T4 part B is likely to be your final hurdle before becoming a full CIMA member using the ACMA, CGMA designation.  You can already see the light of this rather long tunnel, so just keep going and you can do it!

With only one week to go, is it still possible to increase your chance of passing?  The answer is absolutely!  I have shared some of my top tips in Nov 2012 blog [3].  Here are a few extra tips that hopefully you may find useful:

ASAP is commonly referring to "as soon as possible", surely this is what exactly you want regarding passing your E3 exam!  For those of you who have been studying CIMA for a while or have been reading my blogs, you will also know that ASAP is a suggested answering approach that can help you to tackle long essay type questions.  Expert tutor Adrian Sims has demonstrated how to apply this approach using Q3 in the recent March 2013 E3 paper.  Find out more in the May FM magazine [5]

Last week, I have talked about new free resources for E2.  There are more free lunches these day: We have now published a new step to step guide, "How to pass E1 [7]".

Traditional wisdom tells us that there is no free lunch, but this is not always the case.  CIMA has put together a range of resources that is free of charge for its student.  Not knowing about this?  You are missing out!

Free E2 lecture recording

I am now in Shanghai sitting in one of the T4 part B revision class.  The class is conducted by T4 expert tutor, Mr.

Reading the latest Nov 2012 E3 PEG [11], you will find that many examiner's comments are sounding familiar.  I am simply getting tired of repeating myself over the same topics again and again (as this will just make me sound like my Mum!).  So, if you have not read my previous blogs, please kindly refer to the followings: 

It is pleasing to see that the overall performance in the Nov 2012 E2 exmaination has improved significantly comparing to recent May/ Nov main sessions.  Many students managed to get 70% plus though there are still many students failed due to poor exam preparation. 

The examiner has shared with us 5 main reasons for poor performance in the post exam guide [13].

January has gone surprisingly quickily and we are now down to 20 days before the March Extra Exam.  Although this blog is mainly targeted to those who will be sitting exam in a few weeks time, I hope it will also inspire those who are considering to sit E1 in the May 2013 diet.

So THE DAY has come....but like 21 Dec 2012, we are still around.

No matter it is the PASS you have been longing for or the "F" word you so hate to see, it is not the end of the world.  For those who have passed their exams, congratulations and well done.  You know that your pass is well deserved:  all the hard works, all those weekends you have purposely stayed in, all the sacrifies you have made along the way.  You really should be proud of yourself. 

With only one week before your final CIMA examination, are you feeling prepared?  Or you are wishing that you have stayed in last weekend and skipped those beer?  If you have been working hard, practising with a lot of mock exams, you should feel quite confident by now.  However, if things didn't quite go as planned, it is still not too late!  Here are a few quick fixes that you should do now to maximise your chance of passing.

1. Prepare a SWOT analysis

Some students have failed E3 a few times while some passed the first time round!  What's the secret of passing?  What's the magic formula of success? 

While E1 is about how an organisation operates, E2 is coming from a Manager's point of view on how to manage different aspects of a business: the environment, the projects and the people. You may refer to my attached diagram for details.

One of the most common complaints that I hear about E1 is that there are so many theories to remember.  E1 has one of the most diverse syllabus covering IT, Operation Management, Maketing, Human Resources and Global Business Environment.  Any of these can be easily become a degree topic!  What I find particularly useful for E1 is drawing Mind Maps.  It helps you to link various parts of the syllabus together.  I have attached a simple version here to help you to understand how the E1 syllabus is structured.

I just come back from a week holiday celebrating the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese National Day.  I am feeling refreshed and energised, ready to take up new challenges!  For those who are going to sit exams in Nov 2012, are you ready to start your study?

With only 2 weeks to go till your final CIMA exam, how are you doing?  T4 part B exam requires you to have a comprehensive understanding of the whole CIMA syllabus.  This is the ultimate test of your managment accounting skills.  Although the preseen case used in this exam diet will be different from the May 2012 exam, it is still worth while to read the Post Exam Guide [21] as there are many general comments tha

It is pleasing to see a significant improvement in pass rate (53%) comparing to Nov 2011 (43%).  For those who have missed the pass mark marginally, let's look at the Post Exam Guide [23] together and learn somethings from it.

Looking at the E2 pass rate (42%) for the recent May 2012 exam,  you may think that it is a hard paper.  Although 42% isn't a great result, it is still in line with recent May/ Nov examinations.  Examiner has commented in the Post Exam Guide [25] that there was a noticeable gap between high scoring candidates (over 70%) and very poor performers who failed miserably.  I have noticed from the discussion board th

The pass rate for E1 in the latest May 2012 exam was not bad at all (69% in the UK and 59% worldwide).  From what I have seen on the discussion board, most people failed marginally.  So I think the problem is more likely to do with exam techniques rather than knowledge gaps.  Reading the Post Exam Guide [27] from the examiner, you will see the same old issues - Not writing enough and lack of content.

With less than 48 hours, exam entry for the September resit will be closed.  Have you registered for exam or you are still contemplating whether you should sit exam now or leave it until later?  Before making your decision, why not take a look at the latest preseen case, D plc [29]?  It is now available for download.

Exam time is getting close, only one week to go! For those of you sitting T4 part B, this can be the your last CIMA paper ever! This sounds exciting, right? Let me give you some final tips.

In the PEG [32]for March 2012, the examiner said that students did not perform well.  E3 is a tricky paper for many people, however it is also an exciting paper as it deals with many aspect of strategy, which is usually handled by senior management within an organisation.  To do well in this paper, students need comperhensive knowledge as well as good business sense.  According to the PEG, 2 main reasons for poor performance in this di

The E2 pass rate for the March 2012 resist was very pleasing (87%), however the examiner has commented in the PEG [34] that many students only passed marginally with marks in the low 50s. Therefore let's not get complacent and see how we can be well prepared for May 2012. Let's start by looking at what was examined in March 2012.

Section A (medium length questions, 50%)

With only 5 weeks to go, many of you will be sitting exams again.  Are you at the final stage of your revision?  Or you are just about to start?  Well....it's never too late! Let's see what the examiner has said in the March 2012 Post Exam Guide [36] and hopefully this may help you to be better prepared.

Section A (10 MCQ, 20%)

As usual, many students scored high marks.  The average was 14 out of 20.

My colleagues Julia and Rebecca hosted the first ever live Ask a Tutor session for paper E2 on Tuesday 21 Feb. It is a great format and certainly very interactive. I think we'll expect to see more of this in the future. If you missed the live session, you can view it here:

Happy Valentine's Day!  Today is the 14th Feb and for those who are in a relationship, you may have spent a lot of time in advance for preparation.  Your checklist of today may includes:

Examiner has commented in the Post Exam Guide [40] that a large number of students did well in the Nov 2011 E3 Exam yet its Global pass rate was one of the lowest (43%).  You must be thinking how you can improve and pass in the upcoming resits late Feb/ early March.  Let's look at the examier's comment by question.

I ran my first ever half marathon yesterday in the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Bank Marathon.  I managed to finish in 2 hours 10 mins, which I am quite pleased though my initial target was to finish under 2 hours.

I had put together a plan and start practising since early November.  However the plan kind of fell apart over Christmas with parties and overseas trips.  When I realised that I was not well prepared enough, it was only 2 weeks to go!  This sounds like one of your experience with CIMA exam, right?

It was Chinese New Year last week and I had a good time celebrating with my family and friends.  This is the year of Dragon and traditionally, Chinese people associate Dragon with wealth and success.  May I wish you all a healthy and successful year, passing your CIMA exams 1st time round!

E1 traditionally has one of the best pass rate among all CIMA papers.  In the November 2011 exam, the UK pass rate is 67% (highest) and the global pass rate is 56% (2nd equal).  However for those who come from a typical accounting background, this paper may not be your favourite as there is no calculation involved.  Now with just over a month to go until the resits in late Feb, what should you do to prepare yourself?

With the November 2011 behind us, you may be considering if you should sit for the T4 Part B exam in either late Feb or late May 2012.  Well, the preseen case for these exams has been released today and you can download it here. [45]

Nov 2011 results have just been released today.  This reminds me a lot about the old days when I used to turn on my PC first thing in the morning and checked emails with a shaking hand! I can still recall the overwhelming joy when I passed all three strategic papers first time and the disappointment I had when marginally failed T4.