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Post by astranticima on Apr 27, 2015 11:10:48 GMT
I though we could get this forum started with a discussion about the CIMA OT exams.
Here at Astranti, we've heard from lots of students who've taken the CIMA Strategic OT exams and their feedback has varied quite significantly!
Many people say these exams are very difficult, and required a number of attempts to pass and others have said they were easier than the expected.
Have you taken any of the exams? Which ones? What did you do to prepare for them and did it work?!
Looking forward to reading your feedback!
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Post by michael on Apr 28, 2015 13:10:50 GMT
hi,
stuck on p3. have sat once and found very hard. too many select all that apply questions.
planning on sitting end of may.
michael
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Post by suzanne on Apr 28, 2015 13:21:01 GMT
Hi,
I too have sat and failed P3, despite completing all of BPP and Kaplan's revision/exam prep kits. I undertook more question practise and felt more prepared than I have for any other cima exam but find that I am 'not proficient'!
Just mustering up the enthusiasm to start again to resit end of May like Michael, but really not sure where to start as I don't actually know what I did wrong!!
Too many select all q's and even a couple on CAPM! I didn't think this was even in the P3 syllabus....
Suzanne
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Post by astranticima on Apr 28, 2015 13:22:16 GMT
Hi Michael,
We've heard from many students who said P3 was very tough also. What preparation did you do for your first attempt? Did you find the practice questions that you did similar to the real exam?
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Post by astranticima on Apr 28, 2015 13:29:39 GMT
Hi Suzanne,
Sorry to hear you didn't pass despite your best efforts. Lots of people have said that the variations in OT exams can make a big difference and that some end up being a bit easier than others! Hopefully next time you'll get through!
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Post by suzanne on Apr 28, 2015 13:31:01 GMT
Hi,
Also - I found some of the questions too long to read through, understand and then answer. The 1.8 minutes per q was not long enough so I was timed out with about 6-7 questions remaining :0(
Suzanne
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Post by michael on Apr 28, 2015 14:44:21 GMT
hi,
like Suzanne did the Kaplan and BPP ones (but these kits are mis-leading and not exam standard).
am going through the tuition material in the evenings and then will re-do the practice exam and the 2 Kaplan online mocks that look more like the real exam.
suzzanne- it's 1.5 * 60questions = 90mins, not 1.8* 60 = 108mins. apologies if you have mis-typed.
regards michael |
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mic80
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Post by mic80 on Apr 28, 2015 14:48:49 GMT
Hi,
Can anyone please share their F3 OT exam experience.
Regards,
Mic.
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Post by fkayivi on Apr 28, 2015 16:40:30 GMT
I took E3 a few days ago and thankfully I passed. But considering my preparation and the challenges I faced, I think there is more to these exams than what the study texts and kits provide.
I am certain that P3 is going to be the toughest paper at the Strategic level. There is no time to think in order to make an educated guess if you do not know an answer outright. You either know the answer or you fail.
Only CIMA knows what they are up to.
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Post by cimastudent on Apr 28, 2015 16:54:29 GMT
hi fkayvivi,
Congrats on passing e3! That's brilliant can you tell me what study resource you used.
I am studying with bpp and find their mock exams are not like the cima ones.
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magz
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Post by magz on Apr 29, 2015 1:58:23 GMT
I passed my E3 exams and failed F3 and P3. I am not sure if I will ever pass the P3..and like everyone the P3 have too many select - all question and yes some questions are too long to read given the limited time. And one need to understand the background to the given case scenario in order to choose the applicable answer/s.
Any tips on P3??
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di
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Post by di on Apr 29, 2015 17:16:42 GMT
Hi, Nick!
I had originally posted this on cimaconnect, but received no reply from cima and so, decided to add it here.
I sat OT P3 and failed, due to following reasons:
1) questions on the objective test were very lengthy and nothing like official practice kits
2) more time than 1.5 min p/exam is needed to read the exam question thoroughly, at the end of exam there is barely time to read the question, not mentioning digesting it for the proper answer (last 6 or 7 i didnt even read, just ticked more or less appropriate answers)
3) on-screen calculator is absolutely not useful, and it takes its time to appear on screen and very disturbing
4) select all that apply questions are subjective in nature
5) element of luck, as each exam is different version and surely different level of complexity
6) currently study approach is not well designed for self-study students, with old syllabus it was possible to revise past exam papers answers to assess where you stand
7) no proper feedback from cima on exam results,so failed students are confused about the current progress
In addition, my study approach to OT P3 was as follows:
1) Astranti study text, revision questions and 3 mocks
2) Acorn study text and practice kit
3) BPP study text and practice kit
4) Cima practice test done 4 times, until i got 90 marks
5) at least 3 hours of study p/day since Jan
So, now need your advice, on what is needed in addition to the above to pass P3?
I feel really frustrated and stuck with this exam...
Thank you and regards,
Dina
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jag
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Post by jag on Apr 29, 2015 23:16:49 GMT
Hi, same old story here. Sat F3 and failed miserably. Found the actual test very different to BPP and kaplan study material. The previous F papers were my favourite of all 3 and i passed easily with great marks. But this new format lacks something very important - "actual" exam style practice questions - . u cant utilise past papers anymore. I suspect the poor tuition (material and taught lessons) is more down to CIMA guidance to tuition providers as oppose to the likes of BPP or kaplan. Either way there seems to be a large shift in people looking to transfer to ACCA which is sad. Its not an option for people like myself as I would have to sit 9 if i transferred. At abit of a cross roads, even more so after discussing and reading forums such as this.
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eric
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Post by eric on Apr 30, 2015 7:04:15 GMT
Hello
Am yet to take the strategic level OT exam and from the feedback i need to work extremely hard. Any pointers.
Thanks
Eric
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Post by marccurrie on Apr 30, 2015 7:52:19 GMT
Hi all,
I attempted the F3 last week and failed, being the first time I have failed an exam in my entire life.
I agree 100% with the majority of posts here, in that:
- The BPP material did not prepare me for the exam - I could answer 95% of the +-250 practice questions correctly, got over 80% on the practice exam, and yet in the real exam I felt clueless for the most part.
- The calculator provided is not good enough and I was not allowed to take my own calculator in because it did not comply with the new list of about 3 different models.
- Many of the questions were just too long, given the time limit
I realise that the exam needs to be difficult at this level but this seems unreasonable. I am getting a sense that the published study material currently for sale is of poor quality (plenty of errors) and too simple. This needs to be addressed. I expect that there will be many more complaints of this nature in the months ahead.
I have now purchased an exam revision kit from Acornlive in the hope that the questions are at a higher level but I have my doubts.
I suspect that CIMA has no problem with this situation as every re-sit at 110gbp will generate nice revenue.
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Post by jonnyw on Apr 30, 2015 11:18:56 GMT
Interesting reading all these comments as i felt exactly the same!
Passed E3 first time but P3 took me 3 attempts to pass (having passed all previous CIMA exams first time). It's very difficult when the exam feedback you get isn't any use at all. Does Not Proficient mean i got 69% or 1% - it's of no real help! I've sent an email to CIMA mentioning all my concerns, but to date i've not had a reply.
I'm sitting F3 next week and i'm really not confident at all. Those practice questions i have seen don't really seem to relate much to the syllabus. I miss the days of having 4-5 years worth of previous papers to actually get some decent exam practice.... if anyone has any F3 tips that'd be great
I'm still convinced that this change in testing is a bit of a money spinner for CIMA
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Post by kmusawa on May 1, 2015 3:11:27 GMT
Hello, I attempted F3 yesterday and I failed, advise of what to do next.
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Post by cimastudent on May 1, 2015 17:10:16 GMT
Hi for those who have passed can you tell us which practice kits you found useful. I've been using bpp' sand I don't feel it reflects the actual exam. I failed F3 and due to sit E3. Any advise much appreciated.
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Post by michael on May 1, 2015 18:26:15 GMT
don't bother with the Kaplan kit either
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Post by tatianar on May 1, 2015 20:49:54 GMT
I sat and failed P3 today. Found it very hard. To read through questions and set of answers takes too long.There is no time to think and understand it. The 1.5 minutes per question is not enough.
Questions and set of answers were very lengthy. Under old syllabus we were allowed 15 min reading time of exam paper to familiarise yourself with exam questions which were very helpful.
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eric
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Post by eric on May 1, 2015 22:27:35 GMT
What is the way forward.
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b
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Post by b on May 1, 2015 22:35:25 GMT
I passed E3 on my second attempt in January P3 on my 8th attempt in April! Due to sit F3 but now running so late that the case study classes have overlapped my revision. Thankful to Asranti for being so flexible and allowing me to move to the August class if I failed F3 which I will take this weekend and probably fail and again next weekend in a bid to pass before the 11th May cut off!
I have complained formally and bitterly to Kaplan and CIMA about P3.
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Post by tatianar on May 3, 2015 9:25:34 GMT
Hi,
I read on CIMA website that retake OT exam allowed only after 3 months? Is it correct?
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Post by nyiko21 on May 4, 2015 9:19:41 GMT
Hi
I share the same sentiments as the other students. I have written the F3 Ot exam for the 3rd time now. On all the accasions the feedback is exactly the same. i am not proficient in all the sections. This makes it particularly difficult to go back and try and improve as have no idea what i'm doing wrong. Also the fact that we do not get to see our marsks is also making it difficult to know where you stand.
The exams are tough as the questions are long and we have very little time to complete them.
I tried all avenues, including cima.connect to see how students that have passed this paper feel.
I really think CIMA needs to provide more resourses for this paper and must re-think the feeback provided as it is currently very vague ie. computer generated. Is there a way to see the exact mark you achieved and the marks by question.
I really don't know what elese to do to prepare for this paper as I have tried 3 different approaches, have done All 200 questions per in the BPP bokk 3 times, and I still fail, and get the same feedback, " not proficient" for all sections, So I don't know whether I am improving or staying the same per paper. CIMA please provide guidance and clarity on this.
Thanks
Nyiko Mkhombo
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Post by lianpeters on May 4, 2015 20:19:17 GMT
I passed E3 on my second attempt in January P3 on my 8th attempt in April! Due to sit F3 but now running so late that the case study classes have overlapped my revision. Thankful to Asranti for being so flexible and allowing me to move to the August class if I failed F3 which I will take this weekend and probably fail and again next weekend in a bid to pass before the 11th May cut off!
I have complained formally and bitterly to Kaplan and CIMA about P3. Hey.... How was F3 this weekend? and any advice on P3? i'm still trying to wrap my head around it.... |
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elb88
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Post by elb88 on May 5, 2015 14:05:45 GMT
I passed P3 yesterday on my second attempt. I used Kaplan study text and Acorn exam kit. But with very long hours our studying. I sat all the 6 operational & mgmnt level papers last year in November and passed but the effort that I put to pass P3 was more than the effort I put to pass all the 6.
I was planning to move to F3 but I will wait until I hear an update from CIMA regarding the standard of that paper because there is widespread outcry about F3 that CIMA cannot afford to ignore.
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Post by cimastudent on May 5, 2015 16:22:09 GMT
Anyone know which practice kit to purchase to pass E3?
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Post by seventwentyone on May 6, 2015 9:15:33 GMT
Yeah would be helpful if you guys can share with practice kit that are useful for E3.
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Post by Nick Best on May 6, 2015 10:15:07 GMT
Hi, Nick!
I had originally posted this on cimaconnect, but received no reply from cima and so, decided to add it here.
I sat OT P3 and failed, due to following reasons:
1) questions on the objective test were very lengthy and nothing like official practice kits
2) more time than 1.5 min p/exam is needed to read the exam question thoroughly, at the end of exam there is barely time to read the question, not mentioning digesting it for the proper answer (last 6 or 7 i didnt even read, just ticked more or less appropriate answers)
3) on-screen calculator is absolutely not useful, and it takes its time to appear on screen and very disturbing
4) select all that apply questions are subjective in nature
5) element of luck, as each exam is different version and surely different level of complexity
6) currently study approach is not well designed for self-study students, with old syllabus it was possible to revise past exam papers answers to assess where you stand
7) no proper feedback from cima on exam results,so failed students are confused about the current progress
In addition, my study approach to OT P3 was as follows:
1) Astranti study text, revision questions and 3 mocks
2) Acorn study text and practice kit
3) BPP study text and practice kit
4) Cima practice test done 4 times, until i got 90 marks
5) at least 3 hours of study p/day since Jan
So, now need your advice, on what is needed in addition to the above to pass P3?
I feel really frustrated and stuck with this exam...
Thank you and regards,
Dina Hi Dina CIMA are reviewing the P3 paper as we speak! It's basically too hard as it stands and so the best advice I can give it to wait a month or two until they've updated it and then retake it! I apologise if our mocks were not hard enough. The problem was that CIMA gave us a very small selection of sample questions so it was very hard to see the style and format of the questions and unlike previous papers we don't have past exam questions to base our answers on. We are currently undertaking an exercise to make our OTs harder, and are seeking student feedback on question style and types for all papers. That should help us refocus both our study text and our mocks and questions once complete. Best of luck next time around. Nick Managing Director Astranti |
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Post by Nick Best on May 6, 2015 10:26:45 GMT
I have sat both P3 and F3 and failed both.
I sat P3 in february and F3 a few weeks a go.
The F3 didn't have any more "tick all that apply" questions (P3 had 90%), whether this means I was just lucky with F3 or they have taken them away I'm not sure.
I am at a complete loss over what I need to do to pass either of these papers. I have both Kaplan and BPP materials and I felt that especially the F3 exam the questions were nothing like the question practices.
I also found that the only thing that reflected the actual exam in the CIMA mock (Pearson Vue), is the colour of the screen!
I agree with some of the other comments that F3 is too wordy and I had several CAPM, business valuations that take far longer than 1.5 minutes a question.
If anyone has any tips on how to pass either F3 or P3 I would be happy to hear them as I feel rather stumped at the moment in how I can ever pass these! As with Nina's post - I'd suggest taking a break from your studies for a few weeks until CIMA have done their review. I suspect you'll find both papers much easier after the review is complete. |
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