The Digital Marketing Apprentice's Guide to Navigating Your Exams - Steph Preston & Elle Birrell King

(8 min read)

Steph is an apprentice at Blue Zoo Animation Studio and Elle at Cremarc, they are both completing the level 3 digital marketing apprenticeship and have given their best tips and advice for reaching on-programme success and navigating your exams...

Steph

I’m Steph, my pronouns are they/them, and I’m currently completing the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship as a Digital Marketing Apprentice at Blue Zoo Animation Studio! I’m about 10 months into the programme, and on track to complete Gateway around the beginning of June. I’ve loved the course so far, and moving forward am looking at a career in Production Coordination & Management

Elle

Hi everyone!  I’m Elle and I am 10 months into the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship at Cremarc, a B2B marketing agency. My job responsibilities include social media management, marketing automation and content marketing. In addition, I am also one of the Women's Network Chair for the Community Hub. I have developed in confidence so much since starting my apprenticeship and looking forward to continuing a career in marketing. 

What to expect on programme

The digital marketing programme is 15 months in total, from launch to final assessment. However, you may have the opportunity to finish earlier, depending on exam dates and the completion of your portfolio. 

The course consists of seven modules and two bootcamps:

• Digital Marketing Bootcamp
• Campaign Planning & Customer Lifecycle 
• Content Marketing
• Social Media & Digital Etiquette 
• Google Analytics & Dashboard Reporting
• Search Marketing
• Coding
• Coding Bootcamp
• Paid Social & Analytics

All the modules and bootcamps can be overwhelming, but there is no need to worry! Throughout the programme, you will be supported by your Multiverse Coach. You will have regular one-to-one sessions with your coach where you receive personalised objectives, feedback and course support. 

Throughout the programme, you must complete a summative portfolio which is a compilation of evidence of your experience conducting marketing campaigns. While creating your portfolio, you will complete three knowledge tests:
The first exam is the KM2 exam which covers marketing principles. 
Following this, you will achieve a Google Analytics Individual Qualification covering Google Analytics concepts. 
The final knowledge test is the KM2 exam, which covers coding principles. 

Upon completing these knowledge tests, you will complete a synoptic project, where you will draw on the skills you have learned on the programme to respond to a digital marketing brief.

Touch on your experiences, were you particularly busy at work or in other aspects of the apprenticeship? How did you overcome this? Place a focus on time management and balancing this with your role.

Steph

I completed my KM2 exam at the beginning of November 2021, and luckily was in a slightly quieter period at work so I was able to dedicate plenty of time to revising and practising with mock exams. In contrast, I sat my Google Analytics exam mid-December and KM1 Coding exam at the end of January 2022, and both were quite busy times for me at work. I was in the middle of delivering two different, large-scale projects for social media when I sat both, and as such didn’t feel like I had as much time to dedicate to revision and preparation. Rather than filling my OTJ with other activities, I set out 20% of my hours during the week leading up to each exam and made sure I was only revising, and giving it my full attention.

The Exams

There are three exams for Digital Marketing Apprentices - KM1 (Principles of Coding), KM2 (Marketing Principles), and the Google Analytics Individual Qualification. Both KM1 and KM2 have a pass threshold of 65%, whereas the Google Analytics IQ has a threshold of 80% to pass. All three are multiple choice and held remotely.

Steph

The main piece of advice I’d give that can be carried across all of the exams is to not stress yourself too much - while the exams are key to being able to complete Gateway, you can revisit and try any of them again if you don’t pass on the first attempt. The KM2 exam covers areas you would’ve covered in your first bootcamp, and hopefully would’ve been applied in your role between the bootcamp and exam. The KM1 coding content isn’t something that we all apply in our day-to-day roles, but it’s super helpful knowing basic HTML and CSS. The other great thing is that there usually isn’t too long of a gap between doing the week-long coding bootcamp and doing the exam, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting anything!

Elle

Like Steph, I had a quieter period of work during the KM2 exam; this enabled me to dedicate lots of time to revision and mock exams. The GAIQ exam was held during a busier work period, so I found it quite challenging to balance job responsibilities with revision. Using project management tools like Trello and highlighting my challenges to my coach helped me to better balance my revision and job responsibilities. I will be conducting my final exam in early April -  the KM1 coding principles exam. I have learnt from the challenges of  the GAIQ  and have made sure to dedicate my OTJ hours to revision and continued to use Trello to keep on top of my work.  Staying on top of writing the portfolio can be difficult, but I found scheduling time and setting reminders in my work calendar really helpful in ensuring I balance my time correctly. 

Revising for the exams

Steph

1. Use the mock exams! Applied has several mock exams for the KM1 and KM2 exams, and they really helped me to understand what content would be included.
2. Carve out dedicated revision time. Clear time in your calendar and turn on Do Not Disturb, and focus purely on revision in that time.
3. Speaking of time, don’t try to just revise for hours and hours with no breaks. I like using the Pomodoro technique to break my time up.
4. Revise with other people! I found it helpful to schedule extra revision sessions with the rest of my cohort so we could revise together and help each other with anything we were struggling with.
5. Reach out on the Community Hub! There’s a dedicated Group for Digital Marketing Apprentices, and you’re guaranteed to find someone who can help you out if you need advice/support.

Elle

1. Don't struggle in silence! If you don't understand something, reach out to your coach, cohort, or other apprentices. For example, when I was unsure of areas in the KM2 exam, I scheduled a session with my coach, and she put me on the right track. 
2.  Watch the recordings - no one expects you to remember everything you cover in the bootcamp; that's why your coach records the sessions! Watching the recordings and taking notes helped my revision.
3.  Balancing the portfolio, your objectives, job responsibilities, and exams is difficult... but I found using project management tools like Trello helps me keep on top of my work.
4.  Align your job responsibilities with the content of your course! I find putting my learning into practice beneficial when solidifying my knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to speak to your colleagues at work about what modules you cover in your course. 
5.  Set reminders; my calendar is full of reminders to help me keep on track with my course. For example, I have reminders such as 'fill in the 'OTJ hours' or 'update portfolio'!

On the day of the exam

Steph

There wasn’t much I did to prepare on the morning of each exam, besides clearing my workspace and taking time for myself to clear my head. Any topics I was unsure of I made sure to revise the day/evening before, so that on the morning of the exam I wasn’t stressing myself out with last-minute revision. Before you start the exam, you have to show the remote invigilator the room that you’re in and your desk to ensure there’s no electronics - making sure I had a clear and clean desk meant I wasn’t working amongst clutter, and also meant I didn’t have to worry about any issues being flagged during the checks. The final piece of advice I’d give to anyone sitting exams is just to take a few moments to breath and relax before joining the call and exam, and just know that there is the opportunity to retake any of the exams.

Elle

First of all, I make sure to be well-rested the night before the exam. I woke up early and ensured I had a clear desk free from electronics and distractions, as you must show your invigilator your room! However, you can have a blank piece of paper and pen for writing down your notes during the exam. Then, I looked through my revision and calmly waited for the exam to start. As Steph said, there is no need to panic; there is always 'the opportunity to retake any of the exams.'