I am currently in the third year of my training contract with a Big Four firm. During this period, I have also undertaken several ICAS exams to become a chartered accountant at the end of my three-year training contract.
Generally, if you work for a Big Four firm, you will most likely either do ICAS or ICAEW exams. Both are professional bodies for chartered accountants. To become a chartered accountant, you need to pass all of your exams and gain 450 days of working experience in professional practice (3 years).
Fortunately, I managed to pass all of my exams with first time passes. Therefore, I thought I would share some of the tips and experiences I have gained by undertaking (and passing) all exams.
You Will Never Feel Ready
These exams are not for perfectionists. You have to remember that you will have limited time to revise. In fact, by the time it gets to your exam, you won’t know everything and there will probably be certain things within the syllabus you just don’t understand (this is what happened to me). Most tutors actually tell you this at the beginning of classes.
With the pass mark being 50%, they’re not expecting you to know everything pretty well. They’re expecting you to know everything a little bit, and enough, so that you can attempt any kind of question that crops up. For example, if you are answering a 10-mark question, don’t spend time stressing about the final 2 or 3 marks. As long as most of the detail is there, move on to the next question.
Spaced Repetition Learning
As you have limited time to revise, you really want to maximise the time you spend revising.
One of the key ways to do this is spaced repetition. This is essentially a technique to help you memorise information in much less time than it would normally take.
Just do a little revision every single day. As long as you are consistent, your memory will slowly become stronger every day. Focus on different areas each day, and you will soon cover the entire syllabus.
Focus on Your Weak Areas
Once you start revision and do some mock exams, you will start to pick up the areas you are weak on. Use this as a basis for you to focus your revision on! This is why you will have several mock exams throughout college.
I do appreciate that this can be hard to do. It’s always nice to stick some headphones on and do some past paper questions of topics you have comfortable with. However, you need to understand that examiners can ask a question on anything from the syllabus. So, once you figure out your weaknesses, work on them!
Use Your Work Experience
One of the advantages of sitting accountancy exams is that the scenarios are usually realistic. This means you can sometimes use your real-life working experience to answer questions.
Not only this, but if you have trouble understanding certain topics you can always relate and think back to what you have done in work. I always find that if you can bring real world elements into your revision, this not only helps with your understanding, but also makes it easier to retain information.
Get Straight to Past Paper Questions
I cannot stress this enough. As I have said above, time is the biggest thing against you when revising for these exams. Because of this, the notes you make (if any) should be simple and minimal. Don’t spend the majority of your time making fancy flash cards and colourful notes.
The best revision you can do for these exams is past paper practice. If you can keep going through questions every night, and aim to improve your answers and exam technique, you will be more than ready by the time exams come around.
And when I say ‘ready’, I mean you will be able to pass – get over 50% :).
If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out and I will do my best to help!
