[thobs]

Hi Paul,

I took for my first exam in December 2010 and finally passed as a member after the March 2017 sitting. The road was very long, it was full of ups and downs but I always maintained this biased opinion that I will achieve what I set out to achieve. I suppose I was lucky in a way because I didn’t let the failures bring me down (remember if the exams were easy then everyone would do them….).

I failed my final exam (P7) four times before I passed with marks of 45, 47, 49 and 49…this was so hard to take given my daughter had just been born and I just got married and I just changed jobs!

But, I knew I had the knowledge, it was just my exam technique! Here is a piece of advice which I think you might benefit from….

Every two our three lines you write in your examination paper (and of course your practise papers), review them and ask yourself “HAVE I JUST ANSWERED THE QUESTION”? because that is all the examiner cares about. A lot of candidates waste so much time not even answering the question and instead bombard the examiner with facts that are irrelevant and not answering the question! This is exactly why people get awarded marks in the 40’s.

I always used to pretend that the examiner had no clue about Accountancy and therefore I answered the question in such a simplistic and logical way and THEY LOVE IT. Clear, short and concise answers that answer the questions asked. Do not under any circumstances waffle, because you are wasting time, not getting any marks and boring the marker.

The first question you answer on a paper is key, if you get that right the examiner will think “god, this person knows what I want” and that straight away gets them attached to your answers.

I genuinely wish you luck mate, but only you can decide if the journey is worth further hard work and sacrifice. One day you could be the person handing out advice and quite frankly given your current situation it will be advice well received.

All the best.

[Author]

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