Please tell us about yourself
First of all, I must say I’am no genius, I’m an ordinary student like everyone else. Also it’s not very difficult, nor am I saying that its easy. Getting 100% was a major achievement for me. To me, this achievement can be summed into 3 words: motivation, discipline and practice
I am from Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean but which has made a real name for itself in the world through its numerous achievements. I am not actually working; I am a full time student. Hopefully, in the near future when I finish level 2 ACCA, I get a job.
How much time each week did you spend studying, on average??
On average, I would study something like 7 to 9 hours per paper each week, sometimes if I could, I would go for even more.
Which study resources did you use??Study resources I used were the lectures from open tuition and BPP study text and revision kit. I also took tuition for 3 of the papers out of 4 papers which I sat this December. But if I knew of Open tuition before paying for my tuition fees, I would have saved some money. I found the lectures from open tuition very good.
Also it is very important to read the technical articles which many students I believe do not take the time to go through them and just rely on study texts. Do read them once you finish a chapter
What was your approach to your studying???
Since I sat for 4 papers in December, planning was key. First of all, sit down with a piece of paper and write down how much time you can devote to your studies each day and try to see which activities are taking your time and if possible try to reduce same if removing it is exaggerated. I made a plan which I stick to each week.
Allow for free time with families and friends, we don’t want you to have a burnout..haha
Let me tell you, at first it’s going to be very hard and you may feel like giving up but once you get through it for one week, I’m pretty sure it will be okay for the rest of the semester. If you want to get high marks, you got to make the sacrifice. Allow me to quote: “No sacrifice, no victory”
Once you have made a plan, make sure you understand the concepts well and not just study something for the sake of passing the exam. I have seen so many students do that mistake so much. When you are study chapters understand the concepts and the logic behind. Because if you learn just for the sake of passing, then in level 2 papers, you will get difficulty as level 2 papers built upon the knowledge of level 1 papers.
My advice for you is: aim for at least 70% so that you have a good foundation to built upon in level 2. Think about it, if your foundation itself is not so good, you will encounter difficulties in level 2 papers. Believe me it is not that difficult to get that at least 70%.
What would you say was the most important factor that helped you to achieve such a high mark?
The main important factor was practice before the exam. Make a revision plan
Allow me to quote “ if you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”… What I did was one month(4 weeks) before my exam, I made a revision plan. Out of these 4 weeks, I earmarked 3 weeks as revision… these 3 weeks are as follows:
Say we have 21 chapters, so in each week I make a must to revise 7(21/3) chapters and workout MCQ in a particular revision kit ( I used the BPP revision kit, its really useful)… And in that same week, on Saturdays and Sundays, I would revise the 7 chapters covered where I reviewed especially the difficult questions and work it out again..For the 3 weeks it was like this
Finally in the 4th week (remaining week) before my exam, I would review briefly all my notes and MCQs which I had difficulty with (all that in 2 or 3 days) and then in the remaining days in that 4th week I would do Mock exams which are in the revision kit and the CBE specimen (on ACCA website) under exam condition i.e no breaks…
How did you find out about OpenTuition, and which of our resources did you use?
I learnt about OpenTuition when I was searching for something in F2 on the net. Since then, it is one of the most visited website on my laptop.
For my studies, I used the lectures and the notes available on OP. I often see that students only watch the lectures and they rarely use the notes which is supposed to be used in conjunction with the lectures which is a mistake. By using the book along with the lectures, you will better understand the chapters.
I hope these words will help you guys and long live OpenTuition.
Thank you and Congratulations!
Satiam, you are the #ACCAslayer. You’ve paved the way for me. I work tediously and managing my time for work and studies is my real job. But you’ve proven it. I’ll follow.
congratulation, it is really great achievement for you and motivate everyone your comment and advice, we must believe that every thing is possible, whether we are professional, disciplined, motivated and hard working.
THANK IN ADVANCE
Congratulations!!!…really motivate me & thanks for your advise..
hello Satiam,how many years did you take to complete f1-f7?
Hello Nausheen,
Well i took 1 year to complete f1-f7… But i got exemption in f1
So i did 4 papers for my first sitting (f2, f3, f4 n f6) n then 2papers in my next sitting f5 n f7…
It all depends on the individual, its not a race. Do it at ur own pace.
Some would have taken longer or less time n thats fine i think.
Just remember to learn n understand the concepts well n don’t just study just to pass exam..
First of all,congratulations on your achievement!!
I’m now searching for acca materials to study and luckily today I has found this website.
For your information,I’m really new in accountancy area because before this my degree was in Cognitive science.only last 2days I’m decided to take ACCA and dreams to become an accountant,hopefully soon.I think this is a big decision in my life and hopefully it is a right decision for me.and of course I need to take from f1.
Just my wondering is,is that OK just depends on opentuition website only for studying acca or I need extra materials such as purchase any books or take tuition in order to improve my knowledge?as I said earlier,I’m really new in accountancy.
One more thing,do you think it is a good idea to take f1,f2,f3 altogether for December2015 exams?until now I still do not start study all f1-f3 yet because still finding information about acca..
Thank you in advanced for your response.
Hello Siti,
Please bear in mind that i’am only a student and given ur situation,i don’t feel like the right person to advice u …
Wat i would advise u is post it in opentuition forums(ask the tutor forum),they will give u a better advice….
Bzw i’m curious, y did u decide to do ACCA? Shifting from cognitive science to ACCA that’s a big move..
Anyway, since u’r new to this area of accountancy, make a little research to get a feel of what it is so that u can decide whether u REALLY wanna do this… So that u don’t start ACCA n find out that u don’t wanna do this…
Ooo..Ok,thank you for your advice.I will ask in opentuition forum my inquiries.
I decide to move to another field and interested to take ACCA because my country now(malaysia) need more accountants who hold professional certificate like acca by 2020 and there are chances for me to get job in accountancy field. Compare to Cognitive Sciences field, I felt it was difficult for me to find job because my country do not need employee from the field so much.
I hope my decision is right and I am positive with it..just need to give extra work hard..:)
Im new in ACCA and from pre medical background before taking admission in ACCA everyone says ACCA is difficult you can’t do that but in starting i’ll passed my 3 papers with 70% but in 4th paper i had an difficulty 2 times i attempt and i put more efforts but not successful 🙁 then i’ll choose another paper but i failed again n again im completely demotivated what can i do plz help satim 🙁
Thats very good, u got 70% in fundamental level papers…
Well i repeat again, its planning.. I myself will sit for dec 2015 exams (f8 n f9) and what i do is:
1. Calculate how many weeks u hv before exams e.g i hv earmarked 15 weeks for study n also earmarked 4 weeks for revision i.e i started this week n after 15 weeks comes my 4 week revision which will be November n then exams in December.
2. If i hv say 20 chapters in, say f9, i”ll allocate the 20 chapters to the 15 week of study.
3. Once u hv all this on paper, u can start studying whereby now we know which chapters to cover n in which week. This will give u confidence in urself wen u know everything is planned.
Note this is WHAT I DO, n has worked for me… See wat works best for u and once u start try to be consistent
Success does not come easy u hv to work for it..
Congrats this motivates me.
Tips to pass F3 CBE
Congrats such a great achievement which will motivate everyone and i am already motivated. Keep it up …..
This is incredible.
we both searched something for F2 then came the opentuition.com.Lol
I am so grateful for this website.
congrats..U are a true inspiration!!!!!!!!!!
i think i can manage but i need to sacrice indeed, inoder to succeced, satiam i appreciate you.
Congrats.. well done..
very impressive. well done
Satiam, a mega-congratz for the monumental work done bro!
You say you’re from a small island, but what you’ve achieved is a pure confirmation of the fact that one can do anything. And if that’s not an inspiration in and of itself, I don’t know what else is.
Thanks for sharing how you did what you did.
Best of luck for the future!
Well done…. Keep it Up in life..
do u have Study plan?
all respect and appreciation
It depends on the individual… I like to stick to “7 hour per paper per week” rule..
Of course if u can, u can devote more time to a paper especially if u find it more challenging…
Inbox me if u want, i”ll help u if i can
is bpp kit enough to pass exams or i should use other books
Bro..
I am doing CMA USA..
Exam is on sept 8th..
Pls Gv me a study plan as like u were in my place..
I can adjust with it..
I am not good in making study plans.. But i need it badly..So pls
congrats. that good
Congrats.. keep it up 😉
Nothing is surely impossible yeah? N you surely need not be a genius to win. ‘You simply reap what you sow’ you broke the record bro congratulations
Thank you Ahlam… 😀