TO EXCEL IN EXAMS, I “KISS”…

I am pretty much certain that many of my co-affiliates/students would have dismissed my blog as baloney on seeing it’s heading and would have come in to read it in full, not expecting to gain much from it, but out of curiosity and eagerness to know much more about how I seem to have come to the absurd presumption, which forms the heading to my blog for the month of July 08.

Well...for those of you think I seem to be out of senses to have such a presumption, I request your open-minded & tolerant reading of the rest of the blog before you make inferences & would appreciate your comments.

As an ACCA student, one of the numerous cues that my mentors gave me was to give high importance to presentation and organisation in my exam answers, and not just pay attention to the process of obtaining knowledge requisite for passing the exams. In simple words, it was a mixture of exam technique and knowledge that fetched marks in the exam and thereby led to success in exams.

And one of the key issues in presentation is one’s ability to “KISS”. And not to take it any further….KISS stands for ‘Keep it Short (&) Simple’.

It might have been observed by all of you that the most daunting task, going into an exam is communicating ones thoughts in an appropriate manner. Although the facts and content are known, at times, we find it extremely tough to put it in writing in a convincing & attractive manner.

When faced with the aforesaid situation, one often resorts to beating around the bush and scampering for the ‘right phrases’. This leads to wastage of both effort and time, as ideas and thoughts reiterated ‘do not’ fetch extra marks!

At this juncture, may I take you back to my first blog for the ACCA exactly 1 year ago, where I stressed the vitality of devoting equal time to every mark available. To be able to manage one’s time effectively one must be adept at keeping things short and simple as this besides easing time-pressures, also highlights the key points, for which you expect to be awarded with a mark by the marker. Professional exam markers are as time-pressurized as the examinees (students) and prefer a short and specific answer presented in a lucid and attractive manner.

Now you might ask how one can overcome the problem of not getting the right words to frame your answers. The way out of this issue is very simple and known by one and all. Practice, Practice and nothing short of exam-question practice will give you the confidence and proficiency in drafting impressive & most importantly succinct exam answers. But with work and domestic-time pressures taking a toll, you might want to debate on the availability of time for sufficient practice.

For this may I recall a study methodology that helped me and many of my ACCA friends during our student days (which certainly wasn’t long back) – a bulleted revision & oral elaboration approach, which involved attempting questions from previous year exams and pilot papers by listing out the answers in bulleted format and then orally recapitulating the explanation that you would provide under each bullet. This enabled practice of larger number of questions within limited time, without having to write up the whole answer & still being able to develop one’s ability to expand on the bulleted points and at same time Keeping It Short and Simple (“KISS”).

Now, as I conclude my blog , I am overwhelmed with guilt within, as I realize I have written up a 660 word blog on a topic which seeks to keep things short and simple. So while I go away and attempt to enhance my skills and abilities to KISS(Keep it Short & Simple),  I must thank you for your uncomplaining and patient reading of this blog in full and would appreciate your comments!

Comments

[Owen Francis]

Thank you very much for this reminder. Often times we forget the "KISS" model. I will remember your comments when I am doing my last four papers. I had to halt a bit in my studies because of other responsibilities/commitments. But I will be back.

Cheers,
Owen

[Dani]

Ahoj Vignesh,

Thank you very much for this article. It was very helpfull.
Now back to study and start making the suggested bullet points!

Dani

[Vignesh]

Hi Prabhuraj,

For queries related to the qualification and entry requirements please contact [email protected]

Regards
Vignesh

[prabhuraj]

hi Vignesh!

I am Prabhuraj from India..i am doing icwai (inter)..I want to know about ACCA learning providers and the Fee structure..can you help me?

[Vignesh]

Hi Vikas,

Please contact them +44141 582 2000 or [email protected] to get the full details for the Delhi exam centre

good luk!

[Vignesh]

Hi Anil,

With reference to your query on the exemptions for ACCA members on ICAEW courses- as far as I known a member of ACCA who has passed advanced audit and advanced tax needs to appear for 3 papers on the ICAEW ACA exams.

Subsequent to this, on obtaining ICAEW membership(after passing the exams and satisfying practical experience requirements!) he/she may obtain membership with ICAI on passing 4 papers. However this does not entitle the person to practising rights in India.

Kindly double check on this with ACCA Glasgow, ICAEW & ICAI.

Good luck!

[anil]

Hi vignesh

I would appreciate if you could advise on the following:

1. I was told by someone that if i pass out ACCA then I can do 4 papers of ICAEW and get ICAEW. After that do 3 papers of India CA and get CA degree from ICAI India.
2. Are there any training centers for ACCA in India esepcially Jaipur.

[vikas]

Hi Vignesh..

Please write me full address of delhi centre from where i can get full information of ACCA.

Waiting for your reply.

[Vignesh]

Shreyash,

ACCA exams in India may be written in any of the following places:

Ahmedabad
Bangalore
Calcutta
Chennai (Madras)
Cochin
Hyderabad
Jaipur
Mumbai
New Delhi

You will be able to enrol for the exam online through your online profile.

[Shreyash]

Hello

Thanks for the comments in blog.

Is it compulsory to give the entire exam process from the ACCA centers, as my country is not listed in. I am from India.

[James Johnston]

Dear Raju

Thanks for your comment.
I would advise that you take a good look at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) website as there is useful information on the International Standards of Auditing on there. Please visit www.ifac.org

Best of luck with the exam.

James Johnston
Business Relationship Manager
ACCA - UK

[Raju Vetiyatil]

Hi Everybody,

Nice to read your comments... I am looking for a summary of International Standards on Auditing..Please advise where I can look for it so that I can prepare for the P7 paper..

Thanks & regards,

Raju

[Devender]

Dear Friends,

Please advise me below

I am Devender working in Tanzania (East Africa) as an Accountant. Recently i registered for ACCA Qualification. For ACCA qualification Coaching is must or we can study from home.

[Vignesh]

Hi Farouk,

Apologies for a delayed reply.

Re F4,F8,F9 the best way to study for any exam is practise the last 5 years question papers! You can use past 2.2 questions for F4 & past 2.6 questions for F8. The only issue would be for F9 because,on f9 you have some topics which warent on the erstwhile papr 2.4. Hence if you could get to doing some questions from any revision kit(Kaplan, BPP,or any other publisher) it would be more that sufficient!

Good luck
Vignesh

[Farrukh]

Hi Vignesh !
The reason why I am asking my question from you is that I found you answering or writing blogs by keeping it simple....I will be attempting F4, F8, F9 in this dec 08.
You might be surprised to know that I have already attempted all these papers once and failed at 47,46,46 marks respectively. Honestly I am finding it difficult to go about these papers, as I dont know from where to start! whether I should memorise or just keep on reading the book. As this is my 2nd attempt of all these papers I am concerned about my result and time as well.....

Please help and suggest me a suitable approch to deal with these papers in particular and also suggest me something in which I lack, as I am sure by reading my question you sure would have realised that!

I apologize for being so comprehensive , but I had to as my problem is very serious !!

Looking forward towards your reply....Farrukh.

[Vignesh]

Appreciate your feedback Ratheesh!

[Ratheesh Nair]

hi

nice to read your comments its really inspirational.

Cheers
Ratheesh