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Exam study tips

04 Jun 2007

Aude Leonetti, ACCA’s director of education, stresses that the most important thing for students to do is revise thoroughly. ‘The best way is to practise as many relevant past exam questions as possible, answering the questions in full and spending time learning from the solution.’

Mladena Mavkovic Galliver, June 2006 silver medal winner from Cyprus, used summary notes to help her achieve exam success. ‘For each exam, I prepared notes covering the most important topics and formulas for each part of the syllabus. I made sure that I knew these important basics and then could expand my learning around these topics by doing past exams papers and identifying areas that needed further attention. I also read my summary notes just before the exam to refresh my mind,’ she says.

Diana Mulebwaire, June 2006 bronze medal winner from the UK, is a great believer in question practice. ‘My revision tip would be lots of question practice because I believe it helped me obtain a better understanding of how to approach different scenarios and different question types,’ she says.

Chris Hutchinson, academic and operations director at the London School of Accountancy, says that it is vital to know your learning style and plan accordingly in order to get the most out of your revision. ‘In addition, tackling past exam questions under time-constrained conditions, and asking a friend to mark your answer will help you to perfect your exam technique. Poor exam technique is one of the most common reasons for exam failure.’

Sue Hoof, director of quality and academic affairs, and head of the management accounting faculty at the London School of Business & Finance, encourages her students to plan their time well. ‘Work out how much time you can devote to studying each day and week. Be realistic, allow time for relaxation and increase study time as you get nearer to the exam date,’ she advises.
 
Professional Scheme student Lim Jiechao from Singapore recommends using a combination of mind maps and mental rehearsals. ‘Mind mapping involves extracting key words for a particular topic and linking them in such a way that you are able to recall and explain the concept simply by looking at the mind map,’ explains Lim Jiechao. ‘With the mind maps at hand, review them frequently, and mentally rehearse them by ‘lecturing’ these ideas to yourself, as if you are teaching those concepts to a class.’ When the exams are nearing, Lim Jiechao makes sure he has memorised all his mind maps and is able to recall them.

Professional Scheme student Andy Fisher from the UK found he struggled to remember proformas and different tax rules. ‘I knew the methods and processes, but I was missing out on vital marks because I couldn’t remember the basic details,’ he explains. To overcome this, Andy copies the proformas, tax rules, and rates on to sheets of A4 and posts these sheets around his house and office, and as a result finds that he can remember the key information quite easily. ‘I get up in the morning and see a sheet on the wall at the foot of my bed, I walk into the bathroom and there’s some more posted on one of the mirrors and the back of the door. There are some on the wall as I walk down the stairs, the fridge door, fish tank, and the sides of my computer monitor. Wherever I go in my office or my home I see sheets containing the things I struggle to remember,’ says Andy. ‘As I get closer to the exam I replace them with the same sheets but with parts missing so that I notice what is missing. This helps me to recall information during the exams.’

For CAT Scheme student Lisa Ali from Trinidad and Tobago, the best revision and memory skills are related to how well you are able to explain concepts to others. ‘For theoretical topics, I read and pick out the main points and then discuss them as if I am the teacher of a class. I ask questions and I answer them too. I have found this to be very effective, because you don’t have to rely on the written word, you will be able to explain in your own words, and in effect, apply what you learn.’

Professional Scheme student Fenella Carter from the Isle of Man uses a walkman as part of her revision. She realised that when she falls asleep with the radio on, she seems to know the words to the songs played the next time she hears them. ‘Adopting the same theory, I make notes on a tape and listen to them on my walkman as I fall asleep,’ says Fenella.

Professional Scheme student Netsai Gawa Gava from Zimbabwe understands how important it is not to overload the brain during study sessions ‘Generally, the mind can only concentrate well for 30 minutes. So it is important to take a short break after every half-hour of study. This gives you time to reflect on the material studied and helps it to sink in.’ 

Top 10 revision tips

1. Revise thoroughly
2. Prepare summary notes
3. Practise past exam questions
4. Make and memorise mind maps
5. Know your learning style and plan accordingly
6. Plan your time well
7. Post revision sheets around your house and desk at work
8. Explain concepts to others as if you were a teacher
9. Record and listen to a revision tape
10. Take short breaks after 30-minute study periods