Hi, I am Nitisha Burnwal, having 4 years tutoring experience as an Accounting tutor for CIMA, ACCA, ACA, AAT, A-Level and Bachelor’s Degree. I have helped many CIMA students pass their exams first time, with good scores. I am a Qualified Chartered Accountant and CIMA. I have passed all the final exams of CIMA. I passed all my CA and CIMA exams in first attempt.
Here, I am sharing some Exam Preparation tips for CIMA exams.
1. Understand the Exam Structure: The CIMA Professional Qualification consists of three levels: Operational, Management, and Strategic. Each level includes three Objective Tests (OTs) and one Case Study exam.
- Objective Tests (OT): 90 minutes, multiple-choice, computer-based, available on demand.
- Case Study Exams: Integrated exams that simulate real-life business scenarios. Sit after completing each level. Questions are asked from all 3 pillars (Enterprise, Performance, Financial) at each level. Case Studies require written responses to a business scenario, testing analysis and decision-making
2. Use the CIMA Study Text & Exam Practice Kits
- Use official Kaplan Study text, BPP study text, Astranti Video lectures for studies
- Go through the complete study text at least twice so you are aware of the whole syllabus
- Practice extensively with exam-style questions or Mock tests. CIMA Exam Practice kits are very good for Exam style questions practice. Also, CIMA also provides Aptitude tests which can be attempted just before the exam. Keep at least 5-6 days just before the exam only to practice exam style questions or Mock tests from various providers including the Aptitude tests from CIMA.
- Case Study Materials: Use pre-seen materials (released 6-8 weeks before the exam) and practice analyzing different business scenarios.
3. Apply the CIMA Blueprint and also go through the syllabus to see what all topics will be covered in the exams
- CIMA Blueprints specify what is examinable. Go through that completely as it has extensive information about the exams.
- Use the Blueprint as a checklist when revising.
- Cover all the topics as mentioned in the current syllabus
4. Plan Your Study Time
- Create a study schedule: Minimum of 8–12 weeks per paper for OT’s and 12-16 weeks for case study exams. Aim for allocating specific number of hours for each of the 3 subjects for Case Study exams.
- Divide the whole syllabus into manageable chunks and allocate time for each of those chunks, stick to these timelines. Do this for each of the subject from 3 pillars (Enterprise, Performance, Financial)
- Balance reading, practice, and revision. Allocate time for each of them. If possible, keep 1 day only for revising what you have learnt during the rest of the 6 days of the week.
5. Understand Rather Than Memorize
- Try to understand the concepts logically, before memorizing, as it is easy to retain them for a longer period if you understand the concepts well
- Focus on real-world examples.
Objective Test (OT) Exam Tips
1. Practice Time Management
- Practice for the questions under timed exam style conditions to improve speed and accuracy.
- Check your answers with the answers given in the exam practice kit, compare them and try to understand the differences and enrich your understanding
2. Use Mock Exams Regularly
- Take timed mocks under exam conditions. Also, in the last few days, possibly 5-6 days before exam, practice as many as possible exam style questions
- Analyze mistakes, focus on gaps and improve your understanding.
3. Go through the weightages of individual syllabus topics and prepare accordingly
- Prioritize high-weight topics from past exams and the blueprint.
Case Study Exam Tips
1. Master the Pre-seen Material
- Know the business model, industry, and key challenges.
- Create summaries, perform ratio analysis, SWOT analysis, PESTLE Analysis and value chain analysis when you are doing the pre-seen analysis
2. Use the Syllabus Integration
- Relate answers to E, F, and P pillars depending on your level. Think of various scenarios which may come in the exams and attempt to resolve these scenarios
4. Apply the CIMA Competency Framework
- Focus on 4 skill areas: Technical, Business, People, Leadership.
- Case study marking reflects these areas
5. Go through the Post exam materials/resources on CIMA website for previous exams: These contain exam variants, suggested answers, pre-seen material, marking guidance and examiners report. Try to cover as many previous exam resources as possible as this will make you more and more exam ready since you will be aware of more possible types of questions/scenarios/issues which may come in the exam and also would be better capable to answer them well.