STUDENTS
Exam technique: narrative answers We examine how exam technique, time management and planning can help you achieve your full potential.
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xam success is as much to do with good exam technique as it is to do with good technical knowledge. This article, the first in a series of exam technique articles, focuses on the time management and planning aspects of approaching narrative questions. The article is written with the Financial Accounting 3 (Paper 13) in mind but many of the issues discussed are generic and will therefore apply to all papers at all levels. Most of these issues are not new. Indeed, the examiner regularly refers to such issues, within the context of Paper 13, in the exam advice issued following each exam sitting. However, the fact that they are referred to regularly means they reappear consistently in exam scripts and suggests that some candidates are simply ignoring the advice. Candidates at all levels should always read any exam advice provided by AIA based upon Examiner’s Reports – and the sooner candidates do this in their revision process the better. The Exams Advice is published in the “Document Library” of the website and can be accessed by all candidates. Most exam papers contain questions requiring a mixture of narrative and calculations in the answers. The narrative requirement appears to present the most difficulty to candidates so the advice outlines a suggested exam strategy that candidates can employ when faced with a question requiring this form of answer. Papers vary in terms of the proportion of the marks given for an essay or for a discussion or for the provision of advice. Therefore, you
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When writing narrative answers, you must exercise some control and resist the temptation to begin writing immediately, to avoid rambling and incoherent answers.”
should make sure you know the approximate percentage of the marks each paper gives for questions requiring narrative answers. For example, approximately 30% of Paper 13’s marks will be for a narrative answer. If you ignore this requirement and concentrate your exam time on those questions requiring only calculations, you are effectively trying to gain 50% (the pass mark) by attempting only 70% of the paper. This has the effect of increasing the required pass mark to 71.4%. If you do this, you are making it much more difficult to pass the exam.
Time management
When writing narrative answers, you must exercise some control, be self-disciplined and resist the temptation to begin writing immediately. Over enthusiasm to “get something down on paper” often results in rambling, irrelevant and incoherent answers which gain few, if any, marks. Certainly not enough to pass. The starting point, as with any answer to any question on any paper, is to calculate how much time to spend on the answer. This is very simple. The available time is 180 minutes and there are 100 marks available. Each mark should therefore take no more than 1.8 minutes (180/100) to achieve. So, if you are faced with a five mark question, you should spend no more than nine minutes (5 x 1.8) trying to answer it. In addition, where a requirement is broken down into a number of sub-requirements, calculate the amount of time you need to be spending on each separate requirement. Don’t forget that the 1.8
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