At this point, you should return to the review screen to tackle any incomplete questions you have not been able to tackle. With 5 minutes left, a window will pop up to alert you. This means that there is no reason whatsoever to leave any question unanswered. It’s important to point out that there are no negative marks for incorrect answers. This first run will calm your nerves and give you confidence to move onto the more challenging questions. You will quickly identify the questions you are sure you know the answers to and after this first run-through, you may be surprised at the number of questions you have completed. Spend the first 10-15 minutes of the exam skimming through all of the questions using the “Next” button located in the bottom-right section of your screen (see image below). The more difficult questions require more concentration and time, and the probability of being incorrect is higher as they generally comprise of more moving parts.įor the above reasons, it makes sense to pick the low-hanging fruit first. Certain questions are far more difficult than others and will take up longer than the 1.5 minute per question allocation mentioned in the previous section. However, not all questions are created the same. ‍Īll questions carry the same marks regardless of how long or detailed they are.

If you follow the advice outlined in the next four points, you’ll be making your life much easier from a time-management perspective too. Check the time frequently (every 10 minutes or so), to make sure you’re aware of the time remaining and whether you’re spending too long on certain questions. That equates to just 1.5 minutes per question, or 10 questions every 15 minutes.

You have 90 minutes to answer 60 questions of varying length. The objective exams are undoubtedly time-pressured. Let’s take a look at each of the five elements in detail. There are five components of an effective exam day strategy and they are as follows: The CIMA student is his/her own coach and nailing down the right exam day approach really can be the difference between a solid pass mark and a fail. Like the best sports teams, all the talent in the world counts for little if the coach does not have an effective gameday plan. This article discusses the specific techniques you can utilise on the day of the exam to maximise the probability of achieving a pass mark. Even the best prepared students fall short if their exam day approach is not up to scratch.

Exam pass rates for the objective tests over the past year go as low as 48% of students passing ( ) and students are surprised to hear that it often isn’t lack of subject understanding that trips many candidates up, but rather a lack of good exam day technique. CIMA’s Objective Test exams challenge students in a number of ways.

Cima pass rates