Charlie & the Chocolate Factory made me shave my head

Since I was a child I have had a fear of chewing gum.  I was 9 years old the first time that I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I’m not talking about the lesser remake, but the original with the brilliant Gene Wilder and the bright orange Oompa Lumpas.  I watched in awe as Violet Beauregarde chewed her gum and put it behind her ear for later.  I loved the idea of the three-course chewing gum meal, well until she turned blue at least!  So, being nine years old, I decided to copy Violet and put my cherry hubba bubba chewing gum behind my ear.

This was something I had never done before and I must have totally forgotten it was there.  My mum put me to bed that night and a few hours later I woke up to one side of my head being sticky and my hair clumping and absolutely covered.  I remember shouting for my mum to help and I will never forget the look of horror on her face when she entered my room.  Bright pink chewing gum had spread from behind my ear to cover the left side of my hair.  There was no getting it out – no matter how much she pulled and pulled the chewing gum was lodged into the hair and there to stay.  Out came the razor, and after what felt like fifteen years I had a shaved head.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I don’t want you to have the same fear of chewing gum, as it can actually be highly useful for your CIPS training.  According to a growing number of studies chewing gum can actually increase your alertness, improve concentration and even improve your performance in tests.  Students in studies who had chewing gum outperformed those without 5 out of 6 different tests.  This concentration seems to only work short-term, but could make a huge difference to your result in the exam.

Crack out that chewing gum and start your revision!

(P.S make sure the gum is without xylitol as you don’t want the artificial sweeteners to slow you down!)

Level 3 Diamond Timetable

Exam Series Module No. of sessions Dates
November 2023
M1
3
2nd Oct, 16th Oct, 30th Oct
March 2024
M2 & M3
6
15th Jan, 29th Jan, 5th Feb, 19th Feb, 26th Feb, 4th Mar
May 2024
M4
3
15th Apr, 22nd Apr, 29th Apr
July 2024
M5
3
3rd June, 10th June, 24th June

Level 6 Diamond Timetable

Exam Series Module No. of sessions Dates
November 2023
M1
3
5th Oct, 19th Oct, 9th November
March 2024
M2 & M5
5
25th Jan, 1st Feb, 8th Feb, 22nd Feb, 29th Feb
May 2024
M4 & M7
4
18th April, 25th April, 2nd May, 9th May
July 2024
M3 & M8
5
30th May, 13th June,20th June, 27th June, 4th July

Level 5 Diamond Timetable

Exam Series Module No. of sessions Dates
November 2023
M1 & M2
4
4th Oct, 11th Oct, 18th Oct, 25th Oct, 1st Nov, 8th Nov
March 2024
M5, M15 & M9
4
31st Jan, 7th Feb, 21st Feb, 28th Feb, 6th March
May 2024
M3 & M8
4
10th April, 17th April, 24th April, 1st May
July 2024
M4
3
5th June, 12th June, 26th June

Level 4 Diamond Timetable

Exam Series Module No. of sessions Dates
November 2023
M1 & M2
5
3rd Oct, 10th Oct, 17th Oct, 24th Oct, 7th Nov
March 2024
M3, M5, M7
6
23rd Jan, 30th Jan, 6th Feb, 20th Feb, 27th Feb, 5th March
May 2024
M4 & M6
4
9th April, 16th April, 23rd April, 30th April
July 2024
M8
3
4th June, 18th June, 2nd July