Eat, Drink, (Study), Sleep, Repeat!

We all have our own little ways when it comes to exam preparation, and for some of us these techniques have proven to be successful over and over again. Whether that involves religiously scrolling through mountains and mountains of revision notes right up until the exam itself, or whether it’s making sure that we have our lucky exam socks on that haven’t been washed since the miracle success in the chemistry exam of ’98!

However, for the vast amount of us, we still haven’t quite worked out a routine which works best for us individually when it comes to exam preparation. We may have all of the knowledge around the theory that we need, but by the time the exam comes around the corner, and the questions are in front of us, our minds just go blank…

For this reason, I’ve compiled a short set of tips for people who may be unsure of how to physically prepare during the last few days leading up to the exam.

Number 1: Brain Food.

CIMA E3 - Big Data

There are many challenging E3 topics that you will need to understand in order to successfully pass your E3 exam. For example, Big Data is a subject which many students find difficult to grasp at first!

At Astranti we aim to make difficult subjects easy to understand. All of our materials are designed to ensure that our students are given in-depth knowledge of all the key subjects, but in a format that allows you to learn easily and effectively. 

As an example we'd like to share with you a new and updated section of our E3 Study Text which explains Dig Data in a straight forward and clear way. 

Big data and it's uses

Big data is a term used to describe sets of data so large that they simply cannot be analysed and interpreted by standard reporting facilities. The value of big data is that it allows you to draw from an enormous amount of different data as opposed to having many separate sets. As a result it can be possible to identify unusual business trends and correlations that would otherwise be impossible to spot.

Big data has the potential for almost universal application; here are some examples of big data being implemented in the real world:

• Used by some hospitals to monitor patient details and the treatment sought, meaning they can assess the likelihood of readmission and if high make sure the issue is resolved there and then thus saving time and money further down the line.
• Consumer goods companies monitoring facebook/twitter and as a result gaining key and an uninhibited insight into consumer behaviour which they then use in their marketing campaigns.

• Governments can use them to measure crime rates as big data allows the inclusion of many other factors which in theory can help determine why crime rates are increasing/decreasing rather than just the fact that they are.

Gartner's Three Vs

In a 2001 research report Gartner outlined three key challenges faces organisations with their data. These three elements are:

Volume - increasing volumes of data mean there is a lot more to manage and it is harder to extract key information from it

Velocity – there is an increasing speed of data in and out, which means data can quickly change. This means that information analysis needs to be quick to spot and react to the latest change.

Variety – the range of data types and sources of data can be varied making analysis difficult. e.g. data in different IT systems in an organisation being hard to bring together to analyse linkages.

Gartner then came up with a formal definition of big data related to these 3Vs which is:

Big data is high volume, high velocity, and/or high variety information assets that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision making, insight discovery and process optimisation.

The seven stages of the big data process

The seven key stages and challenges that make up the big data process are as follows:

Capture – What kind of data is needed and how is going to be captured. This is usually an indirect source (rather than manual data input), a prime example would be the barcode reader in a retail outlet.

Storage – As you might expect, the amount of data we are talking about cannot be simply saved on a laptop hard drive. Big data sets can require physical systems that take up entire rooms or even buildings. In addition to the sheer size needed both physically and memory-wise you will need to make sure the systems are adequately protected as you may have access to private customer information.

Curation – Once the data has been captured it then must be organised, controlled after and maintained in a way that allows it to be usable and re-usable, an on-going, day to day upkeep of the data in effect. This may involve the way it is structured on the system to enable it to be analysed.

Analysis – The process of interpreting the data, millions of bits of info means nothing unless you can use to help answer questions/illustrate results etc. This could be the ability to separate the data out by date, product, customer or make linkages between different types of data e.g. sales made by customer group at different times of the year.

Visualisation – The data which is analysed needs to be illustrated in a clear and digestible format so that it can be used to make decisions. This may take the form of graphs or condensed simple tables.

Search – When you have as much data as a big data system can compile you must find a way to search across the vast data landscape to find the info you want. An example of a search system would be google; which can accurately search through billions of web pages based on a few key search terms. Each 'big data' system needs it's own 'google' type search system to access the relevant data and help users access relevant information.

Data Sharing and Transfer – Data must be shared with those who need it so that relevant people can access the information produced and indeed relevant information is proactively sent to the people who can best use the information gained.

Big data as a strategic resource

Big data is increasingly becoming of strategic importance. As an example, retailers that understand their customers and their needs better by analysing big data are able to produce better products, target marketing campaigns better and price products in a way that attracts more custom based on past buying patterns. Together this can provide firms who use Big Data effectively a competitive advantage.

Astranti Financial Training. 

CIMA official pass rates - F3 has the lowest pass rates at Strategic level

Hi everyone,

As you are probably aware, yesterday CIMA published the pass rates for the Objective Test exams. These statistics are based on students who have attempted the exams between January and May 2015. 

Here are the key points to take from yesterday's pass rates:

• The performance pillar is achieving the lowest pass rates with only 54% of students passing P1, 57% passing P2 and P3
• The enterprise pillar is achieving the best pass rates overall. 83% of students passing E1, 91% passing E2 and 71% passing E3 
• P1 has the lowest pass rates at Operational level
• P2 has the lowest pass rates at Management level
• F3 has the lowest pass rates at Strategic level
• Overall the F1 and P3 exams have the lowest pass rates
• Overall the E2 has the highest pass rate
• In more than half of the objective test subjects less than 50% of students are passing first time

Although the exam style and format has changed for these subjects, it is interesting to compare the pass rates from last year to this year. As you can see from the table above the pass rates have generally been a lot higher since the implementation of the objective test exams

Astranti Financial Training 

The secret to passing the CIMA OT exams revealed

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to those of you that completed our survey to find out - What does it take to pass an Objective Test exam?
So far we've had a great response with over 60 students taking part!

We've received responses from students who've passed and failed exams across all CIMA subjects, This means we have good range on which to base our findings.

These findings should definitely help you in your upcoming exams and will surely be beneficial to future students.
Here is an overview of the key points:

The secret to passing is...

Putting in the hours!
We were able to break down the exam pass rate by hours of study and the results were clear.

Hours of study	Number of Passes	Number of Fails
40-60	22	10
Less than 40	40	41

• Students that studied for between 40-60 hours had a pass rate* of 69%
• Students that studied for less than 40 hours had a pass rate of 49%

If you want to increase your chances of success, you should aim to study for 4-6 weeks and put in 10+ hours each week.
*Pass rate= number of passes/total number of attempts

The toughest exam is...

• Based on the survey, students are failing P3 and F3 on more than one occasion before they pass.
• So far P3 had the highest failure rate in our survey proving to be the toughest exam.
• Now that CIMA have changed the pass mark, I would hope that the pass rate in these exams falls into line with the others!

What materials should I be using?

• Study Texts, Mock Exams and Revision Questions were the most popular study materials used by students, with a majority of respondents finding them 'useful' or 'extremely useful'.
• Everybody (that's 100%!) who had passed an exam had used Study Texts as part of their revision and 95% had completed Mock Exams.
• 80% of those people who have used Mock Exams had completed 3 or more.
• More than three quarters of students who had passed exams had used Revision/Practice Questions.
• A combination of study texts, revision questions and mock exams was seen by students as the most useful revision materials.
• By contrast, the use of these materials was much lower for students who failed exams. More than half of the students who had failed, did not use revision/practice questions as part of their preparation for the exams.

Lastly, we were pleased to see that every student in the survey that used our Astranti materials had passed their exams.

You can still take part in the survey by going to the following link. It's totally anonymous and will only take a few minutes - What does it take to pass an Objective Test exam?

Astranti Financial Training.

28.6% find SCS exam harder than expected - see the results of our survey

Hi everyone, 

We recently asked our students to complete a survey based on their experience of their recent Strategic Case Study Exam. 

We've been looking at the fascinating feedback very carefully and here is a summary of the key points:

54.8% of respondents found the difficulty of the exam to be 'as expected', with 28.6% finding it 'more difficult'.

Students commented that that there weren't any big surprises in the exam and the questions were fair in comparison to what they anticipated.

Some students commented that their writing approach and structuring of answers went well in the exam, with many saying that the Astranti study text was helpful in these areas.

They also felt they did well in applying the pre-seen into their answers which is a good sign!

Time management was stated as an issue by many students, emphasising the need for mock practise.

Other comments indicated that many students found they had a good understanding of the theory but found it difficult to apply the models within specific questions.

Almost 50% of students concluded that they should have spent more time on mock exams.

36.8% said they would revise LESS theory

Here are 5 tips from the survey for future students:

1. Become an expert on time management
2. Complete as many mock exams as you can
3. Understand the pre-seen and industry in-depth
4. Don't put too much time into the study of theory (but do enough so you are competent!)
5. Make sure you answer the question!

We hope you've found this information useful.

If you've took your strategic Case Study exam and you've yet completed the survey we would love to hear from you - SCS Survey 

Astranti Financial Training.

Important - CIMA Release Announcement about the P3 and F3 Exam - Pass mark lowered

Hi Everyone,

An important announcement came has been released by CIMA today. 

The pass marks for the CIMA P3 and F3 objective tests have been lowered.

If you have taken either the P3 or F3 exams since January 2015 and failed, your exam will be re-marked and could possibly be awarded a pass. 

The official advice from CIMA is:
•If you have completed a course of study in P3 or F3 and have developed a strong understanding of the learning outcomes, you should schedule an exam as soon as possible (after 3rd June for F3)
•If you have had one or more fail attempts at P3 or F3, you should not schedule a retake but should wait until 11th June when CIMA will be back in touch with details of your individual situation.
•If you have any further questions on this matter, please contact your CIMA Learning Business Partner.

Read the full statement below:

'Dear Student

Thank you for having recently taken our F3 and/or P3 exam(s). These exams are not designed to be easy. We know just how hard you have worked to get this far and recognise that the time and effort of taking the exams is considerable.

A number of you have expressed concerns. We are grateful for the feedback and are committed to addressing it as quickly as possible. We recognise the difficulties that have arisen for some of you.

I am writing to explain the current situation and to let you know that we will be able to confirm your own position on 11th June 2015.  For some who have failed, this will mean that you will be told you have passed, as we go on to explain.

Our recently launched computer-based objective tests have been widely welcomed as an important innovation enabling immediate results. The change in the exam method which meant that results could be immediately given on-line from January 2015 necessarily relied on predicted scores. Now that we have enough data to analyse actual performance, we know that, in two of the nine subject exams, pass marks were higher than they needed to be to demonstrate competence.

We have decided that we should, and will, change the pass mark for the P3 and F3 exams. We will apply these changes both retrospectively and to future exams.

This means, that following the review which is underway:

- Students who have failed either exam one or multiple times will have their exams reviewed and may receive a pass.
 - Students who have failed one or multiple times and subsequently passed, will have their earlier fails reviewed to establish whether they would have passed earlier.
 - Students who have taken the exam and passed first time retain their pass. No pass will be changed to a fail.
 - The pass mark for the P3 exam has been changed.
 - The pass mark for the F3 exam will be changed by 3rd June 2015 and any sat beforehand will be subject to the review.

It is important the review process is fair, comprehensive and robust for each student concerned. Once it is complete, we will contact you on 11th June 2015 with your outcome and to explain the next steps.

CIMA staff will be unable to confirm any student’s individual position before 11th June, so please be patient with us for a little longer.

We recognise and are grateful to you for being one of the first students to take these new exams.  Given the gap between the actual pass marks and those needed to demonstrate competence I am sorry that we were not clearer in managing your expectations and setting out the basis on which results might be reviewed, and if necessary, changed.

Whilst this is by no means unique to CIMA – as you may be aware from coverage of similar issues reported by many other exam boards – I do recognise that this has had some significant impacts depending on individual circumstances for you and fellow students who were the first to take these exams.

We are committed to working with you to ensure that you are in the best possible position to succeed in your studies – and will review your own situation with you once your results are confirmed on 11th June.

You have my personal commitment that we will do right by you on your journey with CIMA.

Yours sincerely,

Noel Tagoe
 Executive Director, CIMA Education'

Key points to note

- If you have already passed P3, then these changes do not affect you, you have still passed.
 - If you have failed P3 and have already scheduled to sit the exam again before the 11th June, then we would advise that you postpone the exam until we have spoken to you individually. If you are scheduled to sit P3 or F3 in the next 48 hours, our recommendation is for you not to attend. We will eliminate the no show from your record and credit you the cost of the exam.

Does this affect you?

Do you think CIMA have take the correct course of action?

Please leave comments on our new CIMAforum

Nick Best and the Astranti Team

Advice on days leading up to the SCS exam and the exam day itself

Hi,

The week's finally here! With the Strategic Case Study Analysis exams taking place this week, we thought it would be a good idea to offer you some useful advice on the days leading up to the exam and the exam day itself. This may also be useful to those of you taking your Strategic Objective Tests soon. 

Here are 8 tips for the next few days:

1)  Check that you are familiar with the exam location
It's worth checking the location of your exam centre in advance so that you can
get an idea of how long it will take you to travel there. You may need to take 
traffic or weather conditions into consideration. If you are driving to your exam
it is often beneficial to check the parking situation and even have a trial run 
at the same time of day. Directions and maps to all Pearson Exam Centres 
can be found on their website.



2)  Check the day and time of your exam
It’s likely that you booked your CIMA exam a few months back, so it is highly recommended that you check your emails to ensure you have got this right. It may seem obvious but it’s definitely worth double checking!

   3)  Wake up early – give yourself plenty of time
If you have a morning exam, wake up early and give yourself plenty of time 
to avoid being in a rush. Being stressed over being late is not ideal before 
an exam. Remember you need to turn up 15 minutes before your exam 
time to complete the check in procedures.

4)  Check that you have everything you need

             You are required to present two forms of identification on the day of the exam.     Check the Pearson Vue website for more details.

        5)  Only skim through your notes the night before the exam

It is recommended that students do not attempt to learn any new 
information on the night before the exam. By this stage you probably
will have learnt everything you possibly can.  It is also recommend that you
do not do any revision on the morning of the exam. By this point it’s too
late to learn a lot of new content and can just cause you to panic and stress.

6)  Have a relaxing evening the night before your exam
Do not spend your evening revising. Relax, wind down and ensure that you get a good night’s sleep. At least 8 hours sleep is recommended.

7)  Avoid contact with other students

Discussing the exam with other students on the days leading up to the exam
can sometimes create anxiety and panic. People often start to worry that the 
others have done more work than themselves – which is mostly not the case!



8)  Remember being nervous is OK!
Most people get nervous before exams. Remember that this can be a positive thing. It creates an adrenaline rush and can often bring out the best in people. Remember, you’ve spent a long time revising for this exam and you ARE prepared!

Good luck from the team at Astranti. Remember we have a wide range of Strategic Case Studies materials on our website for any last minute revision - and there is 25% off!

Best wishes,

Nick Best and the Astranti team

Astranti Financial Training

Useful Memory Techniques! - Part Two

Hi,

Further to Friday's blog post on memory techniques, here are four more tips for you to use in your revision. 

Remember it's not just about knowing the content, the key to being successful in exams is to be able to recall it in a structured way. 

Everybody learns in different ways so find the techniques that best fit with your own style. 

5. Reinventing your notes

By reinventing your notes in different formats you may find that you are able to retain them better in your memory. So rather than re-reading your notes time and time again, consider re-writing them occasionally. This refreshes your memory and also makes you think about what you are writing and what it's about. This could be key to passing the exam.

6. Choose an easy for read font!

When revising for an exam it is recommended that your revision notes are in Times New Roman. This font is considered one of the easiest to read and as a result of this it will make it much easier for you to learn and memorise your revision notes!

If your notes are clearly written and easy on the eye then it will really help when it comes to trying to remember the content. 

7. Chunking information

Have you heard of the term 'chunking'? By dividing large amounts of information into smaller chunks an individual can remember a lot more detail. This is achieved through focusing on memorising those chunks as individual pieces. It's then relatively easy to bring the individual parts together. 

A great example is how an eleven digit telephone number is often broken down into three chunks. People remember the area code and then break down the remaining digits into two pieces. This chunking of telephone numbers is done without even recognising that it's 'chunking'!

8. Use Flashcards

Flash cards are an effective way of summarising important parts of your revision notes such as key definitions and formulas. Not only does it contain the vital information, the appearance of the flashcard can also help you to remember the content in an exam situation. There are many flashcard creators on-line for you to try out- why don't you take a look and see what's out there?!

Look out for our next four memory tips over the next week. 

Nick Best and the Astranti team
Astranti Financial Training.

Key points from the CIMA Q&A session hosted by the head of Learning and Development at CIMA, Peter Stewart

Key points from the CIMA UK Facebook Q&A session hosted by the head of Learning and Development at CIMA, Peter Stewart on Wednesday 6th May 2015.

Here are some answers from Peter Stewart in response to student questions raised on Facebook.

Interesting details on the pass mark for Objective Tests

“We released an indicative pass mark of 70% for Objective Tests last year. This represents the standard required to pass, however the way in which we assess students in objective tests means we can't issue percentage scores. A raw score is produced, but due to objective tests drawing on a range of questions from a question bank, we cannot compare student performance from exam to exam. To determine whether a student has passed or failed, an industry standard psychometric method called Anghof has been used to identify the minimum boundary required by a student to demonstrate competence in each question and syllabus topic area. Once a sufficient number of exams have been sat across all nine objective tests we will be in a position to start issuing scaled scores as we currently do for Case Study exams”.

Information on pass rates

“Detailed pass rates will be available as soon as we can produce statistically valid figures (weeks rather than months). The case study results went out recently (including a 62% UK rate at the Strategic Level) and they suggest to me that that area of assessment hasn't made life harder for candidates. For the majority of the OTQ exams, it currently looks like the pass rates are at or above what you would have expected throughout the 2010 syllabus”.

Comments regarding the review of F3 and P3

“Performance in the F3 tests is being analysed with the intention of being able to feed back to students & tutors with guidance on how to improve chances of passing. We've had no indication that there is a fault in the test and, therefore, no plans to "re-write”.

“Please don't read the "review" as being an expectation that the exam is somehow faulty and we need to make changes. We have statistical data on the performance of all questions across the exams and are analysing that to identify the syllabus areas that need attention”.

Useful advice on Time Management in OT exams

“There's always been time pressure in exams. I guess it feels a bit different when you can see that there's a clock ticking and a specific number of questions to complete. Don't work on an assumption that EACH question takes 1.5 mins. Some will take less than that, others will require longer. It's part of the process of setting what we call a "balanced" test and the mix of question styles is taken into account when achieving that balance. I've described a "3 sweep" approach to going through the exams. First - the quick and straightforward questions; Second (using the review screen after Q60) - the questions where you know that you know how to answer but need calculations or a bit of thinking time; lastly (again on the review screen of incomplete questions) the lengthier and more involved ones”.

Reasons for the exams being computerised

“We have taken a well regarded approach in the sector by using computer based assessments. Our exams are able to assess 100% of syllabus content in each subject as opposed to approximately 70% under the paper-based model prior to 2015. This ensures that the qualification you're studying is rigorous and produces competent and skilled CGMAs based on the needs of businesses”.

Answer to a student’s concerns over method marks not being given in new style of exams.

“I'll start with the 'Devil's advocate' answer. If you had to provide an analysis to your boss that was full of errors, do you think you'd get credit for 'method used'? OTQs have developed over the years to become an accepted (and expected) method of assessment in some very high-stakes exam. The variety of questions makes it highly unlikely that someone will get through on guesswork and the specifically objective nature of them means that you'll get through if you really know your stuff. No single question is worth enough marks that it, alone, makes the difference to passing or failing. We've set the pass mark at the 70% level to allow for this calculation errors etc, that you mention. We've also got the case studies which you allow you to demonstrate how you apply your knowledge in a work-based scenario”.

Response to those students that are considering moving to the ACCA qualification

“I'd be naturally disappointed. I don't think people should seek a professional qualification based upon how easy it is to obtain (which weakens the value of the qualification) but upon the employment opportunities that the qualification gives you”.

Information on the marks awarded on ‘tick all that apply’ questions

“There are about 6 different styles of OT question; "Tick all that apply" is one and is used more towards the upper levels of the syllabus. It aims to test the completeness of your knowledge/application and so the score is only awarded for a perfect match”.

Reasons for CIMA’s decision to not give students detailed feedback after their exam.

“The old system had all students taking the same exam and so you could compare scores with one another and discuss with your tutor. The fact that you all have slightly different sets of questions makes that comparison misleading. We indicate syllabus areas that need more attention than others. We can't drill into that with more detail for a few reasons (I'll come back to if time allows) but do expect that a student can reflect on that feedback and assess whether your own learning led you to a position where you were confident (and so failed with a couple of wrong questions) or if it's an area that you really didn't get to grips with - in which case you, yourself, know that the questions were beyond you”.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/cimauk for more answers.

Discuss your opinions about this Q&A session with other students on our CIMA forum page - http://cimaforum.boards.net

Regards,

Nikki

Astranti Financial Training.

Useful Memory Techniques! - Part One

Hi everyone,

It's a bit unfortunate that no matter how great you are at understanding theory, exams are also a test of memory. Some of us find this difficult and most of us spend hours trying to embed information in our heads. 

Over the years though there have been many studies and articles on how committing things to memory can be made easier and more efficient. Some of them are obvious and others a bit more creative. The key thing is to find the techniques that work best for you. 

In this blog I will cover four tips for improving your memory skills. In the next few weeks I will also cover more memory techniques. 

I hope you find them useful!

1. Mindmaps

Mindmaps are excellent revision tools. They are an interesting and creative way of remembering complex topics. The use of colour and imagery can help you group ideas and thoughts in a way that you can recall when the time comes. Use one of the many free online mindmap tools or simply create your own on a piece of paper. Here is just one of the great online mind mapping tools -  https://www.mindmup.com/

2. Mobile learning

Mobile learning can be very effective. Why not try different rooms in your home, the garden, the park or even on the bus? Research has shown that you remember more things when the places you study are varied. A new environment can help to clear your mind and therefore more knowledge can be absorbed. Also when trying to recall something it can help to associate it with the place you learnt it.

3. Speaking out loud

You may feel slightly embarrassed but speaking out loud instead of simply reading something helps you remember. Research suggests that your 50% more likely to remember something by saying it out loud. Give it a go and see if it works for you!

4. Teaching somebody else

A great way to remember what you have learned is to teach it to somebody else. This is a useful test to see if the information has actually been absorbed and also whether you have really understood it. All you need to do is find a willing partner!

In Monday's blog I will cover 4 more memory techniques!

Nick Best and the Astranti team