Preparing for Fundamentals level exams Ann Irons F5 Performance Management examiner

1. Preparing for Fundamentals level exams Ann Irons F5 Performance Management examiner

3. How to study • Self study • Actively work through each chapter, practising questions at the end of each one • Review each question carefully to see where you went wrong • Receiving tuition • Attending classes alone is not enough during the teaching phase of a course • Everything you cover in class should be reviewed afterwards • Follow up your learning by practising questions

4. Exam revision • Write out a realistic revision timetable • Work your way through each syllabus area, referring back to course notes where required, practising questions • Reviewing questions after you’ve done them is just as important as doing them • Reading the suggested answer is no substitute for practising a question • Sit as many past papers as possible, carefully reviewing them afterwards and reading past examiner’s reports

5. Dos and Don’ts • DO practice writing for three hours solid leading up to the exam day • DO get a good night’s sleep the night before the exam • DO take a calculator, a long ruler and several pens into the exam hall • DON’Ttake any notice of the exam tips in various magazines • DON’Tlearn past paper suggested answers and repeat them, irrespective of the question being asked

6. Reading and planning time • Only write on the question paper • Have a quick look at each question to see what is being examined • Read and understand all the question requirements • Allocate your marks to the different parts of each question (not just the question as a whole) • Actively read through and highlight relevant information and financial data, thinking about why it is included

7. Reading and planning time • Start to plan your answers • Decide the order in which you are going to answer the questions, starting with your best question first • Make a few preliminary calculations (not too many as you need to show workings on your answer paper) • Most importantly, think.............

8. Thinking time • Common misconception – ‘There’s no time to think’

9. General points for all questions • Always start a new question on a new page • Always read the requirement of a question first • Actively read the whole question, making annotations • Once you have started a question, finish it before you move on to the next

10. General points continued • Attempt every question • Financial Reporting examiner’s words: • ‘One marker reported that she had lost count of the number • of candidates that had scored 35 - 40 marks after completing • the paper up to Q3 (a)(i) (which is 62 marks into the paper) • and then failed to score more than another 5 marks on the • rest of the questions (accounting for the remaining 38 marks).’

11. Interpreting written requirements • Each requirement contains an instruction (a verb e.g. ‘discuss’) and the content (e.g. what you should discuss) • Underline both the instruction and the content of a requirement in order to focus your mind on the question • Where you are being asked to do more than one thing ,for example, ‘identify’ and ‘explain’, use these as headings in your answer

12. Interpreting written requirements • Common requirements: • Describe • Interpret • Outline • Compare • Identify

13. Interpreting written requirements • More common requirements • Discuss • Explain • Evaluate • Suggest • Justify

14. How much should I write? • Allocate your time to each question and its component parts at the beginning of the exam • Be disciplined about sticking to your time allocation on each question • Always be guided by the time available when trying to ascertain how much you should cover in your answers • There are no hard and fast rules in most papers that, for example, one point is worth one mark • Less demanding instructions such as ‘list’ or ‘describe’ are going to be worth less marks per point than instructions such as ‘discuss’, ‘describe’ or ‘explain’

15. Advice from one of the Law Examiners (variants) • ‘Broad but shallow, not deep and narrow • Answer the question set, not the one you want • No long introductions • State the obvious • You are busy…focus on the significant information’

16. Calculation-based questions • Set out your answer in an ordered, easy-to-follow manner, with your workings clearly referenced in to the main body of your answer • If you are struggling with part of a calculation, don’t just give up and cross out all your work. Take the calculation as far as you can and use that figure going forward • Highlight the key figures on the question paper in the main body of the question so that you don’t miss anything • Make sure you have got a scientific calculator with you

17. Calculation-based questions • Make sure you get the easy marks that are going on the paper • The UK tax examiner said : ‘Some areas of the paper offer the chance to score relatively easy marks quite quickly. In the June 2010 paper such areas were the calculation of a tax-adjusted trading profit, a detailed capital allowances computation, class 4 NIC calculations, the calculation of a property business profit and a CGT share pool. Question practice and the appropriate use of pro-forma layouts will mean that you can answer such areas without having to spend too much time planning your answers, and therefore have more time available for the rest of the paper.

18. Calculation-based questions • As with written questions, the marks available are your best guide as to how long a question should take you to answer • The UK tax examiner again said: • ‘The marks given per section are a very good guide to the amount of time that should be spent on a question. If a question is for two or three marks then it should only take a few minutes to answer. If an answer appears to be much longer than this then you should have another look at what is required. This situation often arises where a simple marginal tax rate calculation is required - a full tax calculation will obviously take much longer to do. Be careful of not making a question much more complicated than it really is. The June 2010 exam gave the output VAT and input VAT figures for a VAT calculation, so there was no need to actually calculate them. Good use of the reading time will avoid such problems.’

19. Multiple choice questions Advice given by Ronnie Patton (CAT examiner) in his article on MCQs: • ‘Read the question • Think...usually the answer will not be obvious • Sample question from F1’s pilot paper • Which one of the following is consistent with a government’s policy objective to expand the level of economic activity? • A An increase in taxation • B An increase in interest rates • C An increase in personal savings • D An increase in public expenditure

20. Multiple choice questions • It is essential that your answer is the result of a considered choice. This is because of the way that the incorrect answers have been constructed • Sample question from F2’s pilot paper • A company’s budgeted sales for last month were 10,000 units, with a standard selling price of $20 per unit and a standard contribution of $8 per unit. Last month, actual sales of 10,500 units at an average selling price of $19.50 per unit were achieved. What were the sales price and sales volume contribution variances for last month? • Sales price variance ($) Sales volume contribution variance ($) • A 5,250 Adverse 4,000 Favourable • B 5,250 Adverse 4,000 Adverse • C 5,000 Adverse 4,000 Favourable • D 5,000 Adverse 4,000 Adverse

21. Multiple choice questions • Work out the correct answer • In discursive questions, eliminate incorrect answers • A question from the Paper F2 Pilot Paper: • The following statements relate to relevant cost concepts in decision making: • Materials can never have an opportunity cost whereas labour can. • (ii) The annual depreciation charge is not a relevant cost. • Fixed costs would have a relevant cost element if a decision causes a • change in their total expenditure. • Which statements are correct? • A (i) and (ii) only • B (i) and (iii) only • C (ii) and (iii) only • D (i), (ii) and (iii) 3 Marks

22. Summary • Work hard throughout your studies • Study all areas of the syllabus and don’t try and question spot • Set out your answers clearly, making sure that your handwriting can be read • Get the easy marks on the paper • Accept that you won’t be able to do everything perfectly and focus on what you can do 3 Marks