How are CIMA Case Study exams marked?

CIMA’s Case Study marking can be tricky to get your head around. I’ve spoken to countless students who found it difficult to understand why they’d failed their Case Study. Often, students receive a ‘fail’ mark even when their results show they have a reasonably good understanding of all subject areas.

So, what can you make of your Case Study results? With the February Case Studies looming, it's a good time to explore what CIMA are looking for in order to grant that allusive ‘pass’!

How have management students performed in 2017?

Take it from me, as a CIMA student, it's important to know how other students are performing so you can asses your own approach to revision. So, do you know how CIMA Management students been doing with their exams so far this year? Are you aware of what they are finding difficult or what they are succeeding in? No?

Read on to find out...

This student qualified after years of failure. Find out his secret...

Trust me, signing up for an online course will mean the difference between you passing and failing your exam. When striving to succeed in a CIMA exam, going it alone without the support of an online tutor, is not a good idea - as one of our recent graduates will contest!

Tim*, who spent four years trying to pass the Strategic Case Study exam, managed to finally achieve  his pass on the August 2017 sitting. How did he manage this after failing for so long? Read on to find out!

Thinking about getting your mocks marked? Here's why you should!

When you are revising loads, it can be tempting to go it all alone and rarely get feedback from a qualified marker. If this is you, then don't let it continue! Getting feedback and having an experienced outsider's perspective could really make the world of difference. Don't believe me? Read on and see why!

Three top tips to avoid distractions!

I have been teaching students for years now and know that not every tip works for every student. Some students, for example, may find it easiest to revise through videos - whilst others hate the idea and much prefer study texts! There are a few tips, however, that apply to everyone and can simply make the world of difference when it comes to passing!

This is one of them - when you are revising, limit ALL distractions. Sounds simple, but it's easier said than done!

So, how can you limit your distractions? Here's three things that I personally do...

How can videos help with your CIMA revision?

When I was at school, one of my favourite subjects was physics. There was a catch, however – I only really understood the theory when the lesson included a video. This could be cars whizzing around a racetrack to demonstrate the doppler effect, dolphins communicating underwater to show the differences in their communication or, my very favourite, a simulation of a rock being thrown through space and whizzing past all of the planets in our galaxy. With videos, physics suddenly jumped out of the dull textbooks and became alive – and the same can be said for videos and your CIMA revision!

So how can videos help your revision? Here's four reasons why!

Tailor your revision to suit your learning type!

Everybody is different and we all learn in different ways. Experts agree that there are four main learning groups into which individuals fall - visual learners, audio learners, linguistic learners and physical learners.

Read on to find out more about these different learning groups and how your own learning type could effect which type of study material is best for you!

Four top tips for your last days of revision!

Have you ever felt like time is sometimes going too fast? Even though revision is possibly not the most exciting time of your life, time really does seem to fly by until suddenly you are waking up and it is almost the day of your CIMA exam!

With the big day approaching so fast, what kind of things should you be doing? Here are our top four tips to make stress your new best friend!

On the move? Here's how to study...

Sometimes it feels as though students' other commitments prevent them from studying as hard as they should. Well, this doesn't have to be the case - not all CIMA revision has to be done at a desk. In fact, you can learn well no matter where you happen to be, as long as you are prepared. 

Here's how to revise when you can't get to your computer... 

Organise yourself to improve your revision!

You can’t be a good accountant if you aren’t organised. Revising for your CIMA exams is the perfect way to prepare yourself for the high levels of organisation and time management that you will need to consistently retain throughout your career as an accountant. With this in mind, what changes can you make to help yourself stay organised ahead of your CIMA exams?

Four tips to help change your revision...forever!

Have you ever walked into the self help section of a book store? If you have, then you may have noticed that there are a good number of books claiming to perform near miracles in a very short amount of time. Become happier in six days? Sounds good! Stop smoking after one session with a hypnotist? Sign me up! Learn how to grow your own money tree? This book comes with free saplings to get you started!

Okay, so maybe some of these aren't exactly the real deal – but it doesn't stop a lot of books from claiming to change your life in under a week. As great (and easy) as it sounds, the effects are unlikely to last long term. In order to see real results, you must keep working on your goals consistently. How can we do this? We have some great tips from one of the most successful self help gurus - no money trees included!

This memory trick will help you ace your CIMA exams…

When revising for CIMA exams, memory power is very important. In many ways, exams are like sophisticated memory tests – if you can remember all the material from the CIMA syllabus and apply it correctly in your CIMA exams, you are on the path to success! 

The following technique will help you to unleash your full memory potential, including the power to remember everything you need for your CIMA exams! 

Why online learning is the best!

At Astranti, all our CIMA materials are online. This means no classrooms, no being up at the crack of dawn for an early morning class or dashing to a late evening session after a tiring day of work. It also means that there are no heavy books to carry and no study texts to suddenly lose when you need them most! Although online learning does have its drawbacks, there are a lot of advantages to studying with me, myself and I. Here's four reasons why we believe that online learning will be the future.

Mocks = Success!

Imagine that you are about to take your driving test. You've practised all the manoeuvres, driven along both quiet country roads and busy city streets and spent more than your fair share of free time memorising all of the different parts of the car. However, on the day itself, you do not pass the test. Why could this be? Well, one of the reasons could be that you haven't practised a trial driving test. You've become so used to driving along, chatting to the instructor and knowing that it's okay to make mistakes, that you are not fully prepared for what the test will actually be like.

In the same sense, not taking mocks when preparing for your CIMA exam could cost you exam success. Why are these so important? It's actually for a number of reasons. Read on to find out more!

Staying calm whilst waiting for results.

After months of hard work and nights watching the moon as you do your revision late into the night, the CIMA case study exams are finally over for May! How do you feel? Excited for your result or anxious and fearing the worse? If it's the former, then great! We are sure that you will all get the result you deserve and enjoy the celebrations that will soon follow. But what happens if you are feeling a little nervous? We have some tips that may just help...

Humming to the tune of success...how music can help with revision!

Flashcards, pens every colour of the rainbow, chunky neon yellow highlighters….there are many tools that we use when revising for the CIMA exams. Some of you may prefer to write in plain black and on snow white paper, whilst others will pin notes all over the house to remind themselves of the key areas of the syllabus.

Do you get distracted? I know I do! Four tips to minimise distractions

Don't let distraction lead to CIMA failure! 

Sometimes, the temptation to get distracted and lose focus during CIMA exam periods can be almost irresistible. Going through the same or similar things over and over can be so frustrating that you spend your time staring at a wall, flicking through your phone or doing anything that isn't revising!

To overcome this, I have devised a few useful tips to help you become productive even when things get tough:

Learn from best. Hear what Olympians have to say...

Stay on track… you're coming up to the last hurdle and soon you'll reach the finish line!

"There’s always a positive spin you can put on things... no matter how bad things are.” Jessica Ennis, Heptathlete and Olympics Gold Medalist. 

Jessica Ennis knows the importance of keeping upbeat in the face of pressure. Whether you are competing in Rio or studying for an exam, stress can impact your performance and can put in a negative frame of mind.

Must know tips from the MCS examiners!

The May 2016 CIMA Management Case Study Examiner's Report has just been released – as always it contains valuable information for students about to take their CIMA exams. 

It amazes me that so many CIMA students don't pay attention to the Examiners' Reports. After all, they are the people you need to impress on the big day!

These reports highlight the same old issues that come up time and time again. They summarise the mistakes students are making in the exams and give important and helpful advice on areas they should improve.


Make sure you don't ignore these! To help you out we've captured the key points from the May report here:

Why starting now can maximise your chances of passing!

It can be tempting to wait until the pre-seen is released, before starting revision for a CIMA Case Study exam.

But are there things you could be doing before-hand? Of course, the answer is always yes!

The earlier you can start your CIMA preparation, the more flexibility you will have with your revision and the more chance you will have of covering all of the required areas.

I know from the experience of working with many CIMA students over the years, that the ones that start early, have the better chance of passing their exam!

With this in mind, here are a few things you could be doing before the pre-seen is released: