Turn that pre-seen into a pass

The LAST thing you want to do when are you sat down in your OCS exam is to be reaching for the pre-seen because you did not completely cover it in your revision, time will not be on your side as you have three hours to get through tough questions. 

In my experience, the best way to save time in the exam is to make up for it now and get to know the pre-seen inside out so that you don't ever have to look at it in the exam itself. Who else agrees?

The examiners definitely agree. Every examiner's report will refer to how well students managed to engage with the pre-seen or not. If you don't believe me, let's see what the examiners had to say in the OCS examiner's report: "Preparation on the pre-seen material is vital. Ensure that you are very familiar with the business, especially the financial information, before the exam as this will help you with applying your knowledge and will save you time".

So what can you do to help you remember all the key points from such a sizeable document as the pre-seen?

1. Make your own revision notes or scratch-cards as you go. You should then keep coming back to them, even re-writing them over and over again to cement these into your memory. Perhaps even use different colours and highlighters for the extra important information.

2. Once you have done this, you can scribble down notes and ideas that you think are linked with this information, doing this as early as possible will definitely make you feel a lot more comfortable with the pre-seen when you are finally going into the exam! Particularly useful when it comes to knowing the industry!

3. Make your own voice recordings of important information about the document. Research has shown that you are more likely to remember information when you are listening to your own voice; alternatively just talking through the document can help with information retention. When you have your recording listen to it from day to day, before you know it you'll have the pre-seen covered!

To help you sail through the pre-seen we have our own industry analysis in both video and document format - check out all our Operational pre-seen materials here.

Make the most of your study texts!

Want a better chance of passing? Mix up your revision. 

Often students assume they should be revising for their Operational exam in a library or sat at a computer desk only, as this is a formal place to work. However, if you wanted to start reading an exciting book or watch your favourite TV show, you wouldn't be doing all this in the library or at a computer desk. Do not be afraid to get out and about when tackling a tough document, there is a lot of evidence that shows mixing up the location of your studying can help you process information, making you learn faster (and pass quicker!)

OCS November exam experience survey, what we learnt...

As always, the OCS exam experience survey produced some interesting results. Thinking of taking the February case study? Or interested to know how the OCS November students got on? Well, here are 7 bullet points that we learnt from our survey. 

Our students put the effort in!

• Just under 50% revised for more than 5 weeks in the run-up to the exam.
• Nearly 80% revised 4 weeks or over.
• 10% did less than 3 weeks revision.
• 42% of our students dedicated 10 hours or more a week to revision.
• Nearly 75% did more than 5 hours a weeks.

7 WOW Facts About Accountants

Working through your CIMA qualifications can get tough and stressful, there is a lot of information to process and study. To help get you through your qualifications I have developed 7 interesting facts that will help motivate you to the finishing line:

1) Looking at job stats, the US department of labour estimates there will be a 11% rise of accountants in the US between 2014-2024. Amazing considering there were 1,332,700 registered accountants in 2014!

10 things you MUST do before the exam!

With the OCS exams starting next week, it's VITAL you make the most of the remaining days. However, having over-seen a number of case study exams I know how difficult it can be to know what to do between now and next week - so I have decided to share create a plan to help you through it.

Through speaking with past students and using my own experience I have created a tried-and-tested list of 10 things you should be doing before your exam: 

1) Read through the August Examiner's Report - this report contains very important information! It includes VITAL advice for students sitting the November exam and identifies exactly what the examiner's will be looking for! August OCS Examiner's Report

Learn from the Examiner's how to pass OCS!

Don't waste time - it's vital you make the most of this last period before the exams start. 

With this in mind, I am going to share with you the key points from the latest OCS Examiner's Report - learning lessons from those who mark and assess the exam themselves could be all the difference between a pass and a fail this November. For every sitting I analyse the report and to share the key findings, and there is almost always one or two points which resonate with a lot of students. 

The examiner's get tired of having to repeat themselves on where students are going wrong, so here are some of the key themes from the latest OCS report so you do not make the same mistakes:

Applying knowledge

An early point made in the report was about candidates being able to apply their knowledge: “In some tasks it was clear that candidates had knowledge of a particular area, but were unable to apply it effectively to the case study. It is important to prepare for this examination by studying previous case studies and practice putting knowledge into context by answering past questions.”

How to Listen to Music and be able to pass your Management Exams

Did you know, that listening to music could actually increase your productivity and improve your memory?

Past research has proved that a quiet and calm environment is the best way to revise. However, many students do actually like to have background noise. According to a recent study listening to music during revision can improv your mood which in turn increases productivity and helps students to revise for longer. This is something I certainly find whn tackling a pre-seen or writing our CIMA study texts!

Here are five tips on the best way to listen to your music:

1) Classical music is the best genre. Often calm and flowing, classical music rarely has lyric to distract you. Try it out, Beethoven could be all the difference between a pass and a fail!

2. The lower the music the better – listen to music at a moderate volume. Despite the temptation to be dancing around your revision to whatever anthems are top of the chart, try not to blare them out. You will be in a revision environment, not a nightclub!

3. Create a playlist prior to revision – you do not want to spending half your revision time sifting through your music trying to find a song you want to listen to. This can be a fun and easy revision break, the last thing you want to do is to be distracted by which song you want to hear next. 

4. Listening to music on the radio can be distracting. Particularly with all the adverts between songs and the discussion - stick to a playlist!

5. Set your playlist at 40-50 minutes - when the music stops you know that its time for you take a study break. A break is important to relax and allow everything you have learnt to settle in, time your music around these breaks!

For more advice on your revision tecnhiques, take a look at our course videos. This includes tips on managing your time, planning your answers, and writing style.

http://astranti.com/cima/operational/ocscourse/videos.html

Not Got a Revision Schedule? No worries, Astranti has you covered

Getting into revision can be really tricky and daunting. This can be overcome though, by simply having a schedule. Being able to have a plan and stick to it can be your secret to success, so you can cover every topic and bit of revision so you can pass your OCS exam in November!

Never too early to start revising...

However far away the November exam may seem, you will be surprised how quickly it will come round. In my experience, making a plan early will really help you pass your exam! 

One question that I'm regularly asked is "When should I start my case study revision?". My response every time is 6 to 8 weeks before the exam, aiming for at least 10 hours of revision per week. Time and effort are key ingredients to success.

How to skim read!

When tackling a heavy document and only needing to pick out key topics, skim reading can often be the most effective tool for you to pick up information to help you pass you become CIMA qualified!

Skim reading is quickly going through whatever materials and trying to find keywords or topics. Before starting to skim through a document, think of the keywords and terms you are looking for, that way you have direction when you go into reading the document!