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’!

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!

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!

Use algorithms to transform your CIMA revision!

What is one of the most important inventions of the 20th Century? Computers. It seems that in the modern day the whole world is computerized - your CIMA exams will even need to be sat using a computer! We rely on computerized systems so much because they are infallible, in a way that other human-controlled systems are not.

Sometimes, when work or revision is stressful, we all wish we could perform tasks as well as computers can. But what can we learn from these devices and how can this help your CIMA revision? Read on to find out...

Question Yourself - Part 2

I'm sure you know how important it is to take mocks before your real CIMA exams, however, many students fail to make the most out of their mocks, and I don't want you to be one of those students! 

In Part 1 of this blog post, I discussed the ways to make your revision questions dynamic, interesting and engaging. Well, now it's time to turn our attention to mock exams - so keep reading to find out the best techniques for using mock exams as part of your CIMA revision!

Question Yourself - Part 1

Sometimes, CIMA students condense their revision so that they go straight from learning subject material to taking mock exams, without any testing in between. This inevitably leads to bad performance in the mocks which can mean a poorer performance in the real exams. Don't make this mistake!

There are many dynamic and interesting ways you can test yourself as you revise - read on to find out how you can make your revision questions fun!

Which type of learner are you - and which CIMA resources should you use?

Everybody is different and we all learn in different ways. Experts agree that there are four main learning groups into which individuals fall - visual learners, audio learners, linguistic learners and physical learners.

Read on to find out more about these different learning groups and how your own learning type could effect which type of study material is best for you!

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... 

In the final stages of revision? Try these top tips!

Have you ever felt like time is sometimes going too fast? Even though revision is possibly not the most exciting time of your life, time really does seem to fly by until suddenly you are waking up and it is almost the day of your CIMA exam!

With the big day approaching so fast, what kind of things should you be doing? Here are our top four tips to make stress your new best friend!

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?

Give yourself a break; you can’t learn properly without down time!

Working life can be stressful enough without the burden of CIMA exams. While trying to juggle other responsibilities, it’s incredibly easy for working CIMA students to think ‘I can always do my revision another time’. But can you leave your revision until the last minute and still get the results you want from 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!

What is an Algorithm and how can this help your revision?

It was in the news today that many people are now learning to code. What is coding? Simply telling a computer exactly what it has to do. Coding is like the magic wand of computers and it is an extremely useful life skill in this technology obsessed world.

Before we jump into coding, there are a few steps that must be considered. First of all, we need an algorithm. An algorithm is a set of rules that solve a problem. These need to be done in the right order, otherwise they will not work.

This structure can also apply to life and revision. Would you take an exam and then revise afterwards? Hopefully not! When you write an algorithm, the order of the instructions is very important.

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 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: