7 minute read
On the day
3.5 On the day
This year, the FD1 exam will be online for the second time. For many people, FD1 is the first exam they’ve taken for years, and possibly the first online exam they have ever taken, and so the following are simply some reminders for coping with such an exam on the day.
3.5.1 Preparation
At the risk of sounding patronising, here is a list of things to have available: • Stationery – 2 x note taking pens or preferably pencils (and an eraser), note paper, possibly a desk clock of some sort and maybe a short ruler. Keep it simple. • Food & drink – the exam is usually from 10am to 2pm, so keeping blood sugar levels up is important. • Medicines – some people suffer from profound exam nerves. Consider having or taking: – Paracetamol / Ibuprofen, e.g. for stomach / head ache (and possibly hand pain). – Immodium if you think you may need it, for self-evident reasons. – Any medication you are currently on – it’s easy to forget on exam day. • Other – clothes in layers. You’ll be sitting still for four hours; dress for flexibility and comfort.
Remote / Online: Some preparatory steps for the remote exam include: • Using the trial exam provided by the PEB to check your IT arrangements work and to familiarise yourself with the online exam system; • Checking that your IT equipment and software meet the specification that the PEB has published in the Pre-Registration Information and the Essential Information for Candidates; • Checking the quality and reliability of your current internet connection, and considering a plan B such as knowing how to set your phone’s WiFi hotspot; – Checking / having batteries for keyboards / mice; – Ensuring printing works if you intend to print exam papers (recommended); – Practicing typing an exam answer (noting also that only one screen is allowed). • Considering the merits of taking the exam at home vs. in your workplace: – Check if an appointed invigilator can be nominated in your office, which can make printing / uploading less stressful; they can also vouch for you in the event of (hopefully unlikely) serious IT problems. – However, your firm may not permit the exam software to be installed on a machine, or cause issues with firewalls, etc. that need identifying and addressing, possibly whilst access to the office is still limited. • If you cannot use a computer, contact PEB by the end of August for approval to submit a handwritten response (providing relevant medical evidence).
3.5.2 In the exam
Before the exam starts: • Ensure you have read the Essential Information for Candidates and other information published by the PEB. • Read the rubric and do what it says. It may sound obvious but it can prevent silly mistakes on the day. – Read the Instructions to Candidates carefully. Refer to the previous instructions at the front of the 2020 paper during your preparations, but read them on the exam day too in case of changes.
During the exam: • Use the provided answer document, and do not modify the formatting (despite the large font and spacing) or the document name. • Follow the instructions for uploading your Answer document carefully: – Last year, this involved converting the document to a .pdf before uploading the answer. Consider using the trial exam to practice.
Time management: • The online exam is 4 hours 40, and assumes three screen breaks of five minutes each with 25 minutes available for printing and uploading. • If your Answer document has not been uploaded by the Examination End Time, it will not be accepted and your examination will be void. Consider uploading your Answer document at the four-hour point (or at 4 hours 15 if you took the breaks), to ensure it successfully uploads in good time and to give space to resolve problems. Last year it was also possible to re-upload, so the remaining time can be used for final checks and edits to re-upload whilst knowing that in any event a response is correctly filed.
Time management – Part A: • As noted previously, Part ‘A’ questions normally focus on one key problem or situation (sometimes two). Typically two-thirds of the marks for a question will relate to analysing/ addressing this problem and the marks will often flow from each other. If you identify and address this central problem or situation then you have a good chance of achieving more than 50% of the marks for the question. • The remaining marks (if any) tend to be more difficult to obtain. They are often related to disparate and/or comparatively obscure issues and you can spend disproportionate time identifying and answering them. • In short, whilst it is of course recommended that you attempt to answer each question as fully as you can, be aware that there are diminishing returns on your time for each question and be prepared to move on to more fruitful questions if time is pressing. You can always come back to a question. You are better off answering 60% of each question than attempting to completely answer 60% of the questions.
• Thus, for example, when you come to each Part A question, add around 2.2 times the marks available as minutes to the real current time and note it down (2.2 x 100 marks is 220 minutes, leaving 20 minutes reading time in the exam). Consider moving on when you reach that target time, particularly if you are not currently in the act of generating a mark. • Likewise, don’t waste time reading the Part A questions in advance – they are mandatory and you’ll be attempting all of them anyway. However, do indulge in any preparatory ritual that helps you relax and feel more in control of the exam situation, such as clipping the various papers together, etc; this takes very little time in reality but can be very helpful to your frame of mind. • If the exam starts at 10:00, you should probably be finishing Part A by around 11:50.
Time management – Part B: • Once you have finished Part A, if necessary give yourself up to 15-20 minutes of the float provided by this timing regime to evaluate which Part B questions to answer. Once you have committed yourself to a Part B answer recall it will be difficult to abandon it and still have time to do justice to two further Part B questions, so evaluate them carefully first. See section 3.2.2 above. • Give yourself around 50 minutes for each Part B question. Consider resting for a couple of minutes between each one; after all, at this point you will have a good idea of how much time is available for the final question. • Part B questions typically have around 3-5 main issues to address. However as we have seen these are not always wholly separable or of equal complexity, and so it is not advisable to impose a rigid time regime on each of them. Nonetheless it is obviously useful to check your progress regularly, and your question analysis / answer template can be a useful guide. Note that you will be doing quite a lot of analysis and preparation for these questions, and so may not start writing your answer proper until around 10-20 minutes into the allotted period, depending on the question. See sections 3.3.5 and 3.4 for an example of answer writing techniques that facilitate checking your progress. • Note that some people prefer to begin with Part B on the basis that they feel fresher at the start of the exam. If this works for you, be mindful that subsequently running out of time in part A is likely to cost you more marks per minute than running out of time in part B, so be disciplined with how long you spend on the part B questions. • If you have any time left at the end of the exam, go back to a question you feel was unfinished. If you revisit a question like this, don’t waste time reading through it to find where to edit – just type ‘Further points’ or similar, and add any new points at the end of the existing answer. • To reiterate, finally ensure you have successfully uploaded your Answer document before the examination end time.
3.5.3 Final thoughts
Recall that the advice in this part of the book is generic, so do what feels right for you and please share any useful techniques or tips you may have with the discussion group on LinkedIn (search there for ‘FD1 / P2 Study Guide’). Finally, remember that if you’ve got into the profession and as far as taking the FD1 exam, then the odds are that you are capable of passing it!
Keep at it, and good luck.
