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When should I start looking at material for AA/FAR?

Hi there,

I have a slight gap until I sit FAR/AA in December.

My courses don't start for 6 weeks but I never take things in during the lecture-style teaching courses, so aim to go over content before beginning the course.

How long is roughly required for each professional exam? I'm wondering if I need to dedicate more time to FAR at the expense of AA?

Up until now I've only ever done one certificate module at a time.
Reply 1
Very hard to say how much time is required for each exam. I sat FAR/AA/TC all in one sitting and it did take a fair amount of revision. Usually a couple hours every weekday after college/work and 10 hours across the weekend on average. Everyone's different though, and you can't really wing any of the professional/advanced stage exams.

I wouldn't bother going over the content before you start, that's probably a waste of time. Best to go over things you've missed/unsure about in class that same evening. As I sat 3 at a time, I split my time roughly 40-40-20 across FAR-TC-AA. You don't need as much time for AA - the syllabus is smaller than the other two and it's generally easier in my opinion.
Reply 2
Original post by Kre
Very hard to say how much time is required for each exam. I sat FAR/AA/TC all in one sitting and it did take a fair amount of revision. Usually a couple hours every weekday after college/work and 10 hours across the weekend on average. Everyone's different though, and you can't really wing any of the professional/advanced stage exams.

I wouldn't bother going over the content before you start, that's probably a waste of time. Best to go over things you've missed/unsure about in class that same evening. As I sat 3 at a time, I split my time roughly 40-40-20 across FAR-TC-AA. You don't need as much time for AA - the syllabus is smaller than the other two and it's generally easier in my opinion.


So probably around 1/3rd for AA and 2/3rds roughly for FAR would be around right?

In terms of resources, did you just use the study manual, question bank and study manual?

I'm definitely someone who takes longer for things to sink in. Our tuition provider is more lecture driven too, and this teaching approach isn't good for me, so I'm going to probably read over things beforehand

Thanks Kre
Reply 3
Original post by accno1
So probably around 1/3rd for AA and 2/3rds roughly for FAR would be around right?

In terms of resources, did you just use the study manual, question bank and study manual?

I'm definitely someone who takes longer for things to sink in. Our tuition provider is more lecture driven too, and this teaching approach isn't good for me, so I'm going to probably read over things beforehand

Thanks Kre


Yeah that sounds about right. We used the working materials in class to go through the content and occasionally touched on the study manual. In my own time however, I didn't use the study manuals at all and just did question practice from the bank. If there was an area I was weak at, I would look through the learning materials. The study manuals are very very detailed, definitely more than you need to get through the exam.
Reply 4
Original post by Kre
Yeah that sounds about right. We used the working materials in class to go through the content and occasionally touched on the study manual. In my own time however, I didn't use the study manuals at all and just did question practice from the bank. If there was an area I was weak at, I would look through the learning materials. The study manuals are very very detailed, definitely more than you need to get through the exam.


Okay thanks Kre, I always appreciate people who give feedback when they've done their exam, every bit of info helps :smile:

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