Passing the MALC? How did you do it?

I took the MALC exam recently and could not believe how much harder the questions were in comparison to the intermediate exams. I subsequently failed with 29 out of 50.
I am due a resit soon but feel that I am really missing something.

Any advice?

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petedude

I just barely finished Foundations a few days back. I'm surprised anyone would take MALC lightly, given its broad scope.

Claire Agutter

Hi Itilman, what type of course did you take? Are you getting any support from your training provider? They should have received a report after the exam to say which syllabus areas you were weak/strong in, so they can provide some guidance for you. MALC is a really tough exam. It's hard to provide advice without knowing the context but make sure you know the case study inside out, do the additional reading in the ITIL core volumes and really take the sample exams to pieces - understand why every answer it right or wrong. Good luck with the retake, Claire

Itilman

Hi thanks for your replies. Firstly I haven't taken this lightly at all I felt like I put a lot of effort into the exam and was really disappointed to miss the mark. I scored well in all of the mock exams. I took a fully Itil accredited course, the 5 day MALC course. I feel like I know the content but with some questions I felt quite lost. The breakdown I got suggests that I am weak in the "integrating of service management processes across the service lifecycle" part of the syllabus.

Claire Agutter

Hi Itilman, weakness in integrating service management processes isn't unusual. All of the lifecycle and capability courses focus on individual processes, and then MALC asks you to bring them all back together so it's a very different perspective. Your training provider should be able to make some suggestions for you based on your results - ask them to point you to specific parts of the course material and the core volumes. It can be helpful to take some of the sample exams for courses you've not already completed - for example if you took the lifecycle track ask for the SOA sample exams for more practice at the gradient multiple choice. Claire

shudson

Hi Claire, Itilman

I also failed my MALC earlier this week missed out by 3 points so was pretty gutted. I have been studying long distant with an Expert package, pretty much full time since March so after 7 months I was pretty gutted to miss out by a couple of points. I also struggled on the questions and was tight on time with the MALC, I found it difficult to choose the best answer when your taking into consideration the Case Study and dismissing a question because it mentions something contrary to the case study. I chose six 3 point answers so I know I am close but I felt the case study was confusing my final decision on which was the 5 pointer. I am resitting next week, my trainer says its possible I might get the same paper is that true ? I thought they would have a few papers and Exin would make sure I would not get the same paper again ?
As for revising well I am going through the material again and will go through the mocks, couple of questions on ROI were tricky and hopefully become more positive about the retake as I scored in the 90's% for ST,SO,CSI and this has mentally put me back a bit.
Any other suggestions gratefully received.

Claire Agutter

I think one thing that's important for all MALC candidates to remember is that this is a really hard exam. Global pass rates hover around the 65% mark, so if you are unsuccessful don't lose heart or be too discouraged. The case study is there to test your application of the theory. If you're ever stuck between two answers and one is 'perfect ITIL' but one is right for the case study, that's what the examiners are looking for - can you apply the theory to the case study. @shudson, there is a chance you could see some of the same questions, but you should get mostly new ones in the exam. Good luck to you both, Claire

shudson

Hi and thanks

having studied the mocks inside out and further revision I just passes the Malc.
very tough all new questions, but extremely happy to have joined an elite crowd of ITIL Experts

steve

Claire Agutter

Congratulations Steve that's great news! What would be your top tip for the original poster in this thread?

Moodi

Hello every one ,any one of you two passed MALC lately? what is your experience?

adramelec

shudson wrote: »

Hi Claire, ItilmanI also failed my MALC earlier this week missed out by 3 points so was pretty gutted. I have been studying long distant with an Expert package, pretty much full time since March so after 7 months I was pretty gutted to miss out by a couple of points. I also struggled on the questions and was tight on time with the MALC, I found it difficult to choose the best answer when your taking into consideration the Case Study and dismissing a question because it mentions something contrary to the case study. I chose six 3 point answers so I know I am close but I felt the case study was confusing my final decision on which was the 5 pointer. I am resitting next week, my trainer says its possible I might get the same paper is that true ? I thought they would have a few papers and Exin would make sure I would not get the same paper again ?As for revising well I am going through the material again and will go through the mocks, couple of questions on ROI were tricky and hopefully become more positive about the retake as I scored in the 90's% for ST,SO,CSI and this has mentally put me back a bit.Any other suggestions gratefully received.

shudson, can you share the study case?

Rohitgupta20

Hi,

I am gunning to become an ITIL expert. I already have OSA and CSI and just took the Service strategy sample paper on the axelos website and scored 34 out of 40.

I have 2 questions:

1) are the mocks a good indicator of actual exam performance?

2) in addition to Service strategy, which other exams should I consider taking at the intermediate level to gain 17 credits for the MALC? Any advice would be much appreciated.

3) If I focus on reading the all the ITIL books cover to cover, would that suffice to pass the exam?

I don't have hardcore IT experience but I have been a PRINCE2 project management instructor which I believe has been slightly helpful in understanding the exams.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

UncleB

Rohitgupta20 wrote: »

1) are the mocks a good indicator of actual exam performance?

Well you have sat 3 intermediate exams already so you should have experience of this yourself - they are a reasonable indication but not a great one in my opinion.

Rohitgupta20 wrote: »

2) in addition to Service strategy, which other exams should I consider taking at the intermediate level to gain 17 credits for the MALC?

You need Service Design and Service Transition to complete the list - there make up the Lifecycle route so are the most logical choices to be able to reach the status to take MALC.

Rohitgupta20 wrote: »

3) If I focus on reading the all the ITIL books cover to cover, would that suffice to pass the exam?

I thought you said there were 2 questions

Yes it is enough if you can learn this way effectively. I used this technique and aside from it talking a lot of time, it wasn't rocket science. I have been working in the field a very long time so most of it was common sense mind you, so if you are inexperienced then you probably need extra help from an instructor to explain some principles or help with areas of weakness.

Well done on getting this far - you are half way though now!

thanks
Iain