Youve spent weeks getting ready for your next exam and the big day is almost here

are you ready for it? Velocity explains how to help ensure exam success. In the morning 1. Eat a good breakfast to give you plenty of energy and brainpower to get through the day. 2. Have all of your exam equipment ready the night before remember to take an extra pen (and a lucky mascot if you have one). 3. Make sure you know exactly where your exam centre is and how you are going to get there (the very organised among you may already have done a trial run of the journey). Leave home in plenty of time on the day just in case of any travel delays. At the exam centre 1. Try to find somewhere peaceful to wait and avoid discussing exam related topics with other students. 2. Relax by taking some deep breaths. Breathe in and out through your nose counting to five each way. Have some water with you and take a drink. 3. Be confident that you are prepared and ready. In the exam 1. Have a pre-planned strategy for how you will tackle the exam. 2. Read our advice on using your 20 minutes reading time effectively. 3. Read the question requirements carefully and answer the question that has been set. Have a look at our article on improving your exam technique for a reminder on how you should approach the exam questions. 4. Remember that good time management is crucial in the exam you have 1.8 minutes per mark, meaning 36 minutes for a 20 mark question, 54 minutes for a 30 mark question and 90 minutes for a 50 mark question. Read our guide to managing your time in the exam. After the exam 1. Dont hang around discussing how it went with other students it will only make you worry. 2. Be proud of yourself. Youve given it your best shot and now there is nothing you can do but wait for the results. The best of luck.

Plan your way to success by finding out how to make the best use of your 20 minutes reading time. This month, Velocity offers tips from the examiners/experts from the performance pillar. As mentioned in a previous article in this series, the 20 minutes reading time allowed for each examination paper is a huge bonus for students. Although you are not allowed to open or write in your answer book in the 20 minutes, theres plenty you can be doing to plan your approach to the paper. As you will see from the advice below, its all about planning. In this second of three articles on how best to use reading time, we spoke to examiners and experts for the performance pillar and asked what advice they would offer. The P1 examiner explains that many candidates do not read the requirements properly and waste time doing calculations that are not required. The reading time is a good opportunity to ensure that it doesnt happen to you. Keys to success: P1 Firstly, read through the section A questions. You may be able to answer the questions that dont require calculations during the reading time. Secondly, read through the section B questions. Which verb is being used in the question? Check the glossary to make sure you know what it means. Does the question ask you to explain a specific number of advantages or factors? If so, highlight the number to make sure your answer only gives the number required. Make a note of what these advantages or factors may be you can then expand on these during the exam. Does the question require calculations? Identify how you might approach the question, which formula or technique will be applied in the calculations. Finally, in the section C questions, you may find it useful to read the requirements first so that when you are reading through the scenario you can think about how the information is going to be used. These questions have detailed scenarios so highlight the important information in the scenario. Make notes beside the information. For example, in an investment appraisal question, you could note whether the cost is relevant or irrelevant. Check the financial data you have been given and think about how you will use it in the answer.

Read the requirements very carefully. In a variance analysis question for example, what are you being asked to reconcile? Is it actual and budgeted gross profit or actual and budgeted material costs? Think carefully and make a note of what variances will be required. Is the reconciliation for the whole company or just for one of the products? The examiner concludes, a bit of careful thought during reading time should pay dividends during the actual exam time. You should also now be more relaxed and able to give clear, structured answers! Advice on P2 Our P2 expert explains, from the outset it is important to understand that reading time is not simply meant to be an extra 20 minutes in which to answer the questions. It is part of the planning process of tackling an exam paper. If used effectively and efficiently, the 20 minutes reading time can be the difference between passing or failing an exam. My best advice is to use the time to tune in to the environment, time to settle down, and calm the nerves. If stress is a problem take a few deep breaths which will automatically calm you down (a medical fact). Then get the feel of the paper, as opposed to adopting a scatter gun approach, and erratically reading through the paper. Then take a moment to relate time quotas to each question, so that the time allocation for each question relates to the marks available. You may even select the order in which you will tackle the questions, perhaps selecting a question that relates to one of your favourite topics. 'Good planning is time well spent, or put another way, it is worth its weight in gold (marks). P3: plan your answer correctly Like the P1 examiner, the P3 examiner says she has mentioned several times in the post exam guides that candidates often do not answer what is asked in the questions. Using the reading time properly can help with this. Candidates should read the paper closely and carefully. Candidates have had several weeks to acquaint themselves with the preseen case. The preseen sets the scene for the exam, the preseen case will give candidates an idea of the type of business being considered and some ideas about the problems that may come up in the exam. When candidates open the exam paper they should work out how much time they should spend on each part of the questions. This provides a useful guide to how much is expected in the answer.

Question one is compulsory but then candidates have a choice of two questions from three. Use the reading time to decide what questions to do; then, go through the questions and read the requirements carefully. All of the questions in P3 use a scenario that is full of clues and information that can be used to give a good answer to the questions. Take notes of these points during the reading time. Answer what is asked as clearly as possible. Do not add extra information that does not answer the question as this takes up valuable time and will not gain any marks. Reading time is a valuable aid to planning how to answer the questions, so do not waste it. Use the time wisely, read the paper carefully and take notes on important points. This will be an excellent starting point for achieving good marks in P3.

Plan your way to success by finding out how to make the best use of your 20 minutes reading time. This month, Velocity offers tips from the examiners from the financial pillar.

The 20 minutes' reading time allowed for each examination paper is a great opportunity for students. It could even be the difference between success and failure. Although you cannot open or write in your answer book during this time, theres lots you can be doing to plan your approach to the paper and help with time management once the exam starts for real. Remember, too, you cant use your calculator but you can annotate and make notes on the question paper. F1 The F1 examiner advises that you plan your answers to the questions in section A. He then suggests that you read and make notes on the requirements for section B. Then move on to section C and read through the whole section to get a general understanding of the issues being tested. Once the 20 minutes has elapsed, section A responses can be transferred to the answer book, freeing up time for other questions. F2 The examiner for F2 notes that all questions in the F2 exam are compulsory, so you should use the reading time for constructive planning. This is probably most useful for the two 25 questions: one on consolidation and the other on financial analysis. Consolidation question annotate the question paper: establish group structure partly/fully owned subsidiary, associate, joint venture establish what is required preparation of group SOFP, income statement, group cash flow or consolidated changes in equity . How does this impact on the workings you need to do goodwill, NCI, retained earnings, profit for the year, etc? get into the scenario which complex group issue is being tested (piecemeal acquisition, disposal in the period, vertical group structure, consolidation of foreign entity, etc)? How will this impact on the basic consolidation workings you are required to do? work through the additional information and identify any adjustments required for fair values, intra-group transactions and balances. Financial analysis get in the zone:

read the opening scenario read the requirement work out who you are writing to and why read the opening scenario again, and soak up the scenario is the entity short of cash, loss-making, highly geared, a good/bad investment etc? select relevant ratios based on what the scenario is (at least eight of them if eight marks are given) if it is cash shortage then focus on working capital, if trying to raise debt then look at gearing and interest cover, if loss-making look at profit margins and costs, etc. The key is to try both approaches and see what you think you get more advantage from but do this before you sit the actual exam. F3 For F3, the ability to annotate the paper is very useful. Why not use your 20 minutes to highlight key figures or make notes in the margins to identify key elements to use in answering each part of the requirement? Choosing your questions within the optional section would also be a good use of time, although when you actually come to write, it may be a good idea to answer question one first. Use any remaining reading time to look at question one in detail. Good luck!

Reading time for each examination paper is different and requires different techniques. Velocity asked CIMA examiners for their tips on how to use reading time effectively for their papers. The 20 minutes reading time allowed for each examination paper is a huge bonus for students. It could be the difference between success and failure. This article will feature advice on the enterprise pillar and T4 part B. The remaining papers/pillar will be featured in a future Velocity article. During the 20 minutes you are not allowed to open or write in your answer book but theres plenty you can be doing to identify which questions you will tackle and to begin to plan your approach to the paper. First of all, take a deep breath and relax you need to be calm and focused to get the best out of this time. Then get out your pencil and/or highlighters so that you can annotate your question booklet, but leave the calculator out of reach as you are not allowed to use this until the examination starts. E1 The examiner for E1 advises that you use the reading time wisely and suggests there are several options available to you. Some candidates might, for example, answer the questions in section A and start to read and make notes on the requirements for section B. Once the 20 minutes has elapsed section A responses can be transferred to the answer book, freeing up 36 minutes. Another approach might be to concentrate on section C, highlighting key words and phrases in scenarios that will need to be addressed in your answers and making notes on the question requirements. You could also use a mind map to generate key points for your answers. You could use the time to note which models, techniques or other mnemonic devices might be useful in your answers. Allow some time to start to make an answer plan. E2 For E2, read each question on the paper - in your first read through, focus on the question requirements to identify the broad syllabus areas each question relates to. Then read through again, this time reading the scenario information where applicable and make notes on the paper highlighting any relevant contextual information and key issues from scenarios to use in your answer (but remember there are no marks for simply repeating the scenario information in your answer).

Break down question requirements in terms of verb level. What is the question asking you to do? Explain, discuss, evaluate? There will be an explanation of verb requirements at the end of the paper. Also look to identify possible theoretical base/models/frameworks to help build answers, and note down possible answer plan/structure. E3 Paper E3 includes the common pre-seen material, so the advice includes reading the pre release, then the unseen, then question one. This constitutes 50% of the paper so give it appropriate consideration. Then, look at section B and decide which question you will not be doing. Dont be too hasty make sure you understand what the requirements for each question actually want. All the requirements use CIMA verbs: have a look at the glossary at the back of the paper, and make sure you understand the difference between evaluate, recommend and advise. Plan how you will use your time and how you will answer each question. T4 part B During the reading time for T4 part B, the examiner suggests you use a pen (and not a highlighter) so that you can make notes. The reverse of the tear out page (on the reverse of the requirements of the T4 case) is blank for you to use for notes and planning. The 20 minutes reading time should form part of your planning time but note that the planning may well take longer than the reading time. Planning in the T4 case study exam is very important to ensure good prioritisation and understanding of the issues, and that you identify what calculations you need to undertake. T4 is very time pressured so good planning is the key to success. You should use the reading time to absorb information about each issue and to start to form some opinions about which issues are more important than others. You should jot down your thoughts with the aim of: identifying each issue / problem / proposal reading and understanding each issue deciding whether supporting calculations will be required for each issue and what type of calculations deciding what models to use to help you analyse the material deciding what quadrant/s) in your SWOT the issue should be shown in evaluating the impact of the issue who is affected, by how much and the impact if no action were taken identifying the ethical issues and why they are ethical issues

considering which real life examples you could include to illustrate the points you will discuss for each issue. At the end of the reading time and your planning process, you should have: identified which issues you will discuss in the main part of your report assigned ranking to these issues considered any linkage between the issues in the unseen material identified two ethical issues to discuss and advise on. Good luck!