Some CAP1 candidates will soon sit their first professional exam. There are steps students can take to ensure their first exam is a successful one, says Garret Mulvin
You have undoubtedly received plenty of guidance and materials to help you navigate your CAP1 journey. At this point, however, a reminder of the critical components of exam success is worth reviewing for all CAP1 candidates.
All students preparing for the upcoming CAP1 exams from 22 to 26 May are here on merit and, regardless of the educational route to Chartered Accountants Ireland, are well placed to take on the challenge.
While there is a noticeable step-up to professional exams, how to achieve the magical passing score of 50 percent on any CAP1 exam paper is not a mystery.
Exam-focused preparation
Engaging with the learning hub, attending webinars and reviewing question banks have been a central and vital part of your CAP1 experience.
Ultimately, however, each CAP1 subject will present candidates with a three-hour challenge during exam week. Four sample papers are available for each subject that reflect that challenge, and students should practice with these as soon as possible.
It is one thing to be able to calculate a cost of capital, complete a variance analysis, prepare a tax computation or finalise a statement of cash flow—it is an entirely different challenge to do this under exam conditions.
Put the phone away, close the study-room door behind you and remove the solution from view until you have completed your attempt.
You may get a shock the first time you attempt a sample question (not to mention a paper!) under exam conditions. You will likely be uncertain and hesitant, make many mistakes and run well over the allotted time. Don’t be discouraged by this – it is essential to your exam preparation journey! Learn from it, understand where you went wrong, and prepare to attempt another similar question.
Practice on Cirrus
All Chartered Accountants Ireland exams are taken on Cirrus, the e-assessment platform. Practice papers are available to students on Cirrus.
It is essential to become familiar with the functionality and feel of the e-assessment platform. Navigating between questions, creating tables, and flagging incomplete questions you wish to return to are just a flavour of some of the functions that must become second nature for all students.
This is especially relevant at CAP1, where most candidates do not have the benefit of having taken a main exam on Cirrus in the past. Ensure you engage with these practice papers well in advance of your exams.
Mock exams
As you know, practice and preparation are essential for passing your exams.
Any exam can be a nerve-wracking experience, regardless of how prepared candidates may be. Mock exams can serve as a confidence-building exercise, help you control the nerves, improve your exam technique and, ultimately, maximise your performance on exam day.
Remember – there is no such thing as doing a bad mock.
Time management
Exam technique is essential to your CAP1 preparations, and time management is a huge part of that.
In the Exams Department at Chartered Accountants Ireland, we work closely with the examiners to ensure that the entire allocated time (three hours per CAP1 paper) is necessary to complete all requirements. Because of this, time management must be central to your studies.
A CAP1 student has approximately 1.8 minutes for each available mark on the paper. With discipline and practice, your time taken per question will fall, and your chances of exam success will increase.
In the exam itself, once you’ve used the suggested completion time on a particular question, finish up and move on to the next one. Years of feedback from our marking teams tell us that you will undoubtedly get a better return by moving on to the next question rather than spending too long on the current one.
Time management is a skill that needs to be practised. Appropriately managing your time ensures you will attempt all required parts of an exam paper, thus significantly increasing your chances of securing a passing score.
Be e-prepared
Ensure that both you and your equipment are ready for e-assessment. The links below provide important information for all students.
How to get started:
https://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Current-Student/Exams/E-assessment-info/How-to-start
FAQs:
https://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Current-Student/Exams/E-assessment-info/Exams-FAQ
Garret Mulvin is in the Examination Executive-Paper Development Unit at Chartered Accountants Ireland
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