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CIMA Exam Results and a Look at the Grading Mechanism

• By Stephanie Ng
• / 3 COMMENTS

Eager to find out when you will get the CIMA exam results, and how to interpret the performance report?

CIMA Exam Results for Objective Tests

Since the implementation of the new format, it is the easiest and fastest to get the CIMA objective test exam results — you get a “pass” or “fall” grade immediately after the computerized exam.

After 48 hours, you will receive an email, confirming that CIMA exam results breakdown is available in the MYCIMA portal.

CIMA Exam Results Breakdown

The results are shown in a table format, listing the subject areas in the objective test.

Each subject area is marked “proficient” or “not proficient”, with more detailed comments on how you can improve.

Here is a sample showing the candidate getting a “not proficient” in Financial Reporting:

Image courtesy of thecimastudent.com

If you’d like to have a glimpse at how the full performance report looks like, check out this official video from the CIMA:

A Note on CIMA Exam Pass Mark

The CIMA states that you need a 70% accuracy to pass each objective test. At the same time, they tell you the CIMA exam pass mark is 100.

Please understand that you are given a scaled score ranging from 0 to 150. The emphasis is that this score is scaled, meaning that you cannot figure out your percentage accuracy by a straight formula. In fact, if you try to divide 100 by 150, you get 66.7% instead of 70%.

The scaling is a way for CIMA to balance the more difficult questions with the easier questions . The system weighs difficult questions slightly more, such that students who got a few more difficult questions wrong would still score the same as those getting more easier questions right.

CIMA Case Study Results

The questions in case study exams are more complex. Human graders instead of computers mark this exam, and therefore, we need to wait for approximately 5 weeks after the end of the testing window to get the results.

Similar to the objective test, the performance report is available on the MyCIMA portal, and is presented in the form of a table. We will see “Strong”, “Moderate” or “Fail” in each of the 5 competencies.

In this example, the table is showing “Moderate” under technical skills is marked “Moderate”, with details on areas of improvement:

For those who would like to know the technical side of grading, here is a detailed explanation by the CIMA:

A Note on CIMA Case Study Pass Mark

The pass mark for case study is 80, out of a scaled score of 0 to 150. The candidate must also score a “Moderate” or “Strong” across all competencies in order to pass the case study exam. This is to ensure that the candidate is not weak in a particular area and that he/she is “business ready”.

Even if you pass, take a look at the performance report for rooms of improvement. This will only help you in the next CIMA case study exam.

Is This helpful?

I hope the discussion on CIMA exam grading and results is helpful in preparing psychologically for this exam. If you have any questions, please drop a note in the comment section. Thank you and good luck!

For Your Further Reading

• Frequently asked questions on the CIMA exam
• CIMA exam historical pass rates

About the Author Stephanie Ng

I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley) and the publisher of this and several accounting professional exam prep sites.

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Tips for mastering the CIMA Case Study Exams

The CIMA® Case Study exams are the final capstone exams of each level of the CIMA Professional Qualification, which students must pass to gain the CGMA® designation. We explore four tips to help you prepare for the exams.

1)     Understand the three Case Study levels.

Each Case Study exam lasts three hours, with multiple tasks of equal lengths. There is a natural progression to the levels — Operational, Management and Strategic — that simulate how work as a management accountant progresses. To reach the Case Study level, you will have already passed the Objective Tests, which focus on ensuring that you have acquired the knowledge and skills for each pillar.  Case Study exams are more about interpreting data and require practical answers to practical questions and simulate real-life business scenarios.

Operational Case Study (OCS)

• Focus — The short-term role of the finance officer and the implementation of decisions
• Skills you need to convey — How to work with others in the organisation and use appropriate data and technology to translate medium-term decisions into short-term actionable plans
• Stats — Three-hour exam containing four tasks related to the enterprise, performance, and financial pillars; allotted 45 minutes per task, each task has two to three sub-tasks

Management Case Study (MCS)

• Focus — The role of the finance manager involves translating long-term decisions into medium-term plans
• Skills you need to convey — How to use data and relevant technology to manage organisational and individual performance; allocate resources to implement decisions; monitor and report the implementation of decisions; prepare and interpret financial statements to show performance

Strategic Case Study (SCS)

• Focus — The role of the senior finance manager entails long-term strategic decision-making
• Skills you need to convey — How to support organisational leaders to craft strategy and evaluate and manage risks that might prevent the successful implementation of strategy, including sourcing financial resources; value the organisations
• Stats — Three-hour exam containing three tasks related to the enterprise, performance, and financial pillars; allotted 1-hour per task, each task has two to three sub-tasks

2)     Understand the Case Study exam cycle.

• Preseen — Released seven weeks before Exam 1
• Exam 1 — Exam cycle is May and August . The same three to four exam variants are offered both months.
• Results — Released seven weeks after the exam
• Preseen — Released seven weeks before Exam 2
• Exam 2 — Exam cycle is November and February . The same three to four exam variants are offered both months.

C opyright: BPP

3)     Understand the pre-seen materials.

Pre-seen materials — known as ‘preseens’ — are background information about the fictitious organisation featured in the Case Study exam. This information forms the basis of the tasks you can expect to see in the exam. The preseen tells the story of the company, including the industry and context in which it operates, its financial statements, management accounts, markets and competitors. Preseens are usually 26 – 30 pages long. Key tips include:

• Be ready — Familiarise yourself with the company, industry and current events.
• Analyse — Perform an analysis such as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) or political, economic, social and technological (PEST); review financial statements and reporting issues. The end of the preseen will contain live issues regarding what is happening in the industry. For instance, a new standard may have come out that will change reporting standards from the current year to the next and that the Case Study exam must address.
• Cross-reference with the blueprint — Being able to know what you can do is critical. Can you discuss finance options, dividend policy or evaluate digital strategies?

Tackling “I can” from each of the core activities in each of the sections is necessary for success. For instance:

• I can identify relevant costs and benefits.
• I can advise on the communication process.
• I can recommend a dividend policy.
• I can use appropriate technologies to gather data for costing purposes, from digital and other sources.

Have a broad syllabus knowledge and know your company intrinsically. You become the person when you role-play the exam. Avoid prefabricated answers, as the exam will have details not included in the preseens. Your answers have to be relevant to the question. 

4)     Plan your exam approach.

• Manage your time — If you can complete a section early, that time does not get applied to the next section. We suggest spending all of your allotted time within the section.
• Keep your answers real and relevant — Remember this is a role-based exam; identify one or more factors that might be relevant, then explain why that approach would be relevant. The more tangible details you provide, the higher you are likely to score. Do not offer irrelevant arguments for the sake of padding your answers. Aim for neat, discreet paragraphs.
• Understand the scoring — People mark the exams, and the pass rate is 60%. Even though a scale is scored 80 out of 150, 60% is the pass rate. The sub-tasks will be weighted differently. Each case will contain tasks from all five of the core activities:

Evaluate opportunities to add value.

-  Implement senior management decisions.

-  Manage performance and costs to aid value creation.

-  Measure performance.

-  Manage internal and external stakeholder.

• Scoring example

 “For a 12-mark answer, it might be possible to identify, say, four issues. A candidate who aims to write about four topics only has to score three marks for each to obtain full marks.” – MCS Examiner

You have all the tools you need to do well on the CIMA Case Study exams. From all of us at the Association, we wish you the very best for your next Case Study exam.

The content of this article is based on a Case Study Masterclass webinar delivered by CIMA and BPP in November 2020.

Preparing for the CIMA Feb24 Case Studies: Free Resources and Guides

In the lead up to the next CIMA Case Study exam, VIVA's experts share useful free resources and guides that put you in pole position for exam day.

With the CIMA February 2024 Case Study exams just around the corner , it's a good idea for those of you intending to sit the exam to start laying the groundwork for your studies right now. The February exam can catch a lot of students out - the temptation is always to postpone study until after the holidays .

This is a mistake!

With the pre-seen already available, and a tuition provider like VIVA with full on-demand courses already available for the February window, there is no good reason why you shouldn't maximise your chances and jumpstart your studies as soon as possible. With that in mind, we thought we'd share with you what VIVA can do to help put you in pole position ahead of exam day. Below are a variety of tips, free resources and guides for the CIMA Feb24 case studies to help get you started.

1. Get the CIMA Pre-seen Materials Here

Probably the most important "free" resource of all is the pre-seen document that CIMA releases in advance of the Operational, Management and Strategic case study exams! The pre-seen document should be the focal point of your studies. You need to know this document inside-out. Too many students assume that they can casually browse the document a few days before the exam, and that if their theoretical knowledge is good enough, they'll be fine.

This is another mistake. There's a reason CIMA releases the pre-seen well in advance. It's because they want you to know it like the back of your hand. You need to be able to very quickly recall info from the pre-seen on exam day; to know where to look to find information that will help you answer the question. To know all the threats, opportunities, weaknesses, challenges, processes of the company in question.

Below you can find the links to each of the pre-seen documents for the current exam window:

OCS Feb24 Pre-seen: click here

MCS Feb24 Pre-seen: click here

SCS Feb24 Pre-seen: click here

2. VIVA's Pre-course Work

All of VIVA's Case study courses include a "Foundational Materials" component. This includes around 7 hours of video lectures and quizzes that ensure you are in the right mindset as soon as the pre-seen is released. These materials can be accessed immediately if you have purchased access to the Feb24 Case Study courses (whether as part of our CIMA All Access membership, or as an individual course ). The Foundational Materials include video reviews of your Objective Test theories and syllabi, exam technique lectures, study focus sessions, and more. This is particularly useful for any Gateway students sitting the MCS exam. VIVA's foundational materials orient you by introducing you to the key topics and concepts from the Objective Test exams. From there, if you wish you can further unlock the full suite of video lectures from E2, P2 and F2 with the All Access membership - allowing you to do a deeper dive on theories that you might not be familiar with. Unlock VIVA's full courses (with around 40 hours of learning materials, video lectures, live webinars and mock exams per course) via the links below:

3. Free articles and guides

‍ Perhaps VIVA's best kept secret (though we try our best not to keep it a secret!) is our growing library of high-value free content - the Knoweldge Centre . Much of this content is highly practical and relevant to Case Study exam sitters. Below we include a selection of the best free case study materials and videos that you can start working through immediately in order to ensure you are well oriented and motivated come pre-seen release day: ‍ ‍

Free Articles:

CIMA Exam Dates

5 CIMA Study Tips to Keep You Motivated

How to Pass CIMA Case Study Exams: A Detailed Guide to Success

Working through your CIMA Case Study Course

6 Tips to Pass CIMA Fast

Handling CIMA Exam Day Nerves: Lessons from Public Speaking ‍

Free Videos:

How to pass the CIMA OCS exam

How to pass the CIMA MCS exam

How to pass the CIMA SCS exam

Planning your Answer in the CIMA OCS Exam

What goes into a Strong CIMA MCS Exam Answer?

Analysing and Understanding CIMA SCS Exam Questions ‍

4. Add mock exam marking at any time

For so many students, VIVA's professional marking has been the difference maker, the thing that pushed them over the line to a pass (see here for example).

Our student surveys have shown that VIVA students who had their mock exams marked by our team of experts, were 48% more likely to pass than students who had not had their mock exams marked. You don't have to get all your mocks marked, we understand that sometimes it's just not practical due to time or financial constraints. But the great thing with VIVA is that you can add any amount of mock marking to your course/membership at any time. You can purchase marking for anywhere from just 1 mock exam to 5 mock exams. You can purchase at the links below:

• marking for 1 x mock exam: purchase here  
• marking for 2 x mock exams: purchase here    
• marking for 3 x mock exams: purchase here    
• marking for 5 x mock exams: purchase here

We hope you find the above helpful as you gear up for the Feb24 round of CIMA Case Study exams.

Like to explore how VIVA can help you with your CIMA studies?

Be the first to find out when we release new CIMA resources.

Related resources

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Case Study Resources