Preparing for the Skills Pass assessments and interview

What this guide can and cannot tell you

The official Skills Pass programme does not publish past examination questions, question banks, or specific pass marks for Phase 1 assessments. This guide therefore focuses on what official materials say each course covers, and how to prepare from those topic descriptions — not on guessing specific questions or reproducing content that belongs to Skills Pass.

The approach here is the one official materials actually support: understand the topics, engage with the course content genuinely, and treat the assessments as a check of that understanding rather than a hurdle to memorise around.

Phase 1 — what each course covers

Official materials describe Phase 1 as consisting of two courses, each with its own assessment:

Basic Customer Care

Official descriptions point to foundational service skills relevant to guest-facing roles in tourism and hospitality. The likely topic areas — based on what official materials describe as the purpose of this course — include:

• Professional conduct and presentation in a hospitality setting
• Handling guest requests, complaints, and difficult situations
• Communication and teamwork in a service environment
• Basic standards expected by MTA-licensed establishments

Basic Maltese Tourism Product

Official descriptions point to baseline knowledge of Malta’s tourism offering. Topic areas likely to be covered:

• Malta’s main tourism attractions, landmarks, and regions
• Malta’s hospitality sector — hotel categories, main operators, and what MTA licensing means
• Practical information about Malta that guest-facing staff are expected to know
• Seasonal patterns and the type of visitors Malta receives

Official materials do not describe the assessments as trick questions or highly technical examinations. The framing throughout is practical — preparing workers to serve guests competently — which means preparing from the same framing is the right approach.

Phase 1 — how to study effectively within the 42-day window

1. Begin Phase 1 promptly after registration. The 42-day window starts at registration, not at first login. Starting on day one — rather than day five or ten — gives you the most room to review, re-sit if needed, and still have time left over for Phase 2 booking.
2. Work through the course content fully, not on skip. The assessments check whether you engaged with the material. Reading through each module genuinely before attempting the assessment is both faster and more reliable than guessing and re-sitting.
3. Take notes on the specific terminology the course uses. Assessment questions will draw from the language and framing of the course itself. Noting the exact terms and definitions the course uses — rather than your own paraphrases — makes it easier to recognise the correct answer in a multiple-choice context.
4. If you fail an assessment, read the feedback before re-sitting. One free re-sit is available per assessment. Using it immediately without reviewing where you went wrong wastes the opportunity.

Phase 2 — preparing for the live interview

Official materials describe Phase 2 as a roughly 30-minute video-conferencing session combining true/false and open-ended questions that assess both English proficiency and occupation-specific competency. Preparation for Phase 2 is most effective when it is specific:

• Review your occupation’s core duties in the context of a Maltese hospitality setting. The interviewer is checking that you understand the role you selected — not testing generic knowledge.
• Practise spoken English around your role. Describing what a waiter, receptionist, or chef does in a hotel — in plain conversational English — is the level of English the interview assesses. You do not need to prepare for a formal language examination.
• Review the Phase 1 course material you found most challenging. Open-ended questions in Phase 2 draw from the same subject areas as Phase 1. Spending 30 minutes revisiting the parts of Phase 1 you found least clear is a more targeted use of your preparation time than re-reading material you already understood well.