With exams season about to start, students need to be prepared. Bryan Rankin gives an overview of the upcoming exams, along with tips on scheduling and planning ahead.
“Be prepared” isn’t just an excellent motto for scouts – it’s just as relevant for Chartered Accountancy students working towards their challenging professional exams.
Here are just a few points to help prepare you for the academic year ahead across CAP1, CAP2 and FAE.
CAP1
DEBK and Law assessments
For CAP1 students, exams come around quickly, with assessments for Double-Entry Book-keeping (DEBK) and Law starting first.
These are ‘on-demand’ assessments, meaning students of CAP1 Financial Accounting and CAP1 Law must take these assessments during defined windows of time. If you are not enrolled in these subjects, these assessments are not relevant to you.
- Window 1: 1 November 2022 – 22 December 2022
- Window 2: 2 January – 3 March 2023
We advise students to book a slot to take this assessment in November or as early as possible. Other CAP1 subjects will ramp up over the coming weeks, and you don’t want these assessments hanging over you.
Busy season
Whether you’re training in a large practice or business, the ‘busy season’ can run from January to the end of March, requiring trainees to put in long hours and heavy workloads.
Plan for this period now. Students who work hard studying materials and undertaking practice questions in the Learning Hub before Christmas will reap significant rewards. Don’t fall into the trap of ignoring your studies by just focusing on the day job – you have a juggling act to perform, so don’t drop any balls.
CAP1 mock exams
CAP1 mock exams will take place in March. They are an excellent opportunity to test your knowledge and practice online exam techniques.
Students who complete the mocks are statistically more likely to pass their Summer CAP1 exams.
CAP2
Much of the advice above is also relevant for our CAP2 students, particularly for those new to Chartered Accountancy.
Financial Reporting Interim Assessment
The Financial Reporting Interim Assessment on 7 January 2023 is a 90-minute online assessment with a weighting of 15 percent of your overall Financial Reporting exam mark.
Interim Assessment results will be published on 13 January 2023. This is the only sitting of this assessment before the CAP2 Summer exams, and this is the only Interim Assessment at CAP2.
Details of what is examinable in the Interim Assessment can be found in the current competency statement on our website on the CAP2 exam page. You’ll get all the preparation and guidance you need by attending the financial reporting live webinars and looking at the financial reporting materials on the Learning Hub.
Open-book examinations
Summer 2023 assessments will be open-book, which means that students can use resources like notes and textbooks during the exam (although the latter is not advisable).
For some, open-book exams can be trickier to handle. To help students, we have added Professor Mike Farrell’s excellent video on the topic to the start of each CAP2 subject in the Learning Hub (introduction session). The topic is also frequently covered in CAP2 live webinars.
FAE
Advanced Financial Reporting Interim Assessment
The primary focus for FAE students will be the Advanced Financial Reporting (AFR) Interim Assessment, which will take place on 3 December 2022. This 90-minute, open-book assessment is worth 15 percent of the overall FAE exam mark.
We understand the importance of this assessment and have significant resources available to students, including five financial reporting webinars between October and mid-November 2022.
There are also many valuable videos in the Learning Hub and the AFR sample papers hosted on the Institute website (see the FAE exams page). Please take note of all emails from the FAE exams team, which will contain important information on the AFR.
Integrated Case Day
Once the AFR is completed, the FAE timetable will shift to cover other core subjects – apart from financial reporting – and start on the elective subjects through January 2023. In February, attention moves to the Integrated Case Day (ICD) series.
The ICDs are a series of seven case studies that prepare students for the ‘case study’ format of the FAE Summer exam.
All FAE students are required to attend a minimum of five of the seven scheduled ICDs as part of their regulatory course completion criteria. The FAE team will be in contact in December with further information on ICD dates.
If students have questions, they should email their programme team at CAP1 / CAP2 / FAE@charteredaccountants.ie.
Bryan Rankin is Head of Student Operations at Chartered Accountants Ireland