CIMA students: plan your way to exam success
CIMA students: plan your way to exam success One of the common factors we’ve found among students who are most successful in their exams (when compared to those who don’t […]
CIMA students: plan your way to exam success
One of the common factors we’ve found among students who are most successful in their exams (when compared to those who don’t do as well) is the effectiveness of their personal organisation. The top students are generally quite meticulous in how they plan and divide their time, working out which areas to study when, and what specific goals they are focusing on in each session.
We encourage students to adopt an organised approach as much as possible with their own personal study (outside of the classroom time they have with us), and in recent years, many tools and resources have been developed to assist with this. CIMA have released this fantastic planning tool, which is simple yet comprehensive enough to enable even the most reluctant planners to organise their study time effectively.
Available modules
There are hundreds of hours’ worth of study guides available across the Operational, Management and Strategic levels, (E, P and F papers), with more resources on the way for the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting (BA1, BA2, BA3, BA4) and the CIMA Professional Qualification (Operational, Management, Gateway and Strategic Case Study exams).
With each resource broken down into the number of study hours required to complete it, you really can plan effectively to make the best use of your time and motivation.
Long-term vs short term planning
We’re all different, and our individual styles can all bring success if we use them wisely. Long-term planners can set out a study regime for months in advance, and timetable exactly what is going to be covered in each session. A disciplined approach in sticking to this method is a great way to make sure everything is covered and give peace of mind as you tick off each element. However, for some it can seem daunting and like one mammoth task with no end in sight.
Short term planners might work from week to week in a more flexible manner. This allows you the freedom to scale up or scale down the amount you do based on other pressures and priorities, with smaller bite-sized goals which are less off-putting. However, this approach may mean you don’t get through everything in the given timeframe, unless you keep focussed on the long-term goal.
Whichever type of planner you think you are, CIMA’s tool can help you organise your time from week to week and month to month to ensure you complete the required amount of study in time for your exams. There are also additional study resources you can bolt on in order to keep all your studying in one manageable place.
And the best part about the tool? It’s free! CIMA students can simply log in with their CIMA ID and password and start setting up their study planner straight away.
Happy planning!
