CIMA - help choosing which subjects...

Knifey_Spoony

Hi,

I am going to register with CIMA later this month, and attempt some of the exams in May.
I'm just looking for advice as to which ones I should go for...to ease myself in somewhat gently

I haven't yet registered or sent my college transcripts in to claim my exemptions, but all going to plan, I should be exempt from E1, P1, F1, P2 and F2....leaving E2, E3, P3, F3 and Topcima (or new 2010 version of this) left to do.
I'm obviously going to do E2 in May, to complete all of the level 2 exams. However, I am thinking of doing a second subject too.

However.....it is about 4 years since I left college...so I was hoping to ease myself in sort-of gently. I was hoping to do E2 (which I believe is all theory and no figures) and another subject which is also theory, and no actual accounting computations.

Any suggestions what a good mix would be?

Thanks a million,

Knifey_Spoony

Those codes mean nothing to me.

Knifey_Spoony

Deleted User wrote: »

Those codes mean nothing to me.

They are the new codes for the new 2010 syllabus.
Each subject itself hasn't changed toooo much in content though.

maybe list them out in English descriptions if you want some help then...

Knifey_Spoony

glasso wrote: »

maybe list them out in English descriptions if you want some help then...

If I get all my exemptions, the subjects I will have left are:

E2: Enterprise Management

E3: Enterprise Strategy
P3: Performance Strategy
F3: Financial Strategy

Topcima


I am going to attempt E2 this May, and was wondering which other subject would other people recommend to do at the same time?
I was hoping to do another theory style subject, as opposed to computation style ones...to ease myself back in gently, after not studying for about 4 years.

Thanks a million.

unless they have changed the process you have to complete all intermediate subjects before attempting the strategic level ones. that would mean that you can only do the ent mgt. subject and must pass that first and then you must attempt all 3 strategic level subjects in one sitting the first time that you do them. surprised that you are getting exemptions from almost all intermediate subjects in the first place tbh.

Knifey_Spoony

glasso wrote: »

unless they have changed the process you have to complete all intermediate subjects before attempting the strategic level ones. that would mean that you can only do the ent mgt. subject and must pass that first and then you must attempt all 3 strategic level subjects in one sitting the first time that you do them. surprised that you are getting exemptions from almost all intermediate subjects in the first place tbh.

Oh, I didn't realise that Glasso, that I have to complete all the intermediate ones first.
I certainly didn't realise that I will have to attempt all 3 of the strategic level in one go either....eeeek.

Re. the exemptions: I was surprised too when I realised how many I am entitled to. I did do an extra subject in college though, which didn't count towards my degree, but was specifically for gaining an extra exemption in CIMA.

Maybe doing just one subject in May isn't such a bad thing though. It would be less expensive for a start, and would also help ease me in to the whole studying thing again.

Thanks for your help.

julyjane

Sounds like the same exemptions I got (old system)
I passed P5 Integrated management in May 2006 and that was me done with the managerial level.

The 3 strategic papers were 3,6 and 9. I did all 3 in November 2006 and failed all 3. It is a very heavy workload. I took some time out to decide what I wanted. I did paper 9 Financial Strategy in May this year and passed it, I sat paper 3 Risk & Control Strategy in November I'll have the results next month.

For me even just studying for one exam required a lot of work and stress. Worth it though when the results come out

CIMA say the reason you are required to sit the 3 strategic exams in the first sitting is because they are integrated subjects, there is a bit of repitition across them alright. There is a discussion board over on the CIMA website, CIMAsphere but maybe you won't be able to see it unless you're registered???
Another thing I wasn't aware of I paid my membership and registration fees at the beginning and then they sent me a bill for exemption fees - basically the same amount as the exam fee for each subject I took an exemption for - the total came to about £450 sterling at the time :eek:

Knifey_Spoony

julyjane wrote: »

Sounds like the same exemptions I got (old system)
I passed P5 Integrated management in May 2006 and that was me done with the managerial level.

The 3 strategic papers were 3,6 and 9. I did all 3 in November 2006 and failed all 3. It is a very heavy workload. I took some time out to decide what I wanted. I did paper 9 Financial Strategy in May this year and passed it, I sat paper 3 Risk & Control Strategy in November I'll have the results next month.

For me even just studying for one exam required a lot of work and stress. Worth it though when the results come out

CIMA say the reason you are required to sit the 3 strategic exams in the first sitting is because they are integrated subjects, there is a bit of repitition across them alright. There is a discussion board over on the CIMA website, CIMAsphere but maybe you won't be able to see it unless you're registered???
Another thing I wasn't aware of I paid my membership and registration fees at the beginning and then they sent me a bill for exemption fees - basically the same amount as the exam fee for each subject I took an exemption for - the total came to about £450 sterling at the time :eek:

Thanks a million for your reply JulyJane.

Firstly, about the exemptions fees......yikes!!! I didn't realise that either. Yikes! It's going to be an expensive new year!

I called the Dublin Cima office a few weeks back. Apparently I have until 31st Jan to register with them. She said it can take a couple of weeks for them to get back to me about my exemptions, so I will probably sign up over the next few days, to make sure I am all sorted before lectures start (early Feb I think?).

Yeah, I'm not able to access the cimasphere forum until I register apparently. I was asking the girl on the phone about which place is better for classes, bpp v dbs, but she said she couldn't really recommend one over the other, but that once I sign up there are heaps of discussions about it on the forum.

JulyJane, what are the four exams I have to do like...? Is it 90% theory? Or is there a lot of computation too?
I'm worried that I wont remember much management accounting stuff from my degree as it was 4 years ago...
I will probably have to take it one subject at a time, and go back over college stuff too, to get a grip on the basics again I reckon.

I have been checking the dbs site and the bpp site, almost on a daily basis, and they still dont seem to have updated it to show times and dates of classes this year.
I was hoping that one of them does a day-time lecture during the week, as I am currently only working 3 days a week. A day-time lecture would suit me perfectly, as getting in to the city centre in the evenings of the days that I work will be quite difficult.

Thanks for all your help!

julyjane

I think you can view past exam papers on the website without registering, they might have changed that though.

The managerial paper I did, Integrated Management at the time, was very theoretical but I had covered a lot of it in college so it was familiar to me. Having said that I only scored 52 in it so possibly not familiar enough. I think it's equivalent on the new syllabus is E2 but I'm not sure. The next paper in that pillar is E3 which is what I'm planning on doing next, either in May or November I haven't decided.

BPP comes highly rated from anyone I've spoken too. I haven't heard good or bad about DBS. Contact both of them and you will be put oon their mailing lists, I got info from them both in the post only this Tuesday, both seemed to have a good few award winners but many of the DBS lecturers didn't seem to be CIMA qualified.

Because of where I live and other constraints on my time I don't go to classes I do home study instead, which involves serious motivation but is doable. Probably not ideal as I barely scraped paper 9 last May (54) but hey a pass is a pass! Paper 9 (Financial strategy) was quite mathematical but there was still a lot of theory. I've been to 2 seminars provided (free of charge) by CIMA which were given by a CIMA examiner and were very helpful. He explained what CIMA are looking for at strategic level in terms of "application" of knowledge - i.e. it is assumed that you already know the mathematical stuff and at strategic level they're testing whether or not you know what to do with it. That seminar was probably what pushed me from a possible fail into a bare pass TBH