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ACA - BST and FM exams?

Hi,

Need some advice on how to go about studying for these two exams?

Any advice on how to manage these two exams would be appreciated. These two are my last professional level exams.

Thank you.
Reply 1
Avatar for cwmflame
cwmflame
2
Really boring answer here, but question practice, especially for FM.
For FM you need to drill every type of calculation as much as you possibly can, but don't forget to learn the narrative points that are on the syllabus.... They are easy marks.

For BST I found reading a lot of the model answers really helpful, to get into the mindset of what the examiner might ask for.

This exam is more fluid, with less reliance on rote learning, so knowing how an answer is to be written up helps massively.

Also, just knowing the basics such as SWOT, PESTLE, PORTER, BCG.... get them mastered early on to know how you'll be framing your answers
Reply 2
Avatar for e^x
e^x
OP
15
Original post by cwmflame
Really boring answer here, but question practice, especially for FM.
For FM you need to drill every type of calculation as much as you possibly can, but don't forget to learn the narrative points that are on the syllabus.... They are easy marks.

For BST I found reading a lot of the model answers really helpful, to get into the mindset of what the examiner might ask for.

This exam is more fluid, with less reliance on rote learning, so knowing how an answer is to be written up helps massively.

Also, just knowing the basics such as SWOT, PESTLE, PORTER, BCG.... get them mastered early on to know how you'll be framing your answers

Hey, thanks for replying.

For BST my plan is to just read through the entire BST QB.

For FM I dont think I can get through the whole QB so I plan on doing about 9/10 past papers.

What do you think?

Kind regards .
Reply 3
Avatar for cwmflame
cwmflame
2
For BST that was exactly my approach, but I found it easier to do once I'd fully learned all of the models.

For FM I studied with BPP, and they provided 'course companion'. This set out the QB questions you must do, should do and would be nice to do.

As I recall (it was 18 months ago!), the suggestion was that a lot of the questions provided were drafted just as practice, but the ones that came from exams (generally later in the qb) were the essential ones.

It could have changed now, so be sure to check
Reply 4
Avatar for e^x
e^x
OP
15
Original post by cwmflame
For BST that was exactly my approach, but I found it easier to do once I'd fully learned all of the models.

For FM I studied with BPP, and they provided 'course companion'. This set out the QB questions you must do, should do and would be nice to do.

As I recall (it was 18 months ago!), the suggestion was that a lot of the questions provided were drafted just as practice, but the ones that came from exams (generally later in the qb) were the essential ones.

It could have changed now, so be sure to check

What’s the best way to learn all the models?
Also how did you go about nailing the data analysis question - the one where you gave to work out all the ratios and give reasons as to shy they would change?
Reply 5
Avatar for cwmflame
cwmflame
2
To learn the models you must try and apply them to existing companies.

It's easy for models like swot or pestle because they are acronyms. The key is to remember what the 5 forces are, or the difference between market penetration/development etc in Ansoff. There's no shortcut for this... Read the models and apply them to real life companies to add to your understanding.

For the data analysis.... Don't overdo it. You need to know the 'story' of the numbers. Practice using the past papers to see what has been asked before, and don't overcomplicate it.... The icaew is looking for you to give the obvious answer, not a special, difficult answer. Look at past papers and use them to understand the types of changes that happen in the questions. The 'story' being examined is not especially unique, so try to find the common sense things that the examiner wants you to highlight and don't be afraid to point out the obvious
BST
Cannot stress enough how important question practice is. I wouldn't read the question book alone. You need to attempt the questions yourself and then self mark. You will pick up on things you miss.
The models you will learn through practice.
Time management is the key. Answer all the questions with the obvious stuff and go back if there is time at the end but ensure you answer everything.

FM
Save time for the written part of the question. If you mess up on a few numbers, you still get method marks. So don't spend five minutes deciding between a put or a call.
It's the discussion that will get you across the pass mark for the question.
Original post by e^x
Hi,

Need some advice on how to go about studying for these two exams?

Any advice on how to manage these two exams would be appreciated. These two are my last professional level exams.

Thank you.

Hi,
I know this was asked a few months ago now, but I thought i'd ask how your double exam went?

I am considering combining these two exams in the same sitting, FM in the morning and BST in the afternoon. I'll basically have 3 months to prepare for them both. My question is... would this simply be too much to take on? I'll have 2 weeks over xmas out of the office, and plan on putting full days of study in over that period, just to get done sooner.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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