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If we look back at the June 2013 P3 exam we can see that the examiner has again required students to have a very good grasp of the syllabus, both breadth and depth, combined with an ability to apply that knowledge (along with a decent amount of commercial common sense) to the specific circumstances of the scenario.
In addition it is clear that the examiner likes to keep students on their toes by including substantial elements within questions that are from the fringes of the syllabus. In June 2013 there was a 25 mark question which relied on a reasonably detailed knowledge of “people” and in December 2012 there was a 25 mark question based largely on decision trees.
It is therefore extremely dangerous for any student to focus on certain elements of the syllabus at the expense of others. To stand the best chance of passing P3 students need to have a good understanding of the entire syllabus. This will enable them to choose the questions where they believe they will find it easier to pick up marks (for instance because it is easier to understand the requirements, or easier to structure an answer, or easier to pick up knowledge marks) rather than having to choose questions because of the syllabus area.
In addition if students were to lay out the syllabus and compare it to the past couple of years’ exams, they will see that all the key areas of the syllabus have been examined over the past four sittings.
It could be argued that the following areas, despite being key syllabus areas that have been regularly examined, have not been examined significantly in the past couple of papers, and therefore may be a little more likely to surface (however remember that this is a very dangerous game to play if it distracts students from other syllabus areas):
– Value Chain
– Critical success factors and KPIs
– Role of the corporate parent
– Evaluation of strategies including Suitability/Acceptibility/Faesibility. ?
Finally it is worth pointing out that the June paper had very few calculations or financial analysis, which has been a feature of prior exams, we could expect these to return.thanks
eagleshen201@yahoo.com.cn, thanks