MOS Test Festival

We are pleased to announce Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Test Fests in June and July. This in person or virtual opportunity is open to staff and students to take the MOS exams for free. You can choose to take one exam or multiple (apart from retakes available within 24-48 hours of a failure).  If you are not familiar with MOS, please visit our student guidance on MOS.

How the Test Fest will work

We will be running in person exams hourly from 10am until 3pm on the 3rd of June and virtual exams hourly on the 11th of July from 9am, until 4pm (you can take one exam per time slot). Booking is essential using our bookings page: Book your Exam. Numbers are limited due to the room capacity. If we reach capacity for a slot, we will remove it from the list. If you can't access this link, you need to join our MOS Team

Instructions to join our MOS Team channel:

1. Log into your University Account for Microsoft Teams
2. Within Teams click 'Join or create a team'
3. Select 'Join a team with a code'
4. Enter this code: wv7kbzz

You are not required to complete a practice test before you take this exam. The ethos of the Test Fest is to come and have a go. Though, we do encourage you to do prior learning and practice tests beforehand to increase your chances of passing. If you are unable to access our practice tests on GMetrix and need to use a redemption code, please sign up to MOS for a redemption. The learning materials we recommend are on LinkedIn Learning. Find out how to activate your student LinkedIn Learning account.

FAQS

I am keen to do my MOS exam, but I am not available on 3rd June

We run regular exams throughout the year up until July 2025. You are welcome to book onto those exams. Be aware, that you do need to pass a practice test prior to attending our regular exams. Our testing events are aimed at giving the exams a go, which is why we waiver the practice test pre-requisite.

Do I need any prior knowledge?

No, this event is open to everyone at every skill level, but as this event is self-led, we recommend you do some of the learning, if possible, beforehand to make it a bit easier for you on the day.

Do I need to sign up for MOS?

Maybe, if you only want to do the test then no, but for the learning, you do need to be pre-registered for MOS using the sign up form

How long will it take me to learn? 

As always, learning is a very individual thing; you may come with a lot of experience and not need to learn much, or you may come with none. However, we do have some LinkedIn learning courses that we recommend for each app, which give you a good indication of the time for the app you are trying to learn.

Is there a limit on the number of tests I can take?

No, feel free to come and get certificates in everything if you would like, just remember that you need to have a good knowledge to pass the test. If you are wanting to do many tests this event will be the fastest way that you can do it!

What learning do I need to do and how long will it take? (4 - 25 hours)

This depends on the number of exams you decide to take. The LinkedIn Learning courses contain a collection of video lasting in total from 2 hours to 4.5 hours (see course lengths below). There are also exercise files that you can download to follow along with the videos or try it out after. These could take anywhere from 1 hour to 10 hours to work through, depending on whether you complete all the exercise files available and if you need to refer back to the learning to get help to complete the tasks.
 - Outlook Associate – 2h 29m
 - Word Associate – 3h 31m
 - Work Expert – 3h 45m
 - Excel Associate – 4h 1m
 - Excel Expert – 4h 13m
 - PowerPoint Associate 4h 57m
There are other resources that you can use for learning or in addition to the LinkedIn Learning courses, such as watching YouTube videos (we have recommended a few), to downloading and working from a learning pack from Microsoft. This learning could be anywhere from 1 hour to 10 hours, depending on how much more you want to learn to complete you understanding of the exam objectives.

Practice Tests (1 - 5 hours)

There are also a range of practice tests that you can complete to test your knowledge and become familiar with the exam interface and types of questions. An exam is timed to 50 minutes. However, practice tests aren't time-bound. There are normally 2-3 practice tests available. Time dedicated to completing the practice tests could take anywhere from 1 hour to 5 hours (depending on how long you take to complete the tests and how many you take and retake.

Exam (1 hour)

Lastly, there is the exam itself. The exam time is 50 minutes, in addition to around 10 minutes to sign in etc.

What if I want to do learning on the day prior to taking the exam?

You are welcome to do so. We are not providing any dedicated space for learning during Test Fest due to limited staff capacity. We are using Charles Street for the exams, so feel free to use any of the communal spaces in that building or elsewhere or go to Adsetts. We will be around if you wanted to come and chat to us about how to access your learning or any issues you are having with GMetrix etc.

 Please get in touch with digitalskills@shu.ac.uk if you have any questions.