microsoftman

Now this is a microsoft exam policy. The testing center may allow you to reschedule even though the policy says different. you can find out at the testing center that you go to. It never hurts to ask. I hope this helps

mikej412

Microsoftman wrote: »

The testing center may allow you to reschedule even though the policy says different. you can find out at the testing center that you go to. It never hurts to ask.

Actually, it could hurt. Scheduling an exam for that future "legal policy date" should be fine, but walking into a test center and rescheduling in violation of the Microsoft policy could cause problems -- unless the Microsoft policy also states it's only a suggestion and there is no penalty for violation.

Cisco has a 5 day wait after a failure and 180 days after a pass (and 30 days after a CCIE Lab exam non-pass).

Back when you could take the Cisco exams at both Vue and Prometric, there was nothing to prevent someone from failing a test at Vue and then running down the street to Prometric and taking the same exam -- except for the Cisco Policy that placed the responsibility for following the rules on the exam candidate. Failure to adhere to the policy could result in loss of Cisco Certification and ban from future Cisco Certifications. And Cisco would find out when they got the failure notice from Vue and the pass or fail notice from Prometric.

Since both Cisco & Microsoft now have their "dedicated test vendor" I'd hope that the Vue/Prometric systems would alert the exam center that someone wasn't eligible to retake the exam yet -- but the Cisco policy still puts the responsibility on the exam candidate, not the Test Center.

Annnnnnnnnyway, my point is that while the Test Center will happily take your money, they may not know (or care) if you are violating the Microsoft "wait time policy." If Microsoft has a similar policy to Cisco you could be risking all your work.

Microsoftman

I agree with you on that. To clear things up, you can retake the exam after you have failed it.If you fail your exam the first time you can reschedule in 24 hours for another slot. So the mcp policy that I posted is the one that prometric posted. you have to wait 2 weeks if you have failed it the second time according to the mcp policy. excuse me if I confused anybody. This is in the mcp exam policy which I had posted earlier. I talked to prometric about this just to confirm it. I hope this helps.

Devilsbane

I didn't think you needed to do anything special for the retake. From the sounds of it, it is guarenteed. Also I have read on here of some people getting emails out of the blue notifying them that they have a retake. I doubt they signed up for something special and didn't notice it.

Take a Second Shot at certification and advance your career

Whether you are currently unemployed, looking for a promotion, or trying to become indispensable in your existing role, Microsoft Certifications can help validate that you have the skills needed to work in the top IT professional and developer jobs in the industry.


Take advantage of our Second Shot offer and get a free retake if you do not pass an IT professional or developer Microsoft Certification exam the first time. You must take both the first and (if necessary) the retake exam before June 30, 2010.

• Register to acquire a Second Shot voucher for a retail exam (exams with a 70 prefix) (Prometric.com)
• Register to acquire a Second Shot voucher for an academic exam (exams with a 72 prefix)

Offer details:

• Dates: January 13, 2010 – June 30, 2010.
• Details: You must register, obtain a voucher code, schedule, pay, and take the first and (if necessary) the retake exam before June 30, 2010.
  
  
  Applicable exams: This offer applies to all Microsoft Learning IT professional, developer, project management, and Microsoft Dynamics exams, including academic exams.
  • Visit the Training Catalog and search for your next exam
• Eligible countries and regions: This is a worldwide offer that is available at Prometric test centers only.

Note Only one Second Shot voucher is available per purchased exam.

How to use your Second Shot voucher

• Go to the Prometric Web site, call center, or test center. Use your Second Shot voucher number and schedule and pay for your initial exam.
  • Go to the Prometric Web site or visit the call center or test center (Prometric.com)
• Take your exam.
• If you do not pass, return to the Prometric Web site or visit the call center or test center and use the same voucher number for your free retake exam.
  • Return to the Prometric Web site or visit the call center or test center (Prometric.com)

Note You must wait one day after taking your initial exam before you can register for a retake exam.

That was taken from Microsoft Learning Career Portal: Special Offers.


Also I agree about waiting the two weeks. A, you probably need it. And B, if they did allow you to retake it they could easily deny you that certification, take away previous certifications, and ban you from taking future certifications. I doubt that they would go to that extent for a first time offense but I feel pretty confident you would not get this one, and not be given your money back either.

earweed

MS apparently did something for a little while recently (not publicised) where if you had failed your first MS cert test they just sent you a freebie. Too bad my retake was already done by the time I got the email and it was restricted to me using it and only for that test.