Five great reasons to take on the CAP1 mocks

We understand. Planning for mock exams may not be your idea of fun times. Dry runs, dress rehearsals, they go by many names.  They may not be fun, yet we recognise how incredibly important they are in preparing us for the real thing.  You guessed it, it’s the same with your professional education.  On so many levels, we can’t over-emphasise the importance of your mocks as a preparation for your main CAP1 exams.  

And afterwards, once the mock window has closed and you’ve sat each mock paper, you’ll be so much better prepared for exams days, and set for success. 

Compulsory? 
Before we get into that though, we should address a question that sometimes arises at this time: are the mocks compulsory?   For many students, particularly those in larger training firms, the answer is definitively yes.  You’ll be expected to sit the mocks, and if they haven’t already done so your training managers will be in touch with you directly on this. 

Even if this doesn’t apply to you, every CAP1 student should see the mocks as non-negotiable.  They are an essential part of your academic year and we believe are absolutely key to your exam preparations. 

Here’s a few great reasons to commit to sitting your CAP1 mocks later this month. 

1. Get exam ready
It’s obvious but still worth pointing out that, as a CAP1 student, the Summer exams will be the first time you’ll sit a full, professional level exam with Chartered Accountants Ireland. Except it doesn’t have to be.  The CAP1 mocks are available for all students to get used to what exam day feels like. 
 
You’ll go through many of the same steps as you will for the Summer exams. This is the time to decide things like: what location and what room you’ll sit the online exams, checking that you have strong broadband and WiFi, even that you have water and perhaps a snack to sustain you for a three-hour exam. 

The move in 2020 to exclusively online e-assessment has arguably placed more focus and importance on the mocks.  The mocks are a fantastic opportunity to get used to the requirements and the environment of an online exam. It’s a great idea to replicate the experience of using just one keyboard, one screen and no mouse, not just for the mocks later this month but starting now.  Those requirements will be in place on CAP1 exam day, so why not follow the same approach in the mocks?   
  
2. Get used to the online exam platform Cirrus
Since the end of February, a CAP1 practice paper has been available online and students can experience the Institute’s online exams platform, known as Cirrus. The mocks are a further opportunity to get used to answering a full exam question on Cirrus, but this time in exam conditions. Get used to the functions available in Cirrus, whether it’s structuring your answers, inserting tables, bold-ing text etc.  Then, come main exams in Summer, you’ll be able to focus on the exam paper and giving the best answer rather than focusing on the platform. 

CAP1 students can avail of four attempts on the practice paper at each subject, and we’d advise that you target one practice paper attempt in preparation for your mock exams. Remember that even to open and then close the practice paper counts as an attempt, so use each chance carefully!

3. Check your knowledge
While it would be great to get top marks in all your mock exams, the real benefits here are the process and the experience.  So our advice is: don’t get too hung up on the marks you get in the mocks window, just give it your level best shot. 

That said, the mocks are a dry run for the real thing. You should take the process seriously, so attempt each question, typing your answer or completing a calculation just as you will in May.  Don’t be that student that just opens the mock paper, closes the paper and then views the solution. There’s really no benefit in that for you.  

In this situation, you want to mimic the main exam inasmuch as possible. Get used to being out of your comfort zone, it’s good for you!  Treat the mocks as an opportunity to identify areas of potential improvement, with a further two months to go before the exams themselves.  It won’t be time wasted. 

4. Sit an exam-standard paper
The Education Department at Chartered Accountants Ireland invests a lot of energy and care to ensure that your mocks exam papers reflect and may be compared to the style and format of recent, main exam papers. So, while there’s no point predicting what topics will come up in Summer based on their appearance or otherwise in the mocks, it’s a great opportunity to engage with a full, exam-standard paper. 

5. Benefits of self-correcting and self-reflection
One key difference between mocks and main exams is that the mocks will be corrected by you, the student (the main exams will be marked by an examiner). We’ll give you all the supports you’ll need to do this self-correction, such as the written solution to each paper, a video of the solution using Cirrus as done by one of your lecturing team, and the marking scheme on each question.  These facilities will be available once the CAP1 mock exam window has closed after 03 April. 

You’ll find this active engagement in the process so beneficial and rewarding.   You’ll look at your mocks paper with fresh eyes once the mocks exam window has closed.  You’ll probably spot where you went wrong and in so doing, you’ll actively learn from the mistake, rather than just receiving a high-level percentage mark from an examiner. 

As well as correcting your mock paper, see this also as a time for self-reflection on wider lessons learned. As well as a check on your technical knowledge, the mocks will have posed other challenges in relation to the exam experience: things like time management techniques, exam readiness and managing stress levels. Take the time to consider how you’ll use these lessons in for main exams. 

Conclusion
In summary, the mocks are a key milestone in your journey towards the Chartered qualification. They really are a dry run that will leave you much better prepared and confident as the main exams draw closer.  We’re strongly encouraging all students this year to take on the mock examinations 2022.  Embrace the challenge and start planning for your mocks today.  This is your chance to leave nothing to chance, come Summer exams.