How to study the CM1 PBOR course

Here you can find out how you can use the Paper B Online Resources (PBOR) to study towards
the Subject CM1 Paper B exam.

The CM1 PBOR is divided into the same chapters as the main Course Notes, with the exception
of the last three chapters (26-28) which, for Paper B purposes, divide more logically into two
sections: conventional contracts and unit-linked contracts.

Before studying each chapter in the PBOR, you need to have already studied the relevant
chapter(s) of the main Course Notes. This resource is exclusively for the purpose of providing a
practical implementation of the theory you've already covered. So if you find yourself
struggling to understand the concepts behind the spreadsheet calculations then be sure to
revisit the relevant chapters of the Course Notes before proceeding.

There are different possible ways in which you can manage your study for the Paper A and
Paper B exams. At one extreme you could work through each chapter of the Paper B course
straight after studying the relevant chapter(s) of the main Course Notes; at the other extreme
you could study the whole of the Paper A Course Notes before starting on Paper B; or anything
in between! The advantages of the first approach are that the theoretical material will be fresh
in your mind, and also applying the theory into practice in this way can help you to consolidate
and develop a greater understanding of that theory. The second approach allows you to see
the bigger picture of the course as a whole before tackling the Excel work.

Whatever approach you adopt, you should tackle all the chapters in the PBOR in order, and not
miss any out. This is because the concepts and the Excel techniques often build on work
covered in earlier units, and develop in complexity as the course progresses.

Under every chapter relevant to the Paper B exam you will find a number of questions that
cover the main techniques that could be required. The questions for each chapter also
progress in difficulty and so again you are advised to tackle them in order.

The Question and the Question Spreadsheet

For each question you will find a question document, and in some cases a question
spreadsheet. You will probably find it convenient to print out the question for easy reference.
Where there is a question spreadsheet, this may give you some initial calculations, or some
data, or both, from which you need to develop your solution. Where no question spreadsheet
is given, you will be required to start from scratch. You need to become confident in dealing
with either approach as both may be used in the Paper B exam itself.
When you click on a spreadsheet document in the PBOR, you will be directed to save the
document on your computer. Once you have done this you will be able to use that document
in any way required.

The Solution Spreadsheet and Walkthrough Video

Once you have made an attempt at a solution – following the instructions given in the question
carefully – you can check your work against the solutions provided. There will always be a
solution spreadsheet, and in some cases there will be a walkthrough video as well. The
purposes of the solution spreadsheet are to:
(1) provide the necessary numerical answers for you to check your work
(2) give examples of the answers that might be made to any non-numeric questions
(3) provide an example of a spreadsheet that answers the question successfully.

The answers for (1) and (2) are generally to be found on the ‘Solutions’ tab of the solution
spreadsheet, so it’s a good idea to look there first to see if you have got all the answers correct
straight away. Even if you have got the right answers without help (and well done if you have!)
it is probably still worth having a quick look through the rest of the solution spreadsheet to see
if there are some useful techniques there that you hadn’t thought about, as these might be
relevant or useful for subsequent questions.

It is important to remember that your spreadsheets are almost certain bound to be different
from the ones provided here. This does not matter at all: there are many acceptable different
ways of solving a given task using a spreadsheet. Also, don’t spend valuable time making your
spreadsheets look nice – there are no marks available for fancy formatting.

When you examine the solution spreadsheet you will see that we have often used cell names to
identify particular variables (eg we often name the interest rate as ‘i’). We have done this so
that the cell formulae are easier for you to read. However, there is absolutely no need for you
to do this in your solutions – all that matters is that your spreadsheet works and you get the
right answers out at the end. On the other hand, you might find it convenient to use some
names for variables that you wish to use again and again (such as i) as this might save you time
in the long run. After several attempts at producing your own spreadsheet answers you will
start to find out the approaches that work best for you.

What to do if you get stuck on a question

If you get stuck on a question, or you get the wrong answers, you can study the solution
spreadsheet (along with any walkthrough video) to help you sort things out. If there is no
video, then you will find numerous comments added to the solution spreadsheet which will
help you understand how we produced our solution. (A cell that has a comment has a small red
triangle in the top right-hand corner: hover your mouse over the cell and the comment will
appear.)
Alternatively we explain how you could reproduce our solution in the walkthrough video (when
present).

Y Assignments

At the end of the PBOR you will find two assignments which you can use to assess how well you
have got to grips with the Paper B side of the CM1 course. You can opt to have your
assignments marked if you wish.

Assignment Y1 is based on the first 14 Chapters of the course, and you can therefore attempt it
at any stage once you have reached this point in your study. Assignment Y2 is based on the
remaining chapters and so should only be attempted once you have finished working through
the whole course.

A few spreadsheet tips

Finally just a few bits of advice on producing your spreadsheet to get you going:
 spread your work out so that it’s easy for the marker to see what you are aiming for
 don’t put all of your calculations into one cell, instead try to break them up into
separate formulae in different cells
 if you need to adapt or adjust your spreadsheet in order to answer subsequent question
parts, you can copy your work onto new tabs and so avoid the risk of damaging the
answer(s) you have already produced for previous part(s)
 keep all your calculations as simple as possible.

For much more spreadsheet help and advice, have a look at the ‘Introduction to Excel’
document that you’ll find also in this Introduction section of the PBOR.

We hope you enjoy using the PBOR for CM1 and wish you every success in the exams.