Your FAE mock exams aren’t something you should brush off. They hold essential experience and insight, says Bryan Rankin.
It’s officially summer, but with the FAE exam season just around the corner, planning for mock exams may not be your idea of fun. For some, it may not even be a high priority.
However, there are a few great reasons to commit to sitting your FAE mocks.
Why are the FAE mocks so important?
As students prepare for their final exams before becoming Chartered Accountants, giving themselves the best shot possible at passing them is vital. The FAE mocks can set you up for success in terms of time management, navigating the exam paper, and dealing with the stress that comes with any exam.
On top of that, the FAE mocks consist of exam-standard papers that offer a great insight into the exam process before the big day.
The mock exams are an opportunity to test your knowledge, gain valuable online exam experience, and determine what areas you need to work on in the coming weeks.
The value of self-correction
The one key difference between the FAE mocks and the main exam is who will correct them – the marking team correct the exams, but the students correct the mocks themselves.
Students will be given the mock paper (of course), the solutions, the marking scheme for each paper and recorded solutions from their lecturing team. These resources will be available once the FAE mock exam window has closed on 11 July.
But why is self-correction important?
When self-correcting a paper like the mocks, you’re an active participant in the marking process. Students get the opportunity to see exactly where they went wrong and why marks were dropped.
During self-correcting, students compare their answers with the suggested solution. They can also see how individual marks were allocated across the question.
All these lessons hit home when you’re marking your own paper, and you can carry those lessons into the FAE exam day.
On top of that, students can swap mock scripts with one another for correction. You’ll identify your strengths and weaknesses and learn from each other.
Mocks as a trial run
Since the start of June, an FAE practice paper has been available via the Institute’s online exams platform, Cirrus, and many FAE students have used it to practice in an online environment. The FAE mocks are an opportunity to practice answering a full exam paper online, using a different paper and a fresh set of questions.
While mock exams are not invigilated like the FAE exams will be in August, they still replicate the exam experience significantly. The question layout, navigating the exam answer windows as well as the functionality will all be the same.
You can take this trial run idea a step further by treating it exactly as you would approach the exam days in August. Take the mocks using the same IT hardware, in the same location, with the same time restrictions as you’ll have in August.
Careful preparation here will pay dividends on the big day.
Bryan Rankin is Head of Student Operations at Chartered Accountants Ireland.