Maritime Coastguard Agency
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This Marine Information Note (MIN) provides information and outlines the updated Oral exam syllabus, for Merchant Navy engineer officers and Electro-Technical Officers, leading to the issue of a UK Certificate of Competency.
This is a notice to all Owners, Masters, Officers, Ratings and those concerned with maritime training. This notice should be read with MSN 1857, MSN 1859, MSN 1860, MIN 675 and replaces MGN 69.
The STCW Convention requires all officers to complete an approved education and training programme and meet the standards of competence specified in the STCW Code. All education and training programmes leading to a Certificate of Competency (CoC) must be mapped to the Code and approved by the MCA. The MCA Deck oral examination syllabus is mapped to the relevant STCW Code tables. The oral examination forms part of the assessment for the attainment of all MCA Certificates of Competency, and all candidates must demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the English language. Following the initial one-year roll-out period of this syllabus, no feedback has been provided and as such the guidance has been extended for a further two years. Any feedback in this period should be sent to exams@mcga.gov.uk.
This MIN expires 01 May 2026