The F5 Examiner's Report

Section A

Two areas that candidates had difficulty with were:How to calculate a break-even point in a multi-product situation and understanding of the categorisation of environmental costs.

Section B

The range of topics in September was:Costing,CVP analysis,variance analysis and short-term decisions.

Graphs are still important!Although you won’t be asked to draw one you must know your CVP graphs,linear programming graphs,decision tress,etc.

Section C

Questions were drawn mainly from:performance management,pricing,budgeting,and limiting factors.

Exam technique

When the examiner asks you to explain they don’t want you to simply list several advantages and disadvantages.An explanation expands on the statement,often with a‘because’to explain why it is the case.The reverse is true for‘briefly comment’。Here the examiner is looking for two short sentences.Writing half a page,even if valid,will only pick you up the maximum marks available.But you have wasted time here.