Info concerning the updates to the SCJP 6 exam

Hi Guys,

We've got some news from Sun concerning recent changes to the SCJP exam.

First a little background about how Sun ALWAYS administers their certification exams:

All of Sun's exams go through rigorous processes during their creation, AND during their "live" lifetime. First off, the exam's objectives are created and verified. Next, new questions are created using an iterative creation / review / beta test / modification cycle. Once questions have gone "live" their performance is also monitored. Sun checks to see if the questions become too easy or too hard over time, or if questions cause too much confusion. When Sun determines that certain questions aren't performing well in the field, those questions are either fixed and retested, or they are retired.

Finally, Sun wants their certification exams to be challenging. They don't publish their targeted "candidate success" goals, but our assumption is that they want a certain percentage of candidates to pass, and that means a certain percentage will fail. Whatever their formula is, it appears that they want those percentages to stay fairly consistent over time (which makes a great deal of sense, and seems very fair). In other words, if there was a universal "difficulty" rating, and let's say the initial SCJP 6 exam had a difficulty rating of "7.6" (I'm totally making this up

), then when they fix or retire questions they still want the resulting exam to have a difficulty rating of "7.6".

With all that said, what happened recently is that Sun determined that several questions and objectives weren't performing well in the field. Some questions were fixed, and some were retired. In order to maintain a consistent difficulty level, they changed some of the objectives, re-evaluated the remaining questions' difficulty levels, and came up with a new number of questions, and a new passing percentage.

But, long story short, Sun went through an extensive process to make sure that the revised exam is just as hard to pass as the older version - not easier, not harder.

hth,

Bert

Thanks for the update Bert. I was wondering if Sun made any comments about the SCJP plus exam in general. From what I have read in this post so far, it appears Sun does go through an extensive process to come up with new questions or retire existing ones. So why replace the exams with SCJP plus ? Even if they were planning to, what happened to the deadlines ?

I know that you are not the person we should be asking this question to but, just wanted to know if you have any details. Thanks again for the update

As far as i know, making a SCJP+ cert will require a lot of time as there are so many types a program can be framed and executed. So i think till then SCJP 6 will hold good. Well this info of the sun is really important for people who are going to give the certification.

I just want to add that I sat the exam yesterday and I did see topics on:
Serialization and var-args, contrary to what was mentioned in a separate post about
changes to SCJP6 exam.

sir,(bert bates)
..........can you tell me about the changes made by sun in SCWCD exam...........is the change all over or just for scjp.......
!!

i'm preparing for SCWCD by your book HFJS.......(

it was the 1st time i seen you and kathie sierra,in book....you look really ***!!

)
plzzzzz help me out sir........!!

Does this change apply only for SCJP 6 or does it apply for SCJP 5 too ? Kindly let me know.

himanshu kesarwani wrote:sir,(bert bates)
..........

I hope your senses are with you. The way you have written what you have, the person reading it can interpret it as being very very rude. Please do not use inappropriate smilies and *s where they do not belong.

Please also post in the appropriate forum.

I passed SCJP last week - 19/08/2009 and I was very suprised when I saw 72 questions.
But it is Examination Center dependent. Prometric did not update the exam in that center.

PS
I had to pay Examination Fee in Examination Center - despite the fact that I had voucher. Is that legal? Can I write to Prometric? What do You think?
Thanks

Lukas Smith wrote:I passed SCJP last week - 19/08/2009 and I was very suprised when I saw 72 questions.
But it is Examination Center dependent. Prometric did not update the exam in that center.

PS
I had to pay Examination Fee in Examination Center - despite the fact that I had voucher. Is that legal? Can I write to Prometric? What do You think?
Thanks

From what I understand the questions come from a central database. Which means you should still only see 60 questions. Not sure about what is happening.

It is not legal to ask you to pay again when you already paid for a voucher. Sounds fishy. I hope you still have the voucher. Start a new thread if you would like to discuss that. Congrats on passing

I wil be taking SCJP6 exam in an month and my question is regarding the number of questions.
Has the pattern changed now ? I thought we were supposed to answer 72 questions.
I see in the forums that the number of questions has been reduced to 60.
Is that true ?

I think it depends on Examination Center - if Prometric updated the base of questions. I passed SCJP 19/08/2009 and I had 72 questions and 3:30h of time. Before that date Java Ranchers had 60 questions.

I gave it earlier this morning(Pune,India- if that matters) and for me there were total sixty questions and the pass percentage was 58.

Just to share some info.. I took the exam this morning in Chicago at a Prometric testing center. It was 3 hours with 60 questions.

I was confused because while I've been studying, everywhere I looked said it was 72 questions, but Suns site said it was 60, so Sun was right.

Just to share, I took (and passed) the SCJP 6 test this afternoon. It had 60 questions and was 3 hours long. I'm in Japan.

I think the Guys who applied for SCJP Plus Certification got a mail from Sun , said SCJP + will come with JDK 7 in earlier of next year.

I am wondering how long the SCJP 6 certification is valid.

I am in a Confusion. either to take SCJP 6 or Will wait for SCJP +.

can you guys please give me suggestion.

SCJP6 will always be valid. Get your time and do SCJP6 and then SCJPPlus.

Can anyone please supply me with a link where I can read what the "latest" specs (exam objectives, pass mark percentage, number of questions, etc) are?
What I found under sun.com is exactly what was there 3-4 months ago. It seems that they havent update the info there.
I am using Kathy/Bert's SCJP 6 book to prepare for the exam. But this book is 1 year old now (released July/Sept 2008 if I am not mistaking).
Is it still a good source of exam preparation? Any other suggestions on resource material?
Please help!...
I am planning to take the exam as soon as my finances allow me to!...

Guys, Thank you for all the tips. I am thinking to take certification this weekend. Please provide all the links for online mock exams as I cannot download or install any simulators or materials(so sad!!!)...

Thanks in advance...

hi guys...i am preparing for scjp 6. i am reffering k & b.......its been arnd 15 days that i have started preparing and will take 15 more days to complete the book.
till now i have not done any coding...just read the book and solve the self tests.....i think on an average i scored 60% in all the test till chapter 6 in k&b...which is not up to the mark
can anyone tell me what other efforts i should put in to pass the exam with good score.
i am planning to appear for the exam as soon as possible.

thanks

Do all the end of chapter questions

code up the examples and mix objectives.

Try some questions on each topic area - whizlabs has about 20-30 questions on each topic

Then after you know the material move on to mocks

HTH

thanks Santiago

hi all,
i want to know if scjp will also come with jdk 7 early next year.

thanks

i want to know if scjp will also come with jdk 7 early next year.

I've given my crystal ball to my friend, when I'll get it back, I'll tell you the answer. In short, nobody can tell that. SCJP 7 is very much possible unless the supposed programmer plus certification doesn't replace it. Why are you bothered about it anyways??

well Ankit,

i am planning to appear fro scjp6 in december and i want to wait , if its going to be scjp 7 early next year.

There's no official declaration about SCJP 7 and IMHO, don't expect it in early 2010, still if you want to wait, you can...

thanks Ankit for the kind suggestion.

i just wanted to ask, did you tried whizlab mock test for exam?

if yes, where did you get it free coz i tried a free whizlab mock test but it has only 28 questions.

Neha, this is starting to go into another territory. Start a new topic for your question using the

button...

Any recommendations regarding book for SCJP 6?

http://www.sun.com/training/savings/java_ranch.html?cid=928415

Im Shocked,This Offer is not valid in INDIA.

Can anyone plese tell me why is it valid in other countries but not in INDIA...

sir im 4m india and i live in hyderabad,i want to know wat is d fees to take scjp 6 xam

srinivas naidu wrote: sir im 4m india and i live in hyderabad,i want to know wat is d fees to take scjp 6 xam

Srinivas, please UseRealWords on javaranch. Also start a new topic for your question by clicking

...

Hi,

I dont have any java working experience, and i am preparing for certication and have prepared on SCJP5, need a little guidance from you that which version of SCJP would be good, SCJP6/SCJP5,

will getting certified in SCJP5 have any drawbacks as SCJP6 is already there.

Regards
Abrar

Thanks for the updates, it really helps those who are on the way for the exam such as me.

I have been reading the book (scjp java6 edition by "Bert Bates"), its really nice, covering most of the important and tricky points.

when i read the chapter and than do the exercise i almost answer 75-95% correct (depending upon chapter, in Assignments chapter i got more confused and from exercise point of view it was the toughest chapter).

Planning to appear for SCJP 6.0 in first week of Feb 2010.
I'm looking forward for above 85% at least, i know it is gonna be difficult.

Anyone willing to drop by some useful advises before i start with the exam, will be appreciated???

Thanks guys,

Rafi Fareen wrote:Anyone willing to drop by some useful advises before i start with the exam, will be appreciated???

Rafi it would be better if you start a new topic for this.

Mohd Abrar Khan wrote:which version of SCJP would be good, SCJP6/SCJP5,

You should go for SCJP 6, the difference between the two isn't much (details), if you have prepared for SCJP 5, you can easily learn the extra topics of SCJP 6. If you want further opinions, start a new topic for your question by clicking

...

hey

Thanks for this valuable piece of information sir!

my first post

regards

[Edit: question removed, please check your private messages - Ankit]

can anyone tell me what's the news about scjp plus?

Dear Sir Bert,

I am going to apply for SCJP6. I am bit confuse between SCJP5/6.
I want to have your views regarding this. Please revert me back soon as I don't have much time.
Also what you think what books should I refer? I have kethy & sierra. Is it sufficient?

Thanks
Chandni

I am going to appear for SCJP 6.
Is Kethy & sierra is sufficient?
wat else do i need to study?

FYI...

the new link on the current SCJP can be found (a bit buried) in the oracle site:
Oracle's Sun SJCP 6 Page

Here you can find all the exam topics.
In addition, they offer 2 practice exams, (120 questions in total).
60 each. I would therefore deduce that the SCJP 6 exam should be 60 questions.