passing f8 technique
|
|
Hi all F8 fighters,
Following are the characteristics of good and bad papers. Just see that you avoid the mistakes generally found in bad paper.
The examiner looks at thousands of exam papers at each exam session. From that review, general reasons why candidates do not pass Paper F8 can be identified. In overview, scripts tend to fall into one of three categories:
[COLOR="DarkOrange"]Bad fail papers[/COLOR]
This category includes papers which score less than 40%. Clear signs of failure in this category include:
1. very brief answers. In other words, some of the basic knowledge is known, but there is little or no application of that knowledge to the scenario
2. significant lack of understanding of audit procedures and the audit process. For example, where a question asks for audit procedures to be listed and explained, a typical answer is ‘check the ledger’ providing no indication of which ledger will be ‘checked’ or what the ledger is being checked for.
3. Lack of exam practice. In a significant minority of scripts, it appears that candidates have not attempted any mock exams prior to the ‘real’ exam. Poor exam technique is identified as:
– answering questions in a random sequence (for example, Question 1 Part (a), followed by Question 3 Part (b), followed by Question 2 Part (c), and so on)
– spending far too much time on the first question, leaving little or no time for the final question
– not writing in the required style (eg providing the answer in one long paragraph rather than splitting the answer up into individual points)
– focusing on theory only with no attempt to use the scenario.
Overall, these scripts are also often too brief, contain insufficient detail, and show a lack of exam preparation to have any chance of obtaining a pass standard.
Marginal papers
Just below the pass standard, these scripts score 41% to 49%. Candidates in this category are, to state the obvious, relatively close to passing. Typical reasons for not passing include:
1. answering questions correctly, but not including a sufficient number of relevant points to obtain a pass standard in some questions
2. having a good knowledge of auditing, but being unable to apply that knowledge to the scenarios provided in the question
3. very occasionally, not answering all five questions.
In this marginal category, candidates are close to passing, and will pass with some improvement in their exam technique, by applying comments made to the scenario and, in a minority of situations, improving their knowledge slightly.
Pass standard papers
By way of contrast, scripts showing a clear pass standard:
1. are usually well presented, and make appropriate use of paragraphs, sentences and table formats where appropriate
2. normally, but not always, Question 1 is attempted first, candidates having used the 15-minutes’ reading and planning time at the beginning of the exam to plan answers to this question
3. are characterised by candidates clearly having very good knowledge of auditing, and are able to apply that knowledge to the question, clearly and concisely. It is likely that these candidates are working in practice so that the listing, and provision, of explanation for audit procedures is well understood
4. are usually fully completed – all five questions are attempted, even though some sections may not be answered that well. A few marks could normally be obtained from a valid attempt; obviously, no marks are awarded if the question is not attempted at all.
To summarise, most candidates appear to have the knowledge necessary to pass the Paper F8 exam. However, application of that knowledge to specific scenarios within the exam is not always clearly demonstrated, leading to a marginal or bad fail.
I will guide you regarding how to apply the theory to practical situation in my next thread.
|
Today
Sponsored Links
Linear Mode
