Every time I post a blog I promise myself (and you guys) that I won’t leave it so long the next time to post another update......but then work, study and life takes over and before you know it another 3 weeks has gone past!

So, last time I posted I had 2 CBAs still outstanding, Management Accounting and Business Maths, and 3 days in which to revise and have a go at them!

On 9^th November I set off nice and early for my trip to the exam centre for a 10am sitting, I arrived about 9 and picked up a coffee on the way in, waiting were several of my classmates who were all terribly eager to get started. The rest arrived just before 10 and we got started......

Before this CBA I would have described myself as fairly comfortable with management accounting and I don’t mean to scare anyone but this CBA was horrible! I took the whole 2 hours which is very unusual for me as time management in exams has never really been an issue for me... and I was so unsure about my performance in the CBA that I actually allowed the last few seconds to run out rather than pressing the ‘finish’ button!

Thankfully the result was not as bad as I had imagined – I got 60% which was still less than I would have expected before the start but a satisfactory pass and another step forward.

I had a nice relaxing lunch with one of my friends before booking in to my accommodation and hitting the books with some revision for maths. I had several areas that I needed to improve from my first failed attempt so I set about highlighting the problem areas.

I used one of the question disks which are available and saved some screenshots into a word document so that I could consult my lecturer. I would highly recommend doing lots of practice before attempting the CBAs as if nothing else it will get you in the habit of working out what calculations you may have to do.

The next day was spent doing more revision and I arranged to see the lecturer for a couple of hours on 11^th November in the morning before my re-sit. After 2 hours and many questions I finally felt a little bit more confident....I went in just before 1pm and 1hr30 minutes later I pressed the ‘finish’ button and crossed my fingers (literally!). After what seemed like an age the result finally appeared on the screen – 68%!! I was so excited...after scoring 48% the first time and really struggling with some of the concepts this was an amazing score for me.....

I cannot thank the lecturer enough for their help....the 2 hours of advice was a huge part of my pass and some biscuits will be heading their way when I return to start Operational Level in early December!

My advice to anyone who has still to complete a CBA is practice and ask lots of questions!

In the meantime I am having a nice break from studying and looking forward to going to London this weekend to see the start of the World Tennis Finals and then the week after I am off to DisneyWorld in Florida. I shall be back soon to tell you all about it!