SVP Light Vehicle Mechanic

Two components: a multiple-choice theoretical paper testing knowledge across the trade domains, and a practical skills assessment in which you complete hands-on tasks on vehicles or rigs while an assessor observes. The practical marks your method, safety habits and use of measuring equipment, not just whether the vehicle ends up running.

Those figures are set by the certifying body and are not fixed for all centres or sittings, so check the current published details on its official website before you book. Do not rely on numbers quoted by other candidates, as schedules and paper structures are revised periodically.

It is a trade-level assessment, so it assumes real familiarity with tools and vehicles rather than classroom-only knowledge. Most candidates who fail do so on electrical fault-finding, emission control or unsafe workshop practice rather than on engine overhaul. The passing score is published by the certifying body; confirm it there.

Retake arrangements, waiting periods and any additional fees are set by the certifying body and can differ between assessment centres. Consult its official website or your centre coordinator for the current policy, and ask specifically whether a failed practical component can be re-sat separately from the theory paper.

Start with workshop safety and tool use, since practical marks depend on them. Then work through engine mechanical, electrical, drivetrain, brakes, suspension, HVAC and preventive maintenance, and finish with diagnostics - diagnostics draws on all the others, so it is a poor starting point.

Skipping lockout and isolation steps, lifting a vehicle without checking jacking points, guessing at a fault instead of following a test sequence, failing to torque to specification, and leaving tools or spilled fluid in the work area. Assessors also mark poorly explained diagnostic reasoning as a weakness even when the repair is correct.

Requirements vary by assessment centre. Some provide workshop tooling and equipment; others expect basic hand tools. Confirm with your centre in advance, and never assume specialist equipment such as scan tools or micrometers will be supplied on the day.

Spend supervised hours in a workshop performing complete tasks - brake measurement, suspension inspection, electrical fault tracing with a multimeter, and reading live scan-tool data. Practise narrating each step as you work, because assessors score observable, deliberate method rather than speed.

Validity periods and recognition arrangements are determined by the certifying body and, for migration purposes, by the destination country's skills authority. Confirm both on the official websites rather than assuming the credential transfers automatically to another jurisdiction.