Along with an effective study plan, good exam techniques are of crucial importance in the exams

Follow these guidelines to maximise your chances of success.

Exam formats

Make sure that you are familiar with the exam formats before the exam. They will tell you how many sections and questions are on the paper - and whether the questions are compulsory or if you will have a choice. You will also see the mark allocations for each question on the paper.

When you go into the exam you should already know how many questions you have to answer and the marks awarded for each question. This information is also given on the front of the exam paper.

Look at past exam papers and post exam guides to familiarise yourself with the exam formats - both of these are available from the Study Resources area.

Time management

During the 20 minutes you can:

• read the question paper;
• annotate or highlight the question paper.

However you will not be allowed to:

• open the answer book;
• write in the answer book;
• add any loose sheets/supplements to your answer book; and;
• use calculators.

Failure to comply with these rules will be considered as a serious breach of the exam regulations.

For further guidance on using the additional 20 minutes reading time effectively, read Martin Taylor's article (PDF 85KB), published in the May 2005 issue of Financial Management.

To help you manage your time effectively in the exams we will also include indicative time allocations at the beginning of each section of the exam paper.

The written component for all of the Professional qualification exams remains at three hours long – this means that you have 1.8 minutes per mark. For each question you should multiply the number of marks for each part of the question by 1.8. This will give you the time that you should spend on that part of the question.

Do not go over the time allowed for each question . Once your time has run out go on to the next question. The first 50% of the marks on each question are the easiest to get. The last 50% of the marks are clearly the most difficult to get, especially the last 25% as this would be in the ‘perfect answer’ category. Do not spend a disproportionate amount of time trying to create one perfect answer instead of answering all questions.

The key is to make sure that you leave time to tackle all the questions. If you have time left over you can always go back and add notes to an earlier answer.

Practice, practice, practice

Practice CIMA exam questions as part of your study plan. Try to get your practice questions marked and reviewed. Get feedback on both the content of your answer and your technique. If you can’t get a CIMA tutor to mark it then you could work with another CIMA student. Review each other's work and - with the help of our question and answer booklets and post exam guides - give some constructive feedback.

Visit CIMA Publishing for Study Systems, Exam Practice Kits, Revision Cards and Question and Answers.

Tackling questions

Do not rush into answering the questions. Spend some time reading the paper and analysing what the examiner is looking for.

Read the requirements for the question carefully. You will lose marks if you:

• answer only part of the question;
• answer the question you hoped to see; or
• answer a previous question on the same topic.

Highlight key words and phrases from the question and try to concentrate on these words when writing your answer - this will help make sure that you answer the question that is set.

Read this article (PDF 122KB) by David Harris for a full explanation of the importance of verbs, both in the syllabus and exam questions, and to find out how you should approach exam questions in order to maximise your mark earning potential.

From May 2005 you will not answer the Managerial level section A sub-questions on a special answer sheet. Read more about this change (PDF 173KB) and find out how we recommend you answer section A questions in your exam answer book.

The MindPlanning approach tackles the critical area of exam technique, helping you to understand the question being asked and giving you the ability to build a suitable structured answer - find out more.

Plan your answer

Your plan will depend on the type of question. Spend a brief amount of time on a plan, to which you can refer.

For computational questions - use proforma layouts when possible

Examples of these are:

• Trading and profit and loss accounts
• Cashflow statements
• Balance sheets
• Corporation tax computations
• Standard costing variance calculations and reconciliations
• Process accounts
• Bank reconciliation statements

Complete the proforma (the outline for the answer) and show all your workings with cross-references. They will provide a trail through the answer for the marker who can then award marks for the method even if the final answer is incorrect.

For narrative style questions - presentation and style is important

Write your answers in sentences. Lists of bullet points that consist of a few words are not acceptable as it is not clear to the marker what point you are trying to make. Use paragraphs with clear headings. Most paragraphs should contain two or three sentences. Reports should look like reports. Make sure they have the correct headings, an introductory paragraph and a conclusion or recommendation in the final paragraph. When possible, support your answer with examples or by referring to the scenario in the question. This will reinforce the point that you are making.

Review the answer

Leave a little time to review your answer. Quickly re-read the question and make sure that you have answered all of the requirements. Check your answer plan to make sure that you have included everything in your answer.

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