What To Expect At Our Courses

The Boat Licence Course (BLC) and RMS boating licence exam will take about 5 hours to complete.  The exam is a 50 question multiple choice exam.  The exam is in two (2) sections.  Section A you must obtain a result of 24/30 or better.  Section B you must obtain a result of 20/20 i.e. 100%.  Don’t stress about the exam though, we cover everything and more to get you through the exam and help keep you and others safe out on the water.

Upon passing the exam, we will record your result on the Roads & Maritime Services (RMS) General Boating Licence Application Form.  You will need to take the application form along with a completed RMS Log Book (log book information below) and appropriate licence fee to a RMS Office. Your course fee with us does not include your licence fee.  Once you have paid the relevant licence fee to RMS you will be given your boat licence without any further testing. Your course/exam result is valid for twelve (12) months from the date noted on the application form.

Should you fail the exam on the first attempt, you will be given the opportunity of sitting another exam on the day at no additional cost. We will go over the exam you have just attempted, reinforcing anything that you may not have fully grasped during the BLC prior to you making a second attempt.

In the unlikely event that you fail the second exam attempt, you will be given 12 months to attend any of our other courses to make another attempt at the exam at no additional cost.  We do not charge you per exam attempt.  Once you have paid for a course with us your payment is valid for a 12 month period to make as many attempts as you need or attend our course as many times as you like.

We aim to cater to as many students as we can and regularly have students with varying learning difficulties attend our course.  If you are in a similar situation, please notify us before attending so we can cater to your needs.  Some instances may incur an additional fee where a one on one verbal exam is required.

Proof Of Identification

In order for us to complete the necessary paperwork for RMS on the day of the course, it is essential that you bring along approved Proof Of Identification.   Without the correct Proof Of Identification you will not be able to take part in the course.

About The Logbook

To complete the NSW Log Book(PDF), you will need to do 3 trips with someone who has held their General Boat Licence for at least 3 years.  The person can hold a boat licence in any State in Australia.  Simply complete the activities listed in the log book. There are no defined number of “hours” required to complete the log book, it is activity based. You can log all 3 trips on the same day and the trips could have already taken place within the 12 months prior to lodging your paperwork at RMS.  We do not currently offer practical on water tuition but hope to offer on water practical courses in the near future.

About The Exam

The exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions. The exam concentrates heavily on safety.

You must achieve a result of 80% (24/30) in the first 30 questions and a result of 100% (20/20) in last 20 questions. If you fail the first attempt you will be provided the opportunity to re-sit the exam on the day. No more than 2 attempts can be made on the one day.

Restricted Licences (Young Adults)

There continues to be some confusion about boat licences for ‘junior licence applicants’ so here is some information which I hope will answer most questions.

A ‘restricted’ licence is for children aged between 12 and 16 years of age.  There are certain restrictions placed on their behaviour which we discuss during our courses.  When the restricted licence holder turns 16 years of age, the restrictions are automatically lifted from the licence.  That means that they DO NOT have to do another course, nor do they have to do another licence exam.  The course and exam is the same for licence applicants irrespective of their age.