CRE (Hong Kong Civil Service Exams) study plan

Map the CRE BoK reliability block (reliability fundamentals, bathtub curve, failure distributions, MTBF/MTTF, hazard rate) into a personal outline with one worked example per concept

Compute Weibull shape and scale parameters by hand from a small time-to-failure dataset and interpret beta below 1, near 1, and above 1

Distinguish series, parallel, and k-out-of-n system reliability configurations and solve one redundancy calculation for each

Define maintainability, availability (inherent and operational), and the difference between corrective and preventive maintenance intervals

Build the safety block of the outline: hazard analysis methods (PHA, FMEA, FMECA, FTA, ETA), risk matrix construction, and risk acceptance criteria

Construct a fault tree for a simple two-out-of-three system and reduce it to minimal cut sets by hand

Perform an FMEA on a household or workplace device, assigning severity, occurrence, and detection ratings and computing an RPN

Explain safety integrity concepts including redundancy, fail-safe design, common-cause failure, and diagnostic coverage without relying on notes

Work through reliability testing and demonstration topics: success-run testing, sequential testing, accelerated life testing, and confidence intervals on MTBF

Apply the exponential and Weibull models to predict field reliability and spare-parts demand from a given failure rate

Solve reliability growth and prediction problems using parts-count and stress-analysis reasoning at a conceptual level

Identify which BoK subtopic each practice question is testing before answering it, to expose weak areas

Cover maintainability and availability mathematics: MTTR, maintenance man-hours per operating hour, downtime, and steady-state availability for repairable systems

Analyze a preventive-maintenance policy tradeoff and justify an optimal replacement interval from cost and failure data

Review safety standards and management-system concepts at a recognition level (risk assessment process, hazard logs, safety cases, human factors)

Rehearse explaining the difference between reliability, maintainability, availability, and safety to a non-specialist in under two minutes

Integrate the full BoK by building a concept map linking reliability, maintainability, and safety topics and marking the links between them

Drill calculation speed on the highest-frequency numeric types: series/parallel reliability, availability, MTBF from failure rate, and Weibull parameter estimation

Target the two weakest subtopics identified in weeks 1-4 with focused re-study and fresh practice problems

Write out definitions for 25 core terms from memory and check them against the source

Complete a full-length timed practice exam under realistic conditions and record per-subtopic scores

Perform a detailed error analysis classifying each miss as knowledge gap, calculation slip, misread question, or time pressure

Re-study the three subtopics with the lowest scores and solve five new problems in each

Build a personal list of the ten most common traps in CRE-style questions and how to spot each one

Close every item on the remediation list by re-solving related problems until each is correct twice in a row

Take a second full-length timed practice exam and compare per-subtopic scores against week 6

Practice written and applied-format responses where the exam requires explanation rather than calculation

Reduce the formula sheet to a single page of only the items you still hesitate on

Review the one-page formula sheet and trap list daily for recall, not re-learning

Take one final timed practice exam and confirm scores are stable and above target

Rehearse exam-day logistics: timing per question, skip-and-return strategy, calculator use, and reference handling

Stop new material 48 hours before the exam and rest