what reasons have you seen people not pass certifications?

[k ellis]

I was curious as to how many people have seen people not pass their open water certification and why they did not pass them. As we know we have a lot of great instructors both on the site and in the world and then there are the well........

My question is simple in nature but curious to hear some of the stories of why people did not pass their open water certifications (Or AOW or for that matter any specialty or any cert)

Whether it be that they just did something out right unsafe, perhaps got scared to continue on or falsified any paper work etc........

Ok thats my 6 seconds of ranting!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

When I used to DM I never saw one person that did not pass except for a few that refused to get into the ocean to do their skills. They opted to do their open water skills in warm water by referal when they got to their vacation spot.
I thought it was rather odd that the instructor allowed some of the people to actually pass but I wasn't the instructor so therefore it wasn't my place to say anything about it.
But in my opinion some of the students were disasters waiting to happen and needed much more time in the pool working on stuff, or should have taken up golf instead.

 

[Downing]

While we're on the subject of not passing, can I ask about the written final exam?

I'm not a numbers guy and was somewhat nervous about the PADI written exam because sometimes I struggled with repetitive dive planning via the Dive Tables. So I asked my Instructor several times how many questions I could afford to miss but still pass.

He never gave me a straight answer. Instead I got "You'll do fine," "We'll review the exam as a group when everyone's finished" etc.

If I remember right, it was a fifty question test and I missed two, neither of which had anything to do with the Dive Tables. A minor miracle.

But I couldn't help but get the feeling I could have missed all 50 of them and still passed the exam, although I'm sure that can't be true. If anyone knows the answer, I'd love to know.

 

[k ellis]

Very valid point but I cant give an answer Downing as I am not an instructor. I was told you had to make at least a 70 which if that were the case would roughly be about 35 right or you could miss no more then 15. But if an instructor reads this they can give an honest in depth answer.

 

[Scott]

Early in my DM career the instructor I was helping had one guy who falsified his medical. We didn't find out they had chest surgery a few months earlier (can't recall the time frame but it was short) until after dragging his fat butt back to shore because he couldn't breathe on the surface swim out on dive one.
Helped remove the wetsuit top and there's this incision down the chest area staring at me. WTH is that? He tells me the story. Returned to the class and gave the instructor a note on the bottom. "Fred" won't be joining us, doesn’t have the heart to continue.
I was not involved in the conversation between the student and instructor but it was short if I recall and he never received a “re-do” that day.

When I was a new OWSI I helped a store out of Grand Junction Colorado with their OW dives when they came to town. On the final day one student couldn't remove their mask without bolting. After a few attempts I called it. I informed the lead instructor that he couldn't do the skill. After a little side discussion I loaded my gear and left for home. I'm sure someone signed their card, it wasn't me. Funny, after that I do not recall them asking for help when they came to town.

I have had a number fail themselves because the were eaither there for the wrong person or just wouldn't do a particular skill.
Why is it always mask skills that freak people out? /sarcasim
I always tell students I will continue to work with you as long as I am here and you keeping coming through the door and trying.

 

[Scott]

If I remember right, it was a fifty question test and I missed two, neither of which had anything to do with the Dive Tables. A minor miracle.

But I couldn't help but get the feeling I could have missed all 50 of them and still passed the exam, although I'm sure that can't be true. If anyone knows the answer, I'd love to know.

From the PADI GS&P "Personally review missed Knowledge Review, quiz and
exam questions until student divers comprehend the material. Retest student divers who score less than 75 percent on a quiz or exam. Have student divers sign
and date the document to confirm comprehension."
Bolding is mine

 

[Downing]

Hey thanks for that. Good to know I had a 10.5 question cushion.

I forgot to mention that my wife didn't pass our OW class. She bailed on the second day. It was a cold, miserable November weekend. Viz was very poor. We were staying in a crummy little hotel with no heat. By the time we were to start the third OW dive she'd had enough. She wasn't scared or anxious so much as just fed up with being cold and wet.

Funny thing was she had suited up, put on her gear and swam with me to the buoy where we hooked up with our Instructor. He said, "Ok, are you ready?" and my wife said "No." And that was that.

I assumed it was game over but it turned out that she qualified for a PADI "Scuba Diver" card which would allow her to dive under the direct supervision of an Instructor. She finished up in Mexico a few months later. Had she known about the referral program, she never would have gotten in the water in the first place.

 

[DevonDiver]

The primary reason why I have not 'passed' students from the OW course is anxiety. This has reflected in a subsequent inability to peform the required skills at a comfortable and controlled manner. Mask remove and replace is tends to be the critical 'test' of water comfort and panic control.

 

[tstormdiver]

Well,... it took me 2 yrs & 3 attempts to finally pass my Full Cave. The biggest issue I had was situational awareness. This was due to a few factors. 1. being in such a dark environment, I had to learn to discern a random light motion from an emergency signal, especially when on a team of 3. 2. I needed to improve my skills handling the reels. Because of not being as adept at handling a reel, as I should have been, it took up too much brain "bandwidth", thus interfered with my ability to multitask. 3. When my instructor would throw a drill at me (except for giving air), I needed stop for a second to take a moment & survey things a little closer. Ah, yes, as you stated above,... I would get so uptight anticipating a drill from my instructor, I would jump the gun & create a problem, when there wasn't one.
Each time I went back home empty handed, I would take what I learned in the previous sessions, practice the skills in the local quarry until it was second nature (especially the reel handling). I learned to better take in the details around me at all times. It took time, practice & an extra bit of paying closer attention to myslef & what was going on around me. In the end, it finally fell into place.

 

[Elvistheking]

My mate needed to re-do a dive and do OW dives 3/4 later in the year due to a badly fitting drysuit, inadequate undersuit, rubbish gloves, stupid buddy inflator on his BCD (dump button recessed hard to use in gloves anyway, impossible with numb hands), all hired by the school to him, which ultimately lead to hypothermia. 6 Months later, with his own drysuit, undersuit, gloves, BCD and another 20 odd dives under his belt (long story) he walked it.

I personally had to have another weekend with my AN+DP instructor due to giving myself a CO2 hit on the last dive of the original week whilst doing a mask off, reg out swim in a strong current, needed to practice buoyancy control during stops and practice shutdowns.