the cima student

It feels like the CIMA August case studies have just finished and here we are considering the next cycle of exams.

Having just sat the SCS exam a couple of weeks back myself, I felt that my preparation BEFORE the pre-seen analysis was released really helped me hit the ground running for the 6 week’s of work ahead.

The November pre-seen materials release dates are;

• OCS – 20th September 2019
• MCS – 27th September 2019
• SCS – 4th October 2019

*at the time of posting this blog post, OCS students still have over two weeks to look back at the post exam kits and practice some questions.

Here is what I did and why;

CIMA Post Exam Kits

I had two weeks before my pre-seen materials were released and I spent this time looking back at previous exam kits and attempting some of the real exam questions students faced.

You might think, well why I do I want to learn and attempt questions on a scenario that I won’t be facing in November? IT’S ALL ABOUT PRACTICE! Honing your writing skills and being able to put together a balanced answer with enough depth.

The scenario is irrelevant at this stage.

You can find the all of the CIMA case study post exam kits on the CIMA connect site, for example here the kit for the 2015 Operational Case Study.  (do a google search if you are struggling to find them for the MCS or SCS).

Read through the pre-seen materials of the scenario and make a few notes on it. Then throw yourself in at the deep end, attempt one or two of the questions from the actual exam and use the pre-seen as a reference.

In total you have five variants of the exam, so there are plenty of different questions available for you to practice on – all free materials!

Attempt one question each day before your pre-seen is released and you’ll see an immediate improvement in your technique, answer planning and ability to produce a balanced answer.

What’s more you have the examiners feedback document in these exam kits which tell you directly what the examiner is looking for and what mistakes to avoid.

November CIMA Case Study Planning

Each tuition provider will have a schedule or timetable that you are advised to follow, but nevertheless an efficient plan should look something like this.

This is based on the November 2019 operational case study with the yellow dates indicating when the pre-seen is released and the exam week starts, but the structure is the same for MCS and SCS (just one or two weeks ahead of the OCS).

You have six weeks from pre-seen release to prepare for your case study.

A plan is meant to be flexible, so some of these topics will be mixed together.

For example, your pre-seen and industry analysis is not meant just for Week 1, it’s more than likely you will also cover this during the later weeks when you are revising and reviewing feedback from your mock exam attempts.

November 2019 Case Study Courses

I have used the Astranti case study courses for all three of my case study exams to date.

 

Here is what you can expect from their course.

Complete pre-seen pack (pre-seen, strategic, industry analysis and top 10 issues)
3 x Full tuition videos
2 x Study texts
2 x Live Masterclasses (the keys to passing and revision masterclass)
3 x Full Mock Exams (based on Aug 19 scenario)
Detailed marking and feedback
Ethics Pack
Pass Guarantee