How I passed SBR

This is not a question. Just my approach on how I prepared for SBR and passed in 1st attempt. This was after a 6 year gap in studies.

I work full time and have 2 kids. I did not have as much time available as some people do.

I started studying in Sep. I only studied 1-2 hours during week days and about 6 hours each day on weekend until Oct.
In November I studied for 2-3 hours in weekdays and about 8 hours each day on weekends.
I also booked a week off work in Nov and studied about 7-8 hours every day in those days.

It took me a while to get back in to studying mode after a long gap. People who have recently passed Financial Reporting may not need that many hours. It will depend on each individuals learning capabilities.

So what did I do in those hours.

1. I printed all the notes in Sep and went through all the lectures by end of Sep. Anything I found important I wrote that down on my notes. So that when I look at them in future I can also revise that important information.

2. From Oct I started practicing. I used BPP P&R kit. I divided number of questions on my available hours and made a plan so that I have practiced all the questions by middle of November. It did not go as planned and I finished a week later but hey-ho!

I solved all the questions in order started from question 1. I did not focus on standards or topics because one question normally covers different topics and standards so no point doing it that way.

Wherever I struggled I refereed to my notes and after solving the questions. I thoroughly went through the answer with the aim to improve where I went wrong.

3. I go to work on train. In the evening I used to do at least 1 practice question and during day on the train or at work during break I used to just go through lecture notes just to keep the knowledge fresh in my mind. I continued doing that until just a couple of days before exam.
This is because when you are practicing in question order you focus on one topic at a time for a couple of days and then move on to next topic.
when you keep looking at lecture notes which takes about 10 mins per chapter on avg it really helps during practice cos most of the stuff is fresh in your mind.

4. After doing all the questions, I also did all 5 mock exams at the back of P&R kit. 3 of them in exam conditions on weekend. Before this I never timed my answers when I practiced questions but I think I should have because I struggled a little during my mock exams.

One thing that was not in notes in as much detail and also in P&R kit is the exposure drafts in syllabus. Notes and P&R kit only touch these topics but they are always examined. Do not ignore them. They are easy marks. Please spend some time on them. they are not hard. As long as you know what’s been proposed in them you should be able to answer the question.

I found this website useful.

https://www.iasplus.com/en/news/2015/05/cf-ed

Above plan is what suited me best. Everyone’s commitments and time available is different. I suggest make a plan that suits you and you stick to you. YOU WILL PASS.

Make sure you do all the questions in P&R kit with the aim of testing your knowledge about those topics and learning from them.

Manage your time in exam. In the exam I read the paper for first 7-8 mins and decided which questions/parts I will do first. Then I just went for it.
Before doing every part I worked out time available for it e.g 10 marks X 1.8 mins = 18mins for that part. This exercise takes 2 secs and if you start timing your answers from when you begin practicing this will become your 2nd nature by the time you sit for exam.

I finished my exam 2 minutes before time and just quickly looked through my answers in last 2 mins.

I came out not so confident but still passed. All thanks to Chris.

I am sure you will too. it’s all down to practice.

Good Luck!