I have recently had the pleasure to take part in an interview with Mark from The CIMA Student Blog. If you are looking for detailed CIMA exam insights and Case Study pre-seen analysis, this is definitely the blog to follow. I have myself read the excellent OCS posts last year and can attest that the author does a great job of pulling the main themes across the pre-seen and producing a solid analysis of scenario specific topics.
In the latest post, I answer questions about my experience taking CIMA exams from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. I encourage you to have a read of the full post featuring advice from me and two students at https://thecimastudent.com/.
Below you can read my expanded answers to Mark’s questions where I go into detail of at home exam procedures, my preparation techniques and my concerns. Have a great read and as always I’m open to any questions and suggestions for future posts.
What exam did you sit at home?
F2 Advanced Financial Reporting.
How did you prepare for the exam? Was it significantly different to your usual preparation?
As far as the objective test part, my exam preparation was exactly the same as before. I continue to use CIMAStudy and Kaplan resources, focusing mostly on practicing objective test questions and reading through all chapters until I understand the material. However this time, I spent additional time researching the at home exam procedures. Normally when you go to PearsonVue centers as long as you have your IDs and your appointment booked, you don’t have to worry about that. With online testing, you are the one starting the exam, checking in, making sure the system runs properly so it’s key to read through all the exam instructions and practice testing the system to avoid surprises on the actual exam day. Also, it’s important that you double check for any errors in your PearsonVue and CIMA accounts for example my PearsonVue dashboard didn’t show any exam booked until the last day before the exam. So double check because you may lose your exam fee if for some reason you get the process wrong or don’t correct errors in time.
How did you feel about sitting the exam at home?
I felt good about sitting my test at home and I’m happy to see that CIMA stepped up and introduced at home testing, unlike other accounting certification bodies (US CPA!). It really shows understanding that these unprecedented times require higher flexibility in exam delivery to meet students’ needs and at the same time, higher security standards to ensure the credibility of the charter remains unaffected.
Having said that, I didn’t like some of the new rules of at home testing. The one ‘deal breaker’ rule for me was the fact that, for at home testing, CIMA doesn’t allow any scratch paper which would be similar to the erasable notepad students get at PearsonVue centers. The OnVue software that runs the test application in collaboration with PearsonVue provides an on screen whiteboard feature which is supposed to replace the notepad. The reason why I think this is problematic, is that I think that given 90 minutes for 60 numerically intensive questions (1.5 minute per question) the fastest way to go through a series of calculations is with the help of a notepad where you can quickly draw tables (e.g. NPV), equations (e.g. IRR) or whatever visual help you need (e.g. consolidated entity graph). Using the calculator, then opening the whiteboard feature, inputing your results, having to close it to then go back to the question display is too time consuming in my opinion and 90 minutes is simply not enough if one wastes too much time on opening, closing and using the whiteboard. My classmates shared this opinion as well and I have reached out to CIMA through our student representative however the rule remains unchanged (at least for now). For this reason, I delayed booking the online exam as I was sure that without the notepad I wouldn’t be able to perform as well. I must note here, if you are sitting the E paper or the Case Study this shouldn’t be a problem but I think both the F and P pillar are very numerically demanding and require the student to quickly perform a series of calculations which is difficult with the whiteboard given the time constraints.
I finally ended up booking the online exam as the stay at home orders kept getting extended. I decided I was going to practice doing my calculations using the calculator alone which I have never done before as I always use the notepad to help note down workings as I’m going through questions. This strategy in my opinion is the only way to excel in the numerically heavy papers within the time allotted because, as I mentioned, the on screen whiteboard wastes too much time. To prepare better, the last two weeks I averaged at least 250 questions a week all solved with the calculator alone and I think this helped me the most with preparing for the actual experience.
Another concern I had was about beginning the exam properly. CIMA now have totally updated their instructions giving detailed steps of how to test the OnVue software and what to do on the exam day but my exam was scheduled only 2 days into administering online exams for CIMA so as I was preparing there wasn’t much guidance yet and I was getting conflicting information about the exam process at first. I think, as of today, this is already normalized for current candidates but I would still pay attention to any changes.
The last problem I had was about noise as I live with my family and a loud dog. The CIMA rules for online exams state that noise may terminate the exam and result in a non-refundable fee. I chose to sit my exam at 7AM for that reason to make sure I was uninterrupted. I think this is another reason why I prefer PearsonVue centers as I can get a guarantee that silence will be adhered to, whereas being at home is more risky if the proctoring system suddenly picks up on some random noise and terminates the exam.
What was the exam check in process like?
The check in was very straightforward. It looked exactly the same as the test you are required to run prior to booking the exam. I had to take photos of all angles of my room as well as my ID. After my check in was approved, the exam program opened up and the camera turned on for the proctor to observe any suspicious activity during the exam.
How did you feel after the exam?
I felt confident after the exam. I think I managed my time well and I didn’t feel like I struggled too much with any particular question. Shortly after the exam I received an email with a provisional score report and 2 days after I got a confirmation of a pass. Certainly, my preparation strategy paid off as I scored 150/150.
What advice would you give students about sitting CIMA exams at home?
Research online exam procedures and test the system prior to booking to make sure your equipment is compatible. Also, don’t hesitate to ask questions and contact PearsonVue or CIMA if you are afraid you don’t know how to run the system on the exam day. Finally, do your best to focus and make a clear study plan to stay on track despite Covid distractions.
How was your experience of studying CIMA while on ‘lockdown’ due to Covid19?
I have struggled more than usual and it was hard to concentrate on studying when such a historical event is unfolding right in front of you. The added health and economic uncertainty made my outlook more pessimistic as well but ultimately I just had to focus on keeping up with my study schedule and thinking about the positive aspects of progressing on my CIMA journey.
Also, the MCS case study for the upcoming session in May and August is based on a company in the tourism industry so it’s very striking to see the scenario in the case study being so disconnected from reality. Ultimately, my advice is just to focus on the task at hand.
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