As one of CIMA's student bloggers I feel it is my mission to write about the issues facing CIMA students, and this will be the theme of my blogs over the next few months.

Over the last few years I've been asking everyone I know how to pass the exams, and have come up with a few tips. I use these, and [touch wood] have not failed any exams yet. The tips are:

1. The sum of marginal gains
2. Invest your dead time
3. Plan and do
4. Support from your company
5. Early question practice
6. Link what you're learning with what you're doing at work
7. Share experience
8. Realise that sometimes CIMA has to come first.

The sum of marginal gains

Start early, and start well. Do a little bit every day when the exams are a few months away. Ramp this up as you get closer. I try to do 30 minutes a day when the exams are 4 months away, 60 minutes when they're 3 months away. Nearer the time it turns into whole weekends and evenings.

Invest your dead time

We all have a scary amount of dead time in our lives; like travelling to work, waiting for computers to load, queuing for lunch, etc. I've bought the BPP revision cards and success CDs for my exams and make sure they're always with me.

Every job has dead time - how are you currently using yours?

Plan and do

You need a plan, but you need to do it quickly. Attractive charts and wall planners look great, but are time-consuming. My plan for these strategic exams has been to finish reading by the end of March, and then concentrate on exam question practice for April and May.

In your plan make sure that any key work commitments are included. You might need to have a lighter week during month-end for example.

Support from company

This is great if you can get it - I've been very lucky with Pentland - they've got a really strong support structure in place. If you feel your company is not doing enough, try to ask for getting AT LEAST the exam days off. These exams are equipping you to be a better accountant - your company needs to recognise your efforts.

Early question practice

The most important tip. Try and do as many exam condition questions as you can in April and May, and fully audit your answers. Then revise the area you covered in the question. Bingo - you've created a NEED for knowledge in your brain, and then you SATISFY it.

Link what you're learning with what you're doing at work

A real freebie this one. If you are studying producing a proforma income statement, and responsible for the monthly P&L then map the two together. There are so many synergies between work and studying - so any new experience you get at work should be mapped to your CIMA studies.

This is an example of how working within a finance role can really aid your studies.

Share experience

If you work with others that have completed CIMA or are part way through the process, then share their ideas. My mate Chris at my old job was one stage ahead of me and always gave me great tips for each exam I was taking. Offer the same advice to those who are newer to CIMA than you and find your knowledge and experience start to solidify!

Realise that CIMA sometimes has to come first

You have chosen a challenging path. To become a fully qualified management accountant with CIMA takes guts and hard work. Sometimes you will need to put CIMA first (i.e. ahead of work and social commitments).

So keep you chin up , don't panic, and use the opportunities mentioned above in your current revision plan. There are now 41 days left until the first exam in May - you need to be starting to practice exam questions as a priority.

Until next time - keep counting...