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Belfast
RichardClarkeAcademy
Tips, Techniques and
Timing.........
As always with these things,
my fear is that they are read
(hopefully) and then not acted
upon despite all our best
intentions
So if you only do one thing
towards your studying goals
today - make it reading this
Why? Not because I said so,
but because we’ve taken this
straight from the examiners
mouths and also from one of
the largest studies ever done
on exam passing techniques
RCAtweets
A rip roaring success so far. CIMA
now being taught and IATI. RCA
running revision courses now on
behalf of CIMA themselves!
Edinburgh
A beautiful city - and full of students
and tourists. For this reason it has
become the RCA centre for
international students wishing to study
ACCA and CIMA abroad
Aberdeen
Land of freezing cold winters and oil
companies galore - RCA have
initiated their CIMA courses there
and have already snaffled the
precious Shell Oil clients
RCA
109, PENTHOUSE,
GUARDAMANGIA HILL,
PIETA’ PTA 1313
TEL: 21 378 525
MOB: 79 50 50 81/79 50 50 91
So enough from me and over
to the ones that matter most
Genuinely wishing you all the
very best of luck
Cheers
Richard
 Today Mr. Examiner - you are
mine
The Examiner says..
F4 December 2009
candidates must be well prepared for
the exam - on all topics and not on what
they consider the most important
F5 June 09
Poor layout and untidiness is not
acceptable; it creates a bad impression and
makes the markers job very difficult
F6 June 10
a number of candidates persist in not
following the questions? instructions to
present their response in a columnar format,
which would help the candidates themselves
in adopting a logical approach to answering
the question.
F7 June 10
....a failure to answer all the questions.
A significant number of candidates gave
answers to only half of the paper and thus
had no hope of passing.
F8 June 10
A number of common issues arose in
some candidate?s answers:
Failing to read the question
requirement clearly and therefore providing
irrelevant answers which scored few if any
marks
Wasting time by providing definitions
which were unnecessary
Presenting answers inadequately
Failing to answer each question on a
new page of the answer booklet
Illegible handwriting.
F9 Dec 09
Those candidates who were successful
showed that they had studied all of the
syllabus, rather than focusing on a small
number of key areas, which appeared to be
the case with many candidates who were
not successful.
P1 June 09
This is a general warning against
question-spotting and question-guessing. All
candidates should learn and revise all of the
content of the P1 study guide. They should
also practice using all past papers and study
the model answers for each one.
P2 June 09
Candidates do not perform well on
current issues questions and in order to
improve their performance in this area, they
should make sure that they manage their
own learning by reading wider than just
course notes and manuals.
P3 June 10
There was some evidence of poor time
management, apparently caused by over-
answering question one. The first part of
question one (assessing a strategic position)
required candidates to provide appropriate
content and detail in a time frame that
reflected the marks on offer
P6 June 10
The poor performance of many
candidates was once again aggravated by a
clear failure to carefully read the content
Verb Hierarchy in
Exams.....
The idea here is that
every question requires
a certain level, and
you always start at
level 1 and work youre
way up
1. Knowledge
If the question verb is state, define, list
etc - then thats all you have to do. It is
the lowest level question type
2. Understanding
This is where that common question
“Explain” fits. What you must do is
start at number 1 - state the
knowledge and then explain WHY it
is
3. Application
This is when you must use the scenario
given
4. Analysis
Verbs here are discuss, compare and
contrast etc. Again you start at 1 and
work youre way up. So “Discuss
Financial instruments treatment” - state
knowledge of their treatment, briefly
EXPLAIN why they are treated so,
APPLY this to the scenarion then
maybe perhaps pros and cons
5. Evaluation
Do as number 4, but reach a
conclusion
Study help
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consectetuer adipiscing elit.
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volutpat eget, bibendum ac, lectus.
Vivamus est ipsu vehicula nec.
 and requirements of questions. This contributed to the overall poor

RichardClarkeAcademy
performance in general.
Workings were generally shown but were at times difficult to follow. Too
many candidates continue to display their answers poorly, with a lack of
clear labelling to indicate which questions are being attempted. Each
question should be started on a new page and candidates must give
more thought to the layout and organisation of their answers

P7 June 10

The factors contributing to the poor pass rate for this sitting include:
Failing to answer the specific question requirements
Not applying knowledge to question scenarios
Making too few comments given the mark allocation of a requirement
Lack of knowledge on certain syllabus areas
Illegible handwriting.

10 Exam Preparation Strategies 

1. Start early, break your studying into chunks, and review often.
2. Try not to cram.  Short-term memory doesn’t have enough space for all you need to know.
Also, cramming can set you up for panic attacks and “blanking.”
3. Study by predicting exam questions.  For example, develop a list of main topics from
lectures notes and reading.  Turn these main topics into questions, and then outline the answers
or write out sample essays about each main topic.
4. Ask question in class.  You want to ask questions you think may be on the exam.
5. Don’t forget to consult your class syllabus, which typically describes the major content areas
of the course, the key issues, and the key terms.
6. Make a list of important terms from the readings, lectures, and syllabus.  Write down the
definition of each term as it was used in the course.  Think of examples or illustrations of each
term and figure out the term’s relevance to the course.
7. Form a study group.  A small group of fellow students can decrease the amount of time you
spend scanning various sources for possible test questions and answers. Moreover, talking
aloud about the subject to an informed listener can help solidify the course material, while
hearing a different view point can add to your understanding. 
8. Use old exams as a guide
9. Repetition is the key to memorization, so is using every trick you can -- word association,
rhymes, enumeration, acronyms, etc
10. Avoid mental exhaustion.  Take short breaks often when studying.  Before a test have a
rested mind.