What does CIMA's Case Study marking system mean for you?

CIMA’s Case Study marking can be tricky to get your head around. I’ve spoken to countless students who found it difficult to understand why they’d failed their case study. Often, students receive a ‘fail’ mark even when their results show they have a reasonably good understanding of all subject areas. 

So, what can you make of your Case Study results? With the August Case Studies coming up, it's a good time to explore what CIMA are looking for in order to grant that allusive ‘pass’!

How have Strategic students been getting on so far this year?

One thing I know is that finding out how other students have handled exams is a great way to help you build your own tailored study plan. Statistics don't lie - if lots of other students struggle to pass an exam, the likelihood is you will also need to study extra hard for it!

As we enter into the final months of 2017, now is the perfect time to look back at how students have performed with CIMA this year . The following Strategic CIMA results can show you how to tailor your own revision patterns to ensure CIMA success at Strategic level...

This student achieved what seemed impossible. Find out how...

Trust me, signing up for an online course will mean the difference between you passing and failing your exam. When striving to succeed in a CIMA exam, going it alone without the support of an online tutor, is not a good idea - as one of our recent graduates will contest!

Tim*, who spent four years trying to pass the Strategic Case Study exam, managed to finally achieve  his pass on the August 2017 sitting. How did he manage this after failing for so long? Read on to find out!

Want to succeed in your CIMA exams? Study online!

Do you ever find it difficult to fit in your CIMA course around your busy working life? If you do, you should seriously consider online learning for CIMA.

All of Astranti's CIMA materials are online. This means no classrooms, no waking up at the crack of dawn for an early morning class or dashing to a late evening session after a hard days work. Online courses and materials mean you can study in your own time, at your own pace and in your own way. 

As a tutor for the CIMA qualification, I know this is THE best way to study if you want to master the CIMA syllabus and achieve that all important pass. Here's why...

Get our last-minute revision tips!

It's the night before your CIMA exam and you're nervous and unsure how to proceed. Should you stay up and try and cram in as much extra revision as possible? Should you get an early night? Should you go for a run to try and clear your mind?

We've all been there - it can be a tricky decision. Many of us end up buckling under the pressure and trying to revise as much as possible until the early hours - but time and time again studies have shown this is not the best approach. Read on to find out how you can make the most of your pre-exam evening and set yourself up for CIMA success the next day!

Good time management is the key to success!

Good time management is essential for succeeding in any occupation - but to succeed as a CIMA qualified account, excellent time management needs to become second nature to you!

Of course, you want to get qualified so that you can kick-start your career, but you should also see your CIMA revision as an opportunity to perfect the time management skills that will be so essential to you as you progress. Read on to find out how to manage your time and master your CIMA revision!

Why videos are a great addition to your CIMA studies!

When I was at school, one of my favourite subjects was physics. There was a catch, however – I only really understood the theory when the lesson included a video. This could be cars whizzing around a racetrack to demonstrate the doppler effect, dolphins communicating underwater to show the differences in their communication or, my very favourite, a simulation of a rock being thrown through space and whizzing past all of the planets in our galaxy. With videos, physics suddenly jumped out of the dull textbooks and became alive – and the same can be said for videos and your CIMA revision!

So how can videos help your revision? Here's four reasons why!

Four must-read facts for aspiring accountants!

I'm sure you know how tough studying for CIMA exams can be. Revising in the evenings, in the early mornings, even during your lunch breaks - it seems like you're always working. What's more, some of the material can be really difficult to understand. Even the most hardworking students might sometimes question - is all this really worth it? 

Well the answer to that is 'yes it is'! Top accountancy jobs are among the highest paid jobs in the world, meaning your hard work will quite literally 'pay off' as you progress through your career. 

Check out our four fun accounting facts below - they're guaranteed to put a smile on the face of all prospective CIMA accountants! 

How to study on the go!

Sometimes it feels as though students' other commitments prevent them from studying as hard as they should. Well, this doesn't have to be the case - not all CIMA revision has to be done at a desk. In fact, you can learn well no matter where you happen to be, as long as you are prepared. 

Here's how to revise when you can't get to your computer... 

Must-read organisational tips to help you pass your exams!

You can’t be a good accountant if you aren’t organised. Revising for your CIMA exams is the perfect way to prepare yourself for the high levels of organisation and time management that you will need to maintain throughout your career. With this in mind, what changes can you make to help yourself stay organised ahead of your CIMA exams?

Remember anything with this crazy memory technique!

When revising for CIMA exams, memory power is very important. In many ways, exams are like sophisticated memory tests – if you can remember all the material from the CIMA syllabus and apply it correctly in your CIMA exams, you are on the path to success! 

The following technique will help you to unleash your full memory potential, including the power to remember everything you need for your CIMA exams! 

Humming to the tune of success...how music can help with revision!

Flashcards, pens every colour of the rainbow, chunky neon yellow highlighters….there are many tools that we use when revising for the CIMA exams. Some of you may prefer to write in plain black and on snow white paper, whilst others will pin notes all over the house to remind themselves of the key areas of the syllabus.

A trio of materials to combat the CIMA exam!

It's not long until the CIMA pre-seen is released! How is your revision going? Do you feel like your mind is blossoming with knowledge or do you currently feel like a stick in the mud who is feeling a little overwhelmed? Have no fear, we are here to help!

Our very first piece of advice would be to start your revision now. Yes, right now, before you start reading that 900-page book, begin studying origami or planning a walk that will take you as far away from the CIMA exam as possible. But without a pre-seen available from CIMA yet, how can you start revising? Well, we may have the materials just for you! The answer is in our Ethics pack, Course Videos and Study Texts. With these three, we have a trio to combat CIMA!

Three must read articles on the Wind Consultancy industry!

In my experience, students who dedicate time to researching the CIMA Case Study industry usually perform better. By doing this, it gives them a broader knowledge and the insight to enhance their exam answers and impress the CIMA examiners!

Remember, these are the people marking your scripts so listen to their advice. A good answer is a happy examiner, and a happy examiner equals a pass in the CIMA Case Study exam! 

To demonstrate my point, here is a quote from the latest CIMA Strategic Case Study report: 

"The pre-seen scenario was detailed and well prepared candidates should have been able to give good answers in the context of the industry." 

This shows that a wider understanding of the Wind Consultancy industry will help you when it comes to applying your knowledge in the CIMA August Case Study exam. With this in mind, here are three interesting articles I found to help contribute to your research:

Don't make the same mistakes as past students. Find out what they are...

So there's not much longer until the start of the CIMA Strategic Case Study exams! Are you ready? 

These last few days will be absolutely vital to your CIMA success, so make the most of the limited time available. I thought I would share with you the key points from the latest CIMA Strategic Case Study Examiner's Report as I really feel this is a great source of valuable information for everyone taking the exam in the coming weeks.

What better advice can you receive than from the examiners themselves? After all not only do they write the exam, they also mark it!

I attended a conference in London where examiners fed back on the performance of CIMA students. It's a shame that you were not all in the audience with me as they gave some great advice on how students can perform better in the exams. 

It was interesting to hear in the conference that the examiners were disappointed that many CIMA students did not take the time to read their reports, as the same problems were coming up time and time again. So to overcome this, we've captured the key points across the Examiner's Reports from the most recent sitting:

Must know tips from the SCS examiners!

The May 2016 CIMA Strategic Case Study Examiner's Report has just been released – as always it contains valuable information for students about to take their CIMA exams. 

It amazes me that so many CIMA students don't pay attention to the Examiners' Reports. After all, they are the people you need to impress on the big day!

These reports highlight the same old issues that come up time and time again. They summarise the mistakes students are making in the exams and give important and helpful advice on areas they should improve.

Make sure you don't ignore these! To help you out we've captured the key points from the May report here:

Why starting now can maximise your chances of passing!

It can be tempting to wait until the pre-seen is released, before starting revision for a CIMA Case Study exam.

But are there things you could be doing before-hand? Of course, the answer is always yes!

The earlier you can start your CIMA preparation, the more flexibility you will have with your revision and the more chance you will have of covering all of the required areas.

I know from the experience of working with many CIMA students over the years, that the ones that start early, have the better chance of passing their exam!

With this in mind, here are a few things you could be doing before the pre-seen is released:

50% of students found the exam to be more difficult than they expected. See the results from our survey...

Learning from the experience of past CIMA Strategic Case Study students can be the recipe for success!

So it's been a couple of weeks since we launched our SCS Experience Survey, and the results beginning to emerge are very interesting.

Learning lessons from CIMA students who have been through the exam can really help you to achieve success. Find out below how difficult students found they exam, their most common mistakes, and where they felt they should have spent more time during their revision.

Don't let stress be the reason for failing your CIMA exams!

Stress can be your biggest enemy when it comes to your CIMA exams! In my fifteen years of teaching, I've seen excellent students fail their exams due to an inability to manage their stress levels! This is such a shame as they often work long and hard to achieve success.

Remember, everyone gets nervous in the build up to important events. Whether it's starting a new job, attending an interview or making a wedding speech, it's perfectly natural to feel butterflies in your stomach before the big day.

Sportsmen often say that a little stress is a good thing as it actually improves their performance. Similarly many famous actors suffer from stage fright just before giving outstanding performances on the stage.

Like these successful people, the secret is it to control the stress not let the stress control you!

So, let's think about stress in terms of your CIMA exams. Take a look at these 5 great tips that could be key the to passing:

6 ways to significantly improve your work life balance

Juggling work, revision and home life is the single biggest challenge for many CIMA students.

I was recently counseling a CIMA student who was struggling with getting this balance right. He was a committed rugby player as well as a father of two small children. Combined with a busy job in the finance team of a large multi-national corporation, his CIMA revision seemed like a step too far in his busy schedule. He found that not only was his revision going badly, he was not managing any of the key parts of his life successfully. He was heading for problems!

This reminded me of many conversations I have had with Accountancy students over the 15 years I've been teaching.

Of course there is no simple answer, but there are some steps that can be followed to help students to get the balance right and be successful in their CIMA exams.

Here are my six key tips: