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Tips for mastering the CIMA Case Study Exams

The CIMA® Case Study exams are the final capstone exams of each level of the CIMA Professional Qualification, which students must pass to gain the CGMA® designation. We explore four tips to help you prepare for the exams.

1)     Understand the three Case Study levels.

Each Case Study exam lasts three hours, with multiple tasks of equal lengths. There is a natural progression to the levels — Operational, Management and Strategic — that simulate how work as a management accountant progresses. To reach the Case Study level, you will have already passed the Objective Tests, which focus on ensuring that you have acquired the knowledge and skills for each pillar.  Case Study exams are more about interpreting data and require practical answers to practical questions and simulate real-life business scenarios.

Operational Case Study (OCS)

• Focus — The short-term role of the finance officer and the implementation of decisions
• Skills you need to convey — How to work with others in the organisation and use appropriate data and technology to translate medium-term decisions into short-term actionable plans
• Stats — Three-hour exam containing four tasks related to the enterprise, performance, and financial pillars; allotted 45 minutes per task, each task has two to three sub-tasks

Management Case Study (MCS)

• Focus — The role of the finance manager involves translating long-term decisions into medium-term plans
• Skills you need to convey — How to use data and relevant technology to manage organisational and individual performance; allocate resources to implement decisions; monitor and report the implementation of decisions; prepare and interpret financial statements to show performance

Strategic Case Study (SCS)

• Focus — The role of the senior finance manager entails long-term strategic decision-making
• Skills you need to convey — How to support organisational leaders to craft strategy and evaluate and manage risks that might prevent the successful implementation of strategy, including sourcing financial resources; value the organisations
• Stats — Three-hour exam containing three tasks related to the enterprise, performance, and financial pillars; allotted 1-hour per task, each task has two to three sub-tasks

2)     Understand the Case Study exam cycle.

• Preseen — Released seven weeks before Exam 1
• Exam 1 — Exam cycle is May and August . The same three to four exam variants are offered both months.
• Results — Released seven weeks after the exam
• Preseen — Released seven weeks before Exam 2
• Exam 2 — Exam cycle is November and February . The same three to four exam variants are offered both months.

C opyright: BPP

3)     Understand the pre-seen materials.

Pre-seen materials — known as ‘preseens’ — are background information about the fictitious organisation featured in the Case Study exam. This information forms the basis of the tasks you can expect to see in the exam. The preseen tells the story of the company, including the industry and context in which it operates, its financial statements, management accounts, markets and competitors. Preseens are usually 26 – 30 pages long. Key tips include:

• Be ready — Familiarise yourself with the company, industry and current events.
• Analyse — Perform an analysis such as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) or political, economic, social and technological (PEST); review financial statements and reporting issues. The end of the preseen will contain live issues regarding what is happening in the industry. For instance, a new standard may have come out that will change reporting standards from the current year to the next and that the Case Study exam must address.
• Cross-reference with the blueprint — Being able to know what you can do is critical. Can you discuss finance options, dividend policy or evaluate digital strategies?

Tackling “I can” from each of the core activities in each of the sections is necessary for success. For instance:

• I can identify relevant costs and benefits.
• I can advise on the communication process.
• I can recommend a dividend policy.
• I can use appropriate technologies to gather data for costing purposes, from digital and other sources.

Have a broad syllabus knowledge and know your company intrinsically. You become the person when you role-play the exam. Avoid prefabricated answers, as the exam will have details not included in the preseens. Your answers have to be relevant to the question. 

4)     Plan your exam approach.

• Manage your time — If you can complete a section early, that time does not get applied to the next section. We suggest spending all of your allotted time within the section.
• Keep your answers real and relevant — Remember this is a role-based exam; identify one or more factors that might be relevant, then explain why that approach would be relevant. The more tangible details you provide, the higher you are likely to score. Do not offer irrelevant arguments for the sake of padding your answers. Aim for neat, discreet paragraphs.
• Understand the scoring — People mark the exams, and the pass rate is 60%. Even though a scale is scored 80 out of 150, 60% is the pass rate. The sub-tasks will be weighted differently. Each case will contain tasks from all five of the core activities:

Evaluate opportunities to add value.

-  Implement senior management decisions.

-  Manage performance and costs to aid value creation.

-  Measure performance.

-  Manage internal and external stakeholder.

• Scoring example

 “For a 12-mark answer, it might be possible to identify, say, four issues. A candidate who aims to write about four topics only has to score three marks for each to obtain full marks.” – MCS Examiner

You have all the tools you need to do well on the CIMA Case Study exams. From all of us at the Association, we wish you the very best for your next Case Study exam.

The content of this article is based on a Case Study Masterclass webinar delivered by CIMA and BPP in November 2020.

Preparing for the CIMA Feb24 Case Studies: Free Resources and Guides

In the lead up to the next CIMA Case Study exam, VIVA's experts share useful free resources and guides that put you in pole position for exam day.

With the CIMA February 2024 Case Study exams just around the corner , it's a good idea for those of you intending to sit the exam to start laying the groundwork for your studies right now. The February exam can catch a lot of students out - the temptation is always to postpone study until after the holidays .

This is a mistake!

With the pre-seen already available, and a tuition provider like VIVA with full on-demand courses already available for the February window, there is no good reason why you shouldn't maximise your chances and jumpstart your studies as soon as possible. With that in mind, we thought we'd share with you what VIVA can do to help put you in pole position ahead of exam day. Below are a variety of tips, free resources and guides for the CIMA Feb24 case studies to help get you started.

1. Get the CIMA Pre-seen Materials Here

Probably the most important "free" resource of all is the pre-seen document that CIMA releases in advance of the Operational, Management and Strategic case study exams! The pre-seen document should be the focal point of your studies. You need to know this document inside-out. Too many students assume that they can casually browse the document a few days before the exam, and that if their theoretical knowledge is good enough, they'll be fine.

This is another mistake. There's a reason CIMA releases the pre-seen well in advance. It's because they want you to know it like the back of your hand. You need to be able to very quickly recall info from the pre-seen on exam day; to know where to look to find information that will help you answer the question. To know all the threats, opportunities, weaknesses, challenges, processes of the company in question.

Below you can find the links to each of the pre-seen documents for the current exam window:

OCS Feb24 Pre-seen: click here

MCS Feb24 Pre-seen: click here

SCS Feb24 Pre-seen: click here

2. VIVA's Pre-course Work

All of VIVA's Case study courses include a "Foundational Materials" component. This includes around 7 hours of video lectures and quizzes that ensure you are in the right mindset as soon as the pre-seen is released. These materials can be accessed immediately if you have purchased access to the Feb24 Case Study courses (whether as part of our CIMA All Access membership, or as an individual course ). The Foundational Materials include video reviews of your Objective Test theories and syllabi, exam technique lectures, study focus sessions, and more. This is particularly useful for any Gateway students sitting the MCS exam. VIVA's foundational materials orient you by introducing you to the key topics and concepts from the Objective Test exams. From there, if you wish you can further unlock the full suite of video lectures from E2, P2 and F2 with the All Access membership - allowing you to do a deeper dive on theories that you might not be familiar with. Unlock VIVA's full courses (with around 40 hours of learning materials, video lectures, live webinars and mock exams per course) via the links below:

3. Free articles and guides

‍ Perhaps VIVA's best kept secret (though we try our best not to keep it a secret!) is our growing library of high-value free content - the Knoweldge Centre . Much of this content is highly practical and relevant to Case Study exam sitters. Below we include a selection of the best free case study materials and videos that you can start working through immediately in order to ensure you are well oriented and motivated come pre-seen release day: ‍ ‍

Free Articles:

CIMA Exam Dates

5 CIMA Study Tips to Keep You Motivated

How to Pass CIMA Case Study Exams: A Detailed Guide to Success

Working through your CIMA Case Study Course

6 Tips to Pass CIMA Fast

Handling CIMA Exam Day Nerves: Lessons from Public Speaking ‍

Free Videos:

How to pass the CIMA OCS exam

How to pass the CIMA MCS exam

How to pass the CIMA SCS exam

Planning your Answer in the CIMA OCS Exam

What goes into a Strong CIMA MCS Exam Answer?

Analysing and Understanding CIMA SCS Exam Questions ‍

4. Add mock exam marking at any time

For so many students, VIVA's professional marking has been the difference maker, the thing that pushed them over the line to a pass (see here for example).

Our student surveys have shown that VIVA students who had their mock exams marked by our team of experts, were 48% more likely to pass than students who had not had their mock exams marked. You don't have to get all your mocks marked, we understand that sometimes it's just not practical due to time or financial constraints. But the great thing with VIVA is that you can add any amount of mock marking to your course/membership at any time. You can purchase marking for anywhere from just 1 mock exam to 5 mock exams. You can purchase at the links below:

• marking for 1 x mock exam: purchase here  
• marking for 2 x mock exams: purchase here    
• marking for 3 x mock exams: purchase here    
• marking for 5 x mock exams: purchase here

We hope you find the above helpful as you gear up for the Feb24 round of CIMA Case Study exams.

Like to explore how VIVA can help you with your CIMA studies?

Be the first to find out when we release new CIMA resources.

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CIMA Exam Results and a Look at the Grading Mechanism

• By Stephanie Ng
• / 3 COMMENTS

Eager to find out when you will get the CIMA exam results, and how to interpret the performance report?

CIMA Exam Results for Objective Tests

Since the implementation of the new format, it is the easiest and fastest to get the CIMA objective test exam results — you get a “pass” or “fall” grade immediately after the computerized exam.

After 48 hours, you will receive an email, confirming that CIMA exam results breakdown is available in the MYCIMA portal.

CIMA Exam Results Breakdown

The results are shown in a table format, listing the subject areas in the objective test.

Each subject area is marked “proficient” or “not proficient”, with more detailed comments on how you can improve.

Here is a sample showing the candidate getting a “not proficient” in Financial Reporting:

Image courtesy of thecimastudent.com

If you’d like to have a glimpse at how the full performance report looks like, check out this official video from the CIMA:

A Note on CIMA Exam Pass Mark

The CIMA states that you need a 70% accuracy to pass each objective test. At the same time, they tell you the CIMA exam pass mark is 100.

Please understand that you are given a scaled score ranging from 0 to 150. The emphasis is that this score is scaled, meaning that you cannot figure out your percentage accuracy by a straight formula. In fact, if you try to divide 100 by 150, you get 66.7% instead of 70%.

The scaling is a way for CIMA to balance the more difficult questions with the easier questions . The system weighs difficult questions slightly more, such that students who got a few more difficult questions wrong would still score the same as those getting more easier questions right.

CIMA Case Study Results

The questions in case study exams are more complex. Human graders instead of computers mark this exam, and therefore, we need to wait for approximately 5 weeks after the end of the testing window to get the results.

Similar to the objective test, the performance report is available on the MyCIMA portal, and is presented in the form of a table. We will see “Strong”, “Moderate” or “Fail” in each of the 5 competencies.

In this example, the table is showing “Moderate” under technical skills is marked “Moderate”, with details on areas of improvement:

For those who would like to know the technical side of grading, here is a detailed explanation by the CIMA:

A Note on CIMA Case Study Pass Mark

The pass mark for case study is 80, out of a scaled score of 0 to 150. The candidate must also score a “Moderate” or “Strong” across all competencies in order to pass the case study exam. This is to ensure that the candidate is not weak in a particular area and that he/she is “business ready”.

Even if you pass, take a look at the performance report for rooms of improvement. This will only help you in the next CIMA case study exam.

Is This helpful?

I hope the discussion on CIMA exam grading and results is helpful in preparing psychologically for this exam. If you have any questions, please drop a note in the comment section. Thank you and good luck!

For Your Further Reading

• Frequently asked questions on the CIMA exam
• CIMA exam historical pass rates

About the Author Stephanie Ng

I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley) and the publisher of this and several accounting professional exam prep sites.

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What is CIMA?

Now, before we dive too deeply into the depths of the CIMA syllabus, we need to answer the fundamental question of what CIMA actually is and does.

CIMA is the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants – one of the most respected accounting bodies in the world! And, as you may have guessed from their name, CIMA offers qualifications focused on equipping you to become a management accountant.

But what exactly is a management accountant? A management accountant is generally employed by a company to assess internal information, such as product sales figures, and analyse how it can be used to improve performance in the future.

You must complete both practice exams and one of the mock exams and send them to your allocated marker by the deadlines set out in the course schedule.

 

You must not copy the mock exam solutions. If you do so this will invalidate your pass guarantee.

 

You must achieve an average mark of at least 30% in your submitted practice and mock exams. This is to ensure you are putting in enough effort.

 

You must attend or watch the recorded versions of the masterclasses and make notes on the pass guarantee form.

 

Use the pass guarantee form to document your key learning points throughout your studies, submit within 1 week of the final exam.

You must confirm that you have read and understood the pass guarantee terms.

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You must complete mock exams 1 to 3 and send them to your allocated marker by the deadlines set out in the course schedule.	You must not copy the mock exam solutions. If you do so this will invalidate your pass guarantee.
You must achieve an average mark of at least 40% in your full mock exams. This is to ensure you are putting in enough effort.	You must attend or watch the recorded versions of masterclasses 1 & 2 and make notes on the pass guarantee form.
Use the pass guarantee form to document your key learning points throughout your studies, submit within 1 week of the final exam.	You must confirm that you have read and understood the pass guarantee terms.

Examiner's advice on common mistakes in CIMA's CGMA Case Study exams

CIMA® CGMA Case Study (CS) examinations are designed to challenge candidates to provide solutions to the type of problems that they would encounter in the workplace for the job role matched to the level of the professional qualification. The examination uses a simulated Case Study to provide a rich, immersive scenario to prepare and to provide a context for the tasks in the examination.

The scenarios are developed around today’s modern business environment and the challenges that candidates will face, allowing them to demonstrate the core activities that have been employers have identified as critical. Examination tasks will be practical and applied, not theoretical or academic.

Therefore, to be successful, you will have to perform the core activities (in the Exam Blueprints ) in the same way and to the same standards that would be valid and valued in the workplace. The Examiner’s Report is one of the most important resources that would help you produce an answer that would score highly. CIMA publishes a comprehensive Examiner’s Report for each level and you may read it in the study guide exam window of Study Hub under the ‘Full Post-Exam Support Materials’.

Examiners have identified four common mistakes across all three levels, not only under the 2019 Professional Qualification (PQ) but also under the 2015 PQ — candidates keep failing CIMA's CGMA CS Exams for the same reasons despite the syllabus change! If a candidate scores low marks (e.g., score at a level 1 on a given trait), it is likely that they did one or all of the following:

• Failed to answer the question that was asked.
• Demonstrated limited technical ability (i.e., gaps in knowledge or understanding).
• Provided insufficient justification for arguments.
• Failed to reflect the scenario or the specifics of the organisation and its environment.

As always, the key to achieving a passing mark or better is to answer the question as set. Higher marks are awarded to fuller answers that are relevant and correct.

‘To achieve a level 3 in most traits, it was expected that you would demonstrate good technical understanding of the topic being tested through clear and comprehensive discussion, and where asked, justify your answer. The answer should, of course, be applied to the organisation (both pre-seen and unseen materials) and the particular scenario within the task’. — Examiner

These are the top 5 expectations of the examiners in your CS Exam answers. You answer should:

• Be relevant to the requirement.
• Demonstrate the necessary technical knowledge of the syllabus content.
• Demonstrate your ability to apply that knowledge to a specific scenario, as specified in the case.
• Be well-structured , with good use of paragraphs to clarify the development of an explanation.
• Contain justification of the arguments made in the answer.

To achieve this, below are the top 10 recommendations by the examiners.

Before the exam

• Revise study materials thoroughly. Candidates should study all areas of the syllabus and ensure that all three pillars are covered. It is risky to skip topics, even if they are difficult.
• Read the pre-seen material carefully and think about it. Think about the industry and the entity. That is important because the tasks are all about the application to the scenario, which could mean that the technical issues have to be applied in a particular way.
• Practise tasks from past case studies and reflect on whether your answers are full and relevant. Take the time to type or write full answers. You need not necessarily do so under exam conditions at first because part of the value of this exercise is to ensure that you can interpret and answer questions correctly, within the time allowed.

During the exam

• Plan your answers during the exam and pay close attention to timings. It is very helpful when constructing your answer that it has a logical structure. Typing an outline answer plan at the start of each task or requirement will help you to plan the structure and reduce the risk of forgetting any good points.
• Use time wisely. The tasks are subdivided into separate requirements, with recommendations as to the weighting for each requirement. If you have, say, 24 minutes available for a requirement then you should aim to spend roughly that amount of time on it. It is probably unwise to pinch time from another requirement to make that answer as full as it can possibly be. If you run out of ideas before the time has elapsed, then it might be better to spend some of the time left thinking about possible ways of expanding that answer, rather than returning to an easier requirement. It is, of course, worth using the whole time allowed for each task, even if that does mean reviewing and expanding answers.
• Answer the question. No matter how obvious that seems, markers regularly observe that candidates often fail to respond to the specific question requirements. Revising for the CS Exams requires that you study and learn several models and theories for each of the three pillars. Tasks will generally expect that these models and theories will provide a suitable structure for answers, but the key is to apply that knowledge to the scenario. Candidates frequently offer detailed summaries of syllabus content, with little or no reference to the scenario. Answers must relate to the scenarios to earn a passing score.

‘There were many examples where candidates answered the task that they had prepared for and wished they had been asked, rather than what they were asked. Preparation, ahead of sitting the exam is to be applauded, but candidates need to mindful that they must tailor their answer to address the task given to them on the day. Candidates need to read the task very carefully to ensure that they do not end up wasting time’. — Examiner

• Application to the scenario is key. It must be stressed that demonstrating good technical understanding is not enough on its own to pass. Candidates need to demonstrate technical understanding in the context of the scenario and the particulars of the issue addressed. Information given to candidates as part of the task is there for a reason and should be, as far as possible, incorporated into answers, along with relevant information from the pre-seen. Clearly, where there are gaps in knowledge, the application is not possible and therefore the importance of candidates ensuring that their knowledge base is complete needs to be stressed.
• Commit to an argument. Some answers are weaker because they seem to have been written to avoid contradicting the examiner’s suggested solution. Remember that the marker will mark answers on their merits. There can sometimes be more than one correct answer in business. If you are unsure, then invest a minute or two in thinking and developing an argument rather than typing something vague and unhelpful.
• Keep your answer relevant. No matter how tempting it is, do not waste time in providing irrelevant material that does not answer the question. Candidates for the CS Exams often investigate the industry and learn about recent events in the business news. The insights from such background research can often help develop answers. However, the danger is that candidates often feel obliged to offer real-world examples that do not relate to the task. Credit is given for all relevant points made in the answer, including illustrations from the real world. Irrelevant points will simply waste time, even if they demonstrate prior reading.

‘You are able to explain with clarity and comprehensively, rather than making unsupported statements. Writing comments such as, “this improves decision making”, “this graph is essential” or “planning is enhanced” are not enough to gain any marks. Candidates must explain “how” and= ‘’why’’ this is the case. Explanations can quite often be improved by adding, “because of …” at the end of a sentence. Explanations should also utilise the information given to you within the case study itself, especially financial information. For example, reasons for variances are often given to you in the unseen information, the skill is to pick this out and use it’. — Examiner

• Make sure the presentation and tone are right. Marks are not allocated for setting out documents in a specific way. Similarly, it may be necessary to answer in a manner that could prove unpopular with senior managers, perhaps by recommending the rejection of a proposal made by one of the directors (note: more applicable to SCS Exam). The best way to deal with that is to offer a clear and relevant argument that satisfies the requirement. We recommend that you read the examiner’s report in conjunction with the examiner’s suggested answers and marking guidance.

Note: This article is commissioned using extracts directly from the Examiner’s Reports across all three levels of CIMA's CGMA Case Study Examinations