WSET Wine Diploma

hi john, im thinking of taking the wset advanced cert...can i ask you, how long did you prepare for the advanced exam? how challenging was it compared to intermediate? i'll probably do the home study version and save some cash but wanted an idea of the workload...thanks, and best of luck with the diploma!

Amyc,

Good luck with the certificate. I did not do the intermediate one, only the advanced one before diploma class. Anyway, the advanced exam is not hard at all. They provide you with a green study guide with sample questions. If you can easily answer those, you are in great shape.

Hi John,

glad to hear you're beginning the diploma. I think you asked some of the questions previously, and my advice on 1) stands. If I'm confusing you with someone else, do have a look at old posts on this forum.

Concerning 2) I would very, very strongly advise against doing all of the exams the same week. The exam for unit 3 is heavy. The advanced is a cakewalk, and getting 95%+ in the exam is not particularly difficult. In comparison, the diploma requires you to know all of the advanced, but with much more exact information on each and very region, and moreover, you must demonstrate that you are able to apply the information and draw conclusions on effects on wine styles, risks of business, etc. Getting good grades here is much more difficult.

While the other exam units are not as difficult, it would be wise to - if possible - try out those units first so that you get a grip of the exam format.

Try to get a good grade by having one exam at a time. By adding exams over the a short period of time, you make it much harder to achieve good results in any of them. Quantity affects quality adversely. And if you fail even one, the best grade you can achieve total is limited to "Pass". Also, don't forget the courseworks that are time consuming, if not particularly difficult in case you are used to studying.

A final piece of advise is to learn to time yourself on wine tasting. You have something like 10 mins per wine, which includes the general conclusions. Trust me, it may not always be as much as it sounds.

Good luck, John!

Thank you. I will take the classes that run during the same term but your advice is good which is not to take other exams at the same time as Unit 3. Trust me, I am NOT that amazing that I should be macho.

So are you all done with the studies?

Good thinking, John.

Yes, thankyou, I finished in early 2006. Botched one exam (Unit6, which was the first I made) unfortunately and had to resit. The reason was that I spent far too much time on the tasting, and then didn't have enough time for the essay questions. That's what one gets for being unorganized and too macho.

Hi. Is anyone either currently taking WSET Wine Diploma course Units 3, 4, or 5, or 6?

I am currently taking them in New York (Even thought I will take Markus' advice to spread out the exams) and would love to collaborate on some note taking. A few of us did this when I took Unit 2, which helped me with success. We exchanged some notes by MS Word by e-mail. We also made up some of our own test questions and exchanged them with each other.

At this moment, I am with a study group and we have been meeting weekly mainly to taste the wines but other than that, more would help.

I hope there are some diploma students reading this. Also, if Markus has some notes you are wililng to e-mail, cool.

Hi,

I'm currently in the thick of studying for the Unit 3 component of the WSET diploma, taking exam in June. Our provider has indicated that the one unit to fail is this one. It has the lowest pass rate. So... I would concentrate on this unit the most, in depth and detail. The following units should be much easier because they contain less info. Doing too much could lead to info overload. Also, if you can arrange it, I would get enrolled in the DAPS marking scheme. Ask your provider. WSET markers send you questions and you email answers in essay format for feedback. I've been told that a minimum of 3hrs study time is needed daily to pass if you allow a 6 month timeline.

Good Luck!

Hi. I am in the thick of pursuing my WSET Wine Diploma. I already took Unit 2 last year and I just learned that I successfully passed the
Unit 3 exam. Now it is on to the Units 4, 5, and 6 exams. (4 = Spirits, 5 = Sparkling and 6 = Fortified wines).

Your advice please: Is it a good idea to pursue Unit 5 and 6 exams at the same time? Is that considered as if I were chasing 2 rabbits OR would you consider that an OK load to handle. I will have at least 3 days a week to study and the exams are given in November.

As you probably can tell from my prior postings, my better knowledge leans more toward wine rather than spirits which is why I want to do the spirits exam separately and not with those other 2 exams.

Thus far, I want to thank those of you who have replied to my postings, notably to the ones on the world down under.

Congratulations on passing unit 3, John!

This is by far the most difficult exam of the course. If you passed it, you should be confident of how the exams are structured and your own abilities. As Unit 5 and 6 are nowhere near as encompassing as Unit 3, I'd say you should be able to go for both at once if you are in a hurry.

Just check the order of exams to ensure that if they are on the same day, the fortifieds are tasted last.

Is anyone taking the WSET Diploma Unit 5 Sparkling or Unit 6 Fortified exams in November? If so, want to exchange notes and/or study questions?