Management Results Overview 2015

A number of interesting facts and statistics were presented at the 2015 CIMA conference last week.

The conference was attended by key people from CIMA and tuition providers including members of the Astranti team.

We would like to share with you some of the key points raised at the conference.
In this blog I am going to summarise the conference content that focused on the Management level. This included a review on the E2, P2, F2 and Management Case Study exams. It also covered what went well for students on the previous sittings and key areas that need to be improved for the future.

The information was presented at the conference by Christian Gagiano, Learning Support Manager and also a leading case study writer and marker.

I hope you find this summary useful as it includes some important information that could help you as you progress through your studies.

Lets begin with F2…

F2 Pass Rates

The overall pass rate for January – September 2015 was 64% with 48% of students passing at their first attempt.

F2 Sectional Performance

The performance in the 'Sources of long-term finance section' was relatively poor. Examiners commented that even those students that had passed did less well in this area. They hypothesised that this was due to the fact that this section is new to the syllabus.

F2 Regional Performance

All geographical regions (Europe, Africa and MESANA) performed similarly with a poor performance in 'sources of long term finance' syllabus area.

P2 Pass Rates

The P2 pass rate was similar to that of F2 with 62% of students passing between January - September 2015. 44% of students passed on their first attempt.

P2 Sectional Performance 

Students performed similarly in all sections of the syllabus with 'Cost planning and analysis for competitive advantage' being the weaker area for many students. The CIMA presenter commented that successful students are just about passing all section with the opposite for failing students.

P2 Regional Performance

Students from Africa performed relatively weakly across all areas of the syllabus in comparison to students from Europe and MESANA. MESANA students did less well in 'Cost planning and analysis for competitive advantage' and 'Control and performance management of responsibility centres'.

E2 Pass Rates

E2 pass rate was very high for January – September 2015 in comparison to F2 and P2. 92% of students passed with 85% doing so at their first attempt.

E2 Section Performance

Students performed very well in three of the four sections of the syllabus. However 'Managing change through projects' was a weak area for many students.

E2 Regional performance

Students from Africa and MESANA performed particularly weakly in the 'Managing change through projects' section in comparison to their European counterparts.

Managing Case Study exam

Performance by students in the exam was seen as weak in March but improved in May and August. The CIMA presenter concluded that students were becoming more familiar with the format.

He gave a number of tips to improve performance in the management case study exam. This included some basic but important feedback such as:

• Read the question!
• Answer the question!
• Manage your time effectively
• Relate answers to the pre-seen
• Don't just technical – It's good demonstrate knowledge of the syllabus content but its essential to apply it effectively to the case study