CIMA Case Study Flashcards
The case study exam in a nutshell
The case study exam tests the student’s ability to apply the theories they learnt in their objective test exams.
The case study exams are taken at the end of each level - e.g. the OCS is taken at the end of the operational level. Students must pass the case study to move on to the next level.
CIMA releases a pre-seen document around seven weeks before the exam dates. The document describes the fictional company that the student will need to pretend they work at during the exam. It also includes some information on the environment the company operates in and any issues that the company may be facing.
On exam day, students will receive an ‘unseen’ piece of information, such as a letter or email.
The student will then be asked questions which they’ll need to respond to in an essay format using their objective test knowledge, pre-seen knowledge and the new unseen information.
Students will receive their marks back around 3-6 weeks after the exam date. The date will be published in advance.
Length of case study exam and the number of questions
OCS, MCS and SCS are all 3 hours long
OCS and MCS 4 questions
Students will have 45 minutes to answer each question before being forced to move on. Students cannot go back to edit previous questions.
SCS 3 questions
Students will have 60 minutes to answer each question before being forced to move on. Students cannot go back to edit previous questions.
Each question will have a few sub-tasks
How is the case study exam marked?
Students will need to score 80/150 to pass their case study exam.
The exam is marked by a human examiner, unlike objective test exams.
Students won’t be given negative marks for making an inaccurate point or forgetting to include something. They will gain marks through valid points and explanations given and through demonstrating their understanding and ability to make good recommendations.
Papers are marked out of 100. CIMA will then line the scripts up in score order and find the script that qualifies as the minimum standard for a pass. This script is then given a scaled score of 80 out of 150. All other scores are scaled around that score with a maximum grade of 150.
Contents of the course packages offered for case study (includes gateway and CFO), including prices
Essentials course: £495 for OCS, £545 for MCS and £595 for SCS
Package contains: The contents of the pre-seen course as well as the ‘how to pass the case study exam guide’, three mock exams with de-brief videos and tutor support via Google classrooms.
Premium course: £795 for OCS, £895 for MCS and £995 for SCS
Package contains: Contents of the pre-seen course as well as the ‘how to pass the case study exam guide’, theory revision series, ethics pack, questions pack, three live masterclasses, between five and seven mock exams with de-brief videos, 2019 new content syllabus update text, three marking and feedback slots for mocks, course mentor support, tutor support via Google classrooms and a pass guarantee.
Management gateway course: £1095
Package: Contains the contents of the MCS premium course as well as the study text, tuition videos and exam practice kits for E2, P2 and F2.
The CFO programme: £1195
Package: Contains the contents of the SCS premium course as well as the study text, tuition videos and exam practice kits for E3, P3 and F3.
All courses also have six-month instalment options.
Students may also want to consider the subscription if they are at the OCS or MCS level. The subscription gives access to all CIMA PQ courses, including premium case study courses and our OT courses. It costs £99 a month and must run for a minimum of 12 months.
Products we sell individually for the case study
Students can buy the following as individual products:
Pre-seen pack
Mocks
Mock de-brief videos
Mock marking
Theory revision series
Exam technique guide
Questions pack
Masterclasses
Ethics pack
Purpose of the Industry Analysis for the Case Study
The industry analysis is used to help students understand the real-world industry the ‘pretend’ pre-seen company would operate in if it were a real company. For example, if the pre-seen company was a computer game developer, the document would analyse the game-developing industry, such as the profitability of the industry, the major competitors, the industry norms, and emerging technologies, as examples.
Students will gain extra marks for showing an understanding of the industry and environment the company operates in and how this could affect company decisions and strategy.
Preparation stages for the case study
The preparation stages for the case study can be broken into three rough stages:
Learning the pre-seen: Students should have a great understanding of the pre-seen company, its operating environment, and it’d values/strategies. The student wll be pretending to work at this company during the exam so they’ll need to know the pre-seen really well.
Theory revision: Students must recap the theory learnt in their objective tests for the level as they’ll need to apply this knowledge in their case study. Students should apply this theory to the pre-seen company when revising the theory.
Exam preparation and Practice: Students should have a solid understanding of how to write a case study exam and what is expected of them. They should practise and put their skills to the test with mock exams and practice questions.
When can the case study be sat, and what sittings share the same pre-seen?
The case study exam needs to be taken in specific sittings. These are February, May, August and November. Within the case study sitting period, exams will be available for three days during a week of the month - from Wednesday to Friday.
The pre-seen will be the same for the November and February sittings. There will then be a new pre-seen for the May exam and this will remain the same for the August sitting.
Contents of the pre-seen pack and cost
Pre-seen Analysis video and document - provides a page-by-page analysis of every section of the pre-seen document released by CIMA. This will help students to gain a full understanding of the pre-seen company.
Strategic analysis video and document - identifies how the pre-seen relates to key models and theory from E.., F.. and P.. to help with revision of the theory and application to the current pre-seen.
Top 10 issues document and video - identifies the 10 most likely issues to appear in the exam and gives guidance on how to deal with them.
Industry analysis document and video – gives an overview of the industry and provides an analysis of an example organisation to help students to understand how it applies to the real world.
Pre-seen knowledge questions (includes solutions) – 30 questions based on the current pre-seen. Ensures students have fully understood the pre-seen company
Cost - £199 or 6 monthly instalments of £36
Purpose of the pre-seen knowledge questions
Purpose:
Should be used to test understanding of the pre-seen.
Focuses specifically on the pre-seen and selects key areas that students need to know for the exam.
Features:
30 questions covering a wide variety of topics
Each question comes with a detailed solution
Purpose of the questions pack
Purpose
The questions pack has questions from past exam papers which we have made into individual scenarios to help students get used to applying the theory to a range of subjects, before moving on to the specific pre-seen questions.
It will introduce them to the types of questions they’ll be answering in the exam.
They are a good way to practise for any case study sitting and can be used before the pre-seen comes out.
Features
60 exam style questions for students to practise
Detailed solutions
The questions do not focus on a specific pre-seen
Document format so students can go through the questions at their own pace without time pressure
Purpose of the theory revision series
Purpose:
The purpose of the theory revision series is to recap the most important theory from E.., P.. and F.. that is most likely to come up in the case study exam.
The aim is to save students time so they do not need to go over all of the theory learnt in the past three exams.
It is important that students are confident in their theory knowledge so they can apply this to the case study exam.
Features:
Concise study texts and tuition videos
Converts the key content from over 1,100 pages of syllabus study texts into just 422 pages
Condenses the theory into manageable chunks with around 22 hours of video content to watch
Purpose of the how to pass the case study exam guide
Purpose:
The case study is a written exam, so the skills needed are very different from the objective test exams.
The ‘How to pass the case study exam’ mini course helps students to develop their exam technique and understand what they need to do to score highly in the case study exam.
Focuses on how to write answers in a way that scores marks, how to effectively plan answers and how to manage time during the exam to create balanced answers.
Features:
10+ hours of video content to show students what they need to do to pass the exam.
Includes audio files that can be downloaded so students can study at any time.
Printable study text that students can work through alongside the videos.
Purpose of the Pass Guarantee at the case study
Purpose:
If the student fails their exam but they have fully completed the course content, we will give them access to all of the content for the next exam free of charge.
This ensures the student will have study materials available until they pass provided they have put in sufficient effort to the course during the access period.
Students can obtain the pass guarantee by:
Completing the mock exams - complete 3 mock exams and send to the marker by the deadlines set out in the course schedule.
Achieving an average mark of 40% or higher in full mock exams.
Watching both masterclasses - must attend or watch the recorded versions of masterclasses 1-3 and make notes on the pass guarantee form.
Completing the pass guarantee form – use the form to document your key learning points throughout your studies, and submit within 1 week of the final exam.
Completing the online agreement form – shows the student has read and understood the terms of the pass guarantee.
Purpose of the 2019 new content syllabus update text
The New Content Study Text is mainly for students who completed the objective test exams under the 2015 syllabus before the syllabus update in 2019.
It summarises the new information that has been added to the 2019 syllabus for the E.., P.. and F.. exams.
