Retaking the Financial Management exam

If you do find yourself unfortunately needing to retake Financial Management here are a few tips for success next time:

With hindsight, could you have done anything differently?

• Did you dedicate enough time to studying Financial Management? Often students that sit multiple exams in one sitting struggle to balance their time effectively
• Did you spend too long reviewing/making notes and not enough time on question practise?
• Did you have other things going on in your personal/work life?
• Did you run out of time and not finish the exam?
• Did you just have a bad day?

Whatever it is, what are you now going to do differently? Do not make the same mistakes twice.

Use the marks feedback from the ICAEW to assess your weakest areas. These are the areas you now need to concentrate on (without completely neglecting the rest of the syllabus, of course). Draw up an action plan to schedule what you are going to do through this revision period leading to the next available sitting.

The key to passing the Financial Management exam, whether that is on your first attempt or as a retake, is question practise. The ICAEW question bank is the best resource you have so you need to make the most of it. You may or may not have done every question in the question bank but there is nothing wrong with repeating questions. Plan which questions you are going to practise and build in a good rotation of topics to keep everything as fresh as possible in your mind. Remember the 'topic finder' in the question bank is a great way to pinpoint the best questions to practise a certain area. 

As you work through the question bank make a note of the questions where you have struggled and go back to those areas. You need to ensure that you are taking steps to address areas of concern, for example by contact your tutor for additional support.

Good luck!