the cima student

The final case study session of 2017 is almost here, in fact it’s only a couple of weeks until the OCS Pre-Seen materials are released.

So, with this in mind, getting organised and prepared for the November case study NOW will only help your chances of passing first time.

In these articles I try to vary the content and focus and for this session of the exams I want to take a look back at the May MCS exam and the examiners report from CIMA

These resources are available from the CIMA connect site and can be a vital source of information in understanding what the examiner is looking for and how to approach the November exams.

May 2017 MCS – Examiners Report

I’ve highlighted two key points taken from the May MCS examiners report below.

Pre-Seen Materials

There are still a couple of weeks (as the time of publishing this article) until the pre-seen materials are released, so NOW is the time to get prepared and the first comment here about how to tackle the pre-seen materials is a great piece of advice in my opinion.

Don’t get caught up trying to memorise the pre-seen material word by word – you should be thinking about the wider picture and imagine how the business would operate and what the strengths and weaknesses.

Anyway, you get the pre-seen materials again on exam day to check through so memorising it is pointless!

Answer the Requirements Appropriately

The second point I’ve highlighted is the fact students tend to miss out on easy marks by mis-reading of the requirements of a question.

It’s a common pitfall we can be guilty of is answering what we want to answer rather than what the question is asking us.

My suggestion to avoid this is to carefully plan your answer with simple headings before diving into writing your answer. You will find it keeps your answers relevant and to the point, furthermore you should manage to answer all of the requirements in the correct time rather than spending 80% of your time answering in great detail on a question that only makes up 20% of the marks.

You can find the examiners report for all past case study exams on the CIMA connect site here. By searching for the subject in question and look under “Study Resources.”

I’d also recommend you look at the OCS, MCS and SCS Post-Exam kits that are available on the CIMA connect site. You can find all kinds of resources ranging from past papers to suggested answers and marking guidance. 

Astranti Case Study Course

In my opinion, the Astranti case study courses are unrivalled when it comes to the CIMA case studies as my first hand experience with the OCS exam a couple of years ago.

But to take full advantage and guarantee yourself a pass mark (see the Astranti Pass Guarantee), their full OCS, MCS and SCS courses cover everything you need to pass the November 2017 CIMA case study.

• Study Text 1: how to approach the case study
• Study Text 2: syllabus content from the previous objective tests
• Pre-Seen Analysis: video analysis of the pre-seen from astranti tutor
• Strategic Analysis: strategy based on the case study scenario
• Top 10 Issues: the most likely issues to be tested on exam day
• Industry Analysis: the case
• Masterclass 1: live session with CIMA tutor on how to pass the case study.
• Masterclass 2: another live session focusing on CIMA syllabus revision.
• 3 Mock Exams: based on the actual case study (with marking and feedback).
• Personal Advice and Guidance – via private forums and progress reviews.
• Ethics Pack – a favourite CIMA topic that should never be overlooked.

OCS Course – November 2017

MCS Course – November 2017

SCS Course – November 2017

Important Dates – November Case Studies

Below is the schedule of important dates to remember – don’t forget you still have plenty of time to get prepared before the pre-seen materials are released!