You have a lot to learn. However others have passed and so can you. You should focus on all the benefits that passing the exam will bring you. Studying may seem difficult at times, but you are doing it for a reason – to advance your career.
You need to keep the exam firmly in your sights throughout your studies. You should read the guidance in the front pages of the Study Manual about the exam. You should also look out for all the references to the exam in Chapter introductions, Exam alerts and other places in the Study Manual.
Before you start studying you must organise yourself properly. You need to timetable your studies, to ensure that you have enough time to cover the entire syllabus and revise it. Choose the notes format that is most helpful to you. Do not copy out too much, but summarise key areas that show you understand the entire syllabus content of your subject.
There are various ways in which you can keep your mind active when studying and hence improve your understanding and recall of material. You should keep asking yourself how what you’re studying fits into the whole picture of the exam. If you are not sure, go through the Introduction of the Chapter and front pages of the Study Manual. You will also increase your understanding of the syllabus by going carefully through every example and trying every question in the Study Manual.
At the start of your revision period, you should draw up a timetable to plan how long you will spend on each subject and how you will revise each area. You need to consider the total time you have available and also the time that will be required to revise for other exams you are taking. It is important not to spend too much time on small areas, and leave yourself insufficient time to cover the rest of the syllabus.
You will significantly improve your chances of passing the exam by practising exam-standard questions. Answering full questions against the clock will mean that you’ll get used to the time pressure of the exam and will help you improve your written communication skills. When the time is up, you may well find it useful to note where you have reached and then to try to complete the question, giving yourself 86 practice at all the techniques that the question tests. You should attempt the questions before you read the answers. Reading the answers without doing the questions will give you false assurance that you would have tackled the question in the best way and made the points that the answer does. You should also practise written and numerical questions, don’t only attempt calculation questions.
Make sure that your revision covers the entire syllabus. Examiners are well aware that some students only revise those syllabus areas that they think will be examined. Examiners try to prevent this by doing the unexpected, for example setting questions on the same topic in successive sittings. The most important topics in a syllabus often appear in questions. You need to identify these topics and spend sufficient time revising them. Take time to ensure you know the fundamental calculations, proformas and preferred report layouts for each examination, to increase your chances of scoring higher marks.
When you complete a question you should try to look at your answer critically. It is worth noting mistakes you have made, and referring to these notes in the days before the exam. You should aim to learn at least one new point from each question you attempt, a technical point perhaps or a point on style or approach.
Practising as many exam-style questions as possible will be the key to passing the exam. You must do questions under timed conditions and ensure you write full answers to the discussion parts as well as doing the calculations.