One of the best things that I've found you can do when revising for the exam is read the Examiner's report - after all, they will be the ones looking at your exam paper in May! In order to help you get started, we have collected some of the key themes from the February Examiner's Report. The full report is available right here: MCS February 2017 Examiner's Report. We suggest that you read through this yourself very carefully - it could really help you get that pass.
Learning lessons from those who mark and assess the exam themselves could be all the difference between a pass and a fail this May. Every sitting I analyse the report and share the important findings, so students do not make the same mistakes. The examiners often have to repeat themselves on where students are going wrong, which we don't want to happen for the next sitting! With this in mind, here are the top three key themes that I picked out from the latest MCS report.
1. Technical knowledge could be improved
One of the first points made in the exam was about candidates use of technical knowledge:
“The main difference is that candidates appear to be getting weaker in technical accounting and stronger in general management. Candidates must be better prepared in technical accounting areas in the future."
If you feel
like your technical knowledge in these areas is not your forte, now would be the
time to brush up on this knowledge. If you are finding some of the information a
little tricky to understand, why not post up a query on our Management Disqus
message board, speak to a fellow student or try a different method of
revision -perhaps watching a video about the information instead of reading a
study text. We are always here to help with technical knowledge, so don't be
afraid to ask!
2. Don't forget to study Ethics in your revision!
“The other area where candidates were weak was Ethics, this has been the case over the last few diets and has been disappointing.”
This is a
comment that the examiner's often mention in their reports and is a topic that
we very much encourage you to study, because it simply comes up so many times in
the exam. In fact, in the November exam Ethics featured in 3 out 5 variants! You
simply can't afford to let Ethics pass you by, because it could be the
difference between passing and failing! In order to help, we have created our
very own Ethics
pack, which tells you all you need to know.
Another topic the examiner's mentioned was about some candidate's take on the pre-seen and its industry :
“There were some poor answers, some candidates did not seem to know much about the industry or the company. Given that the pre-seen material had been available well in advance of the examination, this was disappointing."
For those of you who are taking the Management Case Study exam for the first time, the February pre-seen was based on the film making industry. This comment is surprising in a way, because the industry is well known, with lots of information available. Perhaps it was a case of there being TOO much information available! For the May exam, we have said it before and we will say it again: reading, understanding and researching the pre-seen is crucial preparation for the exam! Going into the exam without a thorough revision of the pre-seen is a bit like making a meal without knowing any of the ingredients - not the best method!
As already
you may have gathered, it is VITAL
that you look at what the examiners have found in previous
sittings as you can then ensure you have considered these issues before your own
exam. I hope that this has helped with your revision, don't forget to give the
report a read through yourself, so you are completely up to speed with the
examiner's thoughts: MCS
February 2017 Examiner's Report.
No comments:
Post a Comment