In this guide we will cover how to prepare to retake the Business Planning: Banking exam including reviewing what went wrong and how to prepare to retake your exam.
Reviewing what went wrong
A great starting point is looking at the ICAEW marks feedback. More information is on the website.
This will inform you of areas where you failed to score marks and therefore need to revise in more detail. By using it in conjunction with the exam, the solutions and the mark scheme, it should be possible to drill down and work out if it is a knowledge issue, approach issue or a combination of these.
You also need to reflect on what happened on the exam day. Did you complete all three questions? Did you give each question the correct amount of time or spend too long on question one and two, resulting in not having enough time for the last question?
Were there any parts of questions that you just could not attempt? This provides you with a list of topics that need revisiting.
Did you do enough question practise before the exam and in the correct way? The least effective way to do this is to read the question and then read the answer. Questions need to be attempted as if you were in the exam and then fully debriefed. Time spent on these two tasks should be roughly equal.
Once you have a good idea of what went wrong you have a template for a retake plan.
How to prepare to retake your exam
Set up a study planner, covering the 6/7 weeks prior to the exam, if you are resitting at the next available sitting.
The initial three weeks involves re-familiarisation with the syllabus, paying particular attention to the areas highlighted above. Just because the Business Planning: Banking exam does not test memory, a good knowledge of what is included in the syllabus and understanding of that material is important and necessary to pass the exam.
The latter part of the study period needs to focus on question practise and full mock exam with complete debriefs. The aim should always be to complete the whole question bank before the exam day.
While doing questions, this is a great opportunity to test how well your file is referenced and whether it would benefit from any changes, extra overviews, or even removal of anything.
And finally, stay positive - doing a retake can be demotivating but it means you get the opportunity to be extra familiar with the style of exam which will help at future sittings and you will be one step closer to qualifying once you have passed the Business Planning: Banking exam.