Financial Reporting and Ethics - The Institute of Chartered ...

STUDY AND EXAMINATION TECHNIQUES7.3 Examination techniqueFirst impressions1. However well prepared you may be, you are still likely to look at the paper on theday and say to yourself, after a quick look at the questions, “There’s not muchthere I can do”.2. The atmosphere of the exam room has something to do with this. Try to bloteverything from your mind other than the job in hand. Concentrate hard. If youfeel a bit panicky (most people do – despite the apparent looks of serenity aroundyou) grip the table, take a deep breath, and get on with it. Remember things arenever as bad as they seem!Time allocation3. Allocate each question time appropriate to the number of marks. At the end of theallotted time for a question, go on to the next – remember, the first 5 or 10 mrks onthe new question are more readily picked up than the last 1 or 2 on the previousquestion.4. The temptation will be to say “I’ll write just one more sentence”, but before youknow where you are you would have written several more and probably justmanaged to score another mark, whereas the same time on the next questioncould have earned 5 or 6 marks. TIME ALLOCATION IS IMPORTANT.5. If you are running out of time, write down the main headings first, leaving a fewlines between each – at least the examiner will see that you had the overall picture.Then go back putting in as much supporting detail as you can.General approach6. Read the instructions at the top of the paper.7. Read the question paper once through. Make your choice of questions quickly.Pick the easiest (if one appears so) and get on with it.Individual question8. Read the question again carefully. The question will involve a key principle or setof principles. What are they? It is so easy to make the wrong decision at this stage,so read the question, underlining what appear to be the key words. This shouldhelp you. Irrelevancy has been heavily criticized by examiners.9. Do not rush into action with your pen yet. Jot down on a piece of scrap paper themain headings you will use in your answer. All this will take time – about 5minutes or more, but the careful thought and outline answer represents marksalready earned.10. If the question is set out in a particular sequence, that is:a. ……………………b. ……………………c. …………………… etc.then answer it in that sequence or you’ll have a hostile examiner to cope with.11. Use the particular terminology used in the question, the examiner can then linkthe points in your answer to the relevant parts of the question.12. Assumptions are sometimes required (for example because of the lack ofstandardization of terminology in this subject). Having stated your assumptions,make sure that what you write is consistent with them. Do ensure, however, thatyour assumptions are valid and are not just a device for changing the meaning ofthe question to suit your knowledge!301