Financial Performance Exam in the morning!!

BeccaLouJ9

...Wish me luck!!

I think I am ok on all the variances, explaining them, reconciling them etc.. I am ok at report writing.. and I think I will be ok at explaining performance indicators.... my problem at the moment is reading the questions properly!! I need to remember to take my time and read what is being asked!

Anywho, just thought I'd share! Will let you know what the CBE is like tomorrow!

Becca

x

anniebabe

hi Goodluck, I have mine on Thursday afternoon, fingers crossed.x

jane

Yes good luck with your exam, I have mine on Wednesday afternoon and am dredding it. I can honestly say I am no where near as confident as you seem. Good luck and shall be thinking of you, please let us all know how you get on.

uknitty

I did mine last Wednesday and the questions on mine were very fair - no nasty surprises.

I managed my time very badly though and had to rush to even get the basic points down for the final writen task. Although I didn't struggle with content, I'm uncertain if my written answer will be enough to pass part 2 - and this is soley as a result of managing my time badly !

If I do need a resit I am going to click through to the written questions and attempt them first.....

Good luck to all who have exams coming up

Sailorgirl

I've got mine on Thursday morning. I might click through and do the written first, although the earlier questions do get you warmed up.

Good luck everyone x

freck59

uknitty wrote: »

I did mine last Wednesday and the questions on mine were very fair - no nasty surprises.

I managed my time very badly though and had to rush to even get the basic points down for the final writen task. Although I didn't struggle with content, I'm uncertain if my written answer will be enough to pass part 2 - and this is soley as a result of managing my time badly !

If I do need a resit I am going to click through to the written questions and attempt them first.....

Good luck to all who have exams coming up

EXACTLY what happened to me. I had half an hour left for part 2 cos I was fussing so much on getting the variances right in part one! I only managed to get two or three lines for each box in the written bit so I'm guessing that won't be nearly enough... If I do the exam again I'll start with Part 2 and get that nailed. I'm annoyed because it wasn't that difficult to analyse it was just getting the right words to get it over to the examiner that I may even know what I was talking about!

uknitty

It was the variance question that I went back and dithered over as well - not quite sure why I did , because the question was straightforward and similar to the ones in practice material. I just started doubting myself for some reason !

Oh well - it is a lesson learned for next time !

SandyHood

I read with interest the comments written by serious students.

AAT is at a very early stage of the computer based exams. They have been there for little more than one year.

These exams appear to present time management opportunities that were not present in the NVQ days.
NVQs demand competence, so time tended to not be an issue. Instead, students aimed for perfection. This brought in techniques that suited the style of exam and the subject content. NVQs have gone now and CBEs have arrived.

I spoke to some students at Chichester, we sat FNPF last week. Many left with up to 30 minutes to go. They had no time issues.
But there were some who had identified that time was an issue. We had had practice exams on computers to identify if time was an issue. These students went into the exam with what I called "a game plan". They knew which questions they would do before they entered the exam room, and they knew the order they would attempt these questions.

When time is a pressure, and you know 70% in each section, you must manage the time. Time is your limiting factor. Perfection is desirable but (shocking to a lot of AAT students) perfection is not essential.
Make up your mind if you are under time pressure, then make sure that you answer the questions to give yourself the best chance of 70% in each section.

This exam technique is not new in accountancy, it is very important for ACCA CIMA ICA(EW) and CIPFA.

uknitty

The strange thing is Sandy I had prepared for this exam and very aware before the exam from other students comments about the time restrictions posed .

Not quite sure what happened on the day - I had planned to do the writen tasks first, but in the exam room it just went out of the window ! My confidence was a bit shaky and I put that down to some external factors, but ultimately - it is my responsibilty to manage my time well. I think in some ways even though I have heard from other people about problems with timings, it is a good learning experience that I have made some mistakes now earlier on in my studies. Hopefully I can learn from this for future papers.

jane

Well I have been studying all day today in prep for my exam tommorrow afternoon, I am absolutely shattered, but alas still not going to call it quits just yet. I am pondering wether to do one written one first and then do the variances and ratio's etc, and then the final written. I have just done a practice written paper now, and that seemed to go a bit easier! But then it's not the real thing.
I have read all your comments with interest, and am so pleased that we have a forum like this, because at least one can have some sort of action plan with the experience of others that have done it before hand, and I thank you all for sharing your experiances.
I am so nervous and just hope everything stays in my poor old brain overnight!!

uknitty

Good luck for tomorrow Jane

Dont' worry too much about tomorrow (easier said than done I know !) I'd say the paper I had was very fair and the questions similar to the practice papers . You sound like you have worked really hard, so have a nice relaxing evening and give yourself a nice treat. Let us know how you get on !

jane

Thanks uknitty,

I will be so pleased when it's over, then I can have my life back for two weeks!! Haven't started xmas shopping yet, so have that to look forward to, and as for the housework, well (LOL!) !!! I think tommorrow night I will just crash out on the couch and sleep I am that done in!
I will definately let you know how I felt it went ..... watch this space

SandyHood

jane wrote: »

. I am pondering wether to do one written one first and then do the variances and ratio's etc, and then the final written. I have just done a practice written paper now, and that seemed to go a bit easier! But then it's not the real thing.:)

Dear Jane

A clear plan will help you relax.
I recommend that you decide now exactly which order you'll tackle the questions. Then when you have decided (not pondered!), stick to it. Don't change your mind.
Relax tonight knowing you have a plan formulated.
Then tomorrow go into the exam, and follow your plan.

It is amazing how having a clear plan takes away decisions and allows you to concentrate on passing.

My very best wishes - and enjoy chilling when it is over.

Sandy

jane

Thanks Sandy for your kind words. I will do just that because I think you are right. Good luck to everyone else that is sitting this too.
We will all get there.

BeccaLouJ9

Hi All,

Thanks for all the good luck messages..

I did the exam yesterday morning.. Was nearly late- literally got there on the dot 9.30. Bus took 75 minutes to do a 20minute journey!! Not impressed! Anyway, the exam! ..

It was ok, nothing majorly suprising, apart from Limiting Factors coming up. I wasn't expecting it, although I knew it was there in the syllabus! That threw me a little, as I wasn't completely prepared for that. Oh Well! I hope the report writing was ok, I filled up the boxes and think I got all my points across. The variances were ok, but I got a stupid one wrong.. F o/h Vol variance.. used quantity instead of production.. idiot!

Oh well, done now, time to begin the long wait for results.. onto Personal Tax!

Good Luck today Jane! And everyone else who has any coming up!

B x

freck59

Well done Becca - I'm so nervous in exams that any deviation from plan - ie your bus journey - has me almost hyperventilating. I had limiting factors as well and had to really trawl back to last year in my head for the info on that one.

Sandy - I was interested in what you said about not achieving perfection and to move about the exam questions. In previous exams we've more often than not had to use the answers from previous questions as information in following questions so I'm now in the habit of doing things as they appear on screen. There's also the dread of what happened to me in my 1st ever CBT of taking a peek at the next page only to find I couldn't go back to the previous page and then having the computer crash and having to start again.

I think I'm more confident in the reliability of the CBT now and having done this exam last week I'm not 'scared' of moving about to the questions I'm stronger in and coming back to weaker ones later. Also, as I'm a speed typist, I know I can probably do the written questions a darn sight quicker than I did - I'd reached panic stations over the lack of time left and kept making silly typos.

Its all a learning curve - but an expensive one if there are re-sits!

jane

Hi all,

Well had my exam this afternoon, just got back from Zumba to de - stress myself and I feel so much better now!!

The exam had a few suprises in for me, Limiting Factors being one, I brushed up on that very quickly this morning, but don't think I answered the question right!!
Also, I found that alot of the questions were similar to the practice ones, but did have a few added bits in them.
I managed to finish the exam including written bits with 10 minutes to spare, having said that, the written bits, I really don't know if I answered them properly or if I waffled on too much!
Well I can't change anything now, it's done and dusted and a six week wait for the results.

Good luck to everyone that is due to sit this exam soon, just try and keep calm and have a clear head, I am sure you will all do fine.

Jane x

anniebabe

Morning Guys,
I did this exam yesterday, and I got Limited factors - fortunately I had recapped it - there were a couple of bits that I had to really think about, hopefully I did enough to pass - answered everything - and did the 2 reports first to make sure I wasnt panicking at the end, but had plenty of time to go over everything again - and then finished with 10 mins to spare.
Had a bad night last night tho - couldnt sleep properly -cause my brain was still thinking about it and I kept doubting what I had done, only time will tell now.
Have a good Christmas everyone - and good luck to anyone taking this exam - try to read it carefully and try not to panic.x