Just a point of information; the individual providing the training is not permitted to administer the qualification test.

With regards to the CWI seminars, the intent is not to provide a beginner with the training required to transpose into a position as a welding inspector. The intent is to provide a thorough review to someone that has been working in some capacity with a recognized welding standard and is familiar with quality control functions.

Having said that, it is apparent there are a number of folks that sign up for the seminar that have little, if any experience, working to a code and have no experience in quality control or in many cases welding or welding inspection. These same people are upset when they and overwhelmed by the breadth of information presented during the seminar.

Those individuals that arrive at the CWI seminar, well prepared and with the requisite experience do very good on the examinations. Those found lacking, well, let's say they have their homework to do in preparation for their next attempt.

There are those venues that provide a more relaxed pace that are perhaps better suited for those individuals without the experience in quality control and weak in welding technology. AWS does not make it a prerequisite to attend their CWI seminar. One can home study, take a seminar offered by any number of private companies, or in some cases attend training sessions offered by their local section of AWS. Everyone has to determine what course is the correct one for them given their particular situation. The training doesn't have to break the bank if one studies on their own and purchases the necessary books a few at a time and spread the effort over time.

In my case, I took several seminars offered by my local section. I remember one course that spanned ten weeks and covered welding processes. Another weekend was spent covering welding metallurgy. Another training seminar was on the subject of NDT. None of these training sessions were specifically intended to prepare a person for the CWI, but it did fit the bill and in many respects was overkill for one intending to take the CWI, but that was before AWS had a formal training program. 

AWS has online based training available to those looking for such training. One can study at home without loosing work time or a paycheck. They are a bit pricey, but there are less expensive alternatives for those not inclined to spend the money for the online courses. What ever course of study is taken, education is always expensive, if in no other way than it takes time and effort on the part of the individual that expects to expand their employment opportunities.

Al

Seminar? Instructor???
I took the TEST back in '86 after ordering the study materials from the AWS. Read most of the materials supplied in 3 months prior to the exam. I suppose the 12 month welding program I attended 10 years earlier was a very good one since the CWI exam seemed to be little more than our final exam at VoTech School. Heck, I had never even seen a code book until 2 weeks prior to the exam when a friend that was on the Alaska Pipeline gave me a well worn stapled, 35 page Xerox'ed copy of API 1104 (15th Edition?) complete with circles, arrows, blood, mud and frayed/tattered edges to use for test day.

I think it all boils down to as my late great friend Lloyd Rummel (Who was a Proctor on the first CWI test) had on his classroom blackboard: "There is no substitute for daily preparation".
That being said, I have heard countless stories from failed candidates. The common back story is, they all expect the seminar to do it all for them.
One piece of advice is to sharpen your basic math skills in simple conversions. That way you will be able to spend more time pondering the difficult questions rather than trying to figure out the psi on a tensile pull question.
Find some one in here to buy the books from or get your own and then sell the new ones you get at the seminar.
Read, read and read some more.