f2 Study Guidance Frm the Examiner Point of View

7/28/2019 f2 Study Guidance Frm the Examiner Point of View

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My name is David Forster and I am the F2 examiner


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REVIEW OF

PAST EXAMS


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Review of Past Paper-based F2

Exams (Dec 2007 to Dec 2008)

Two hour exam

50 Questions

Paper-based exam is all MCQ

Study Guide has 6 sections [A to F]

Paper F2 can be sat as a paper-based exam or as a computer-basedexam. Either approach involves a two hour exam containing fifty

compulsory questions.Forty of the questions are worth 2 marks each and ten questions are worth1 mark each. The paper-based exam comprises only multiple choicequestions [MCQ]. In the computer-based exam there are other types ofObjective Testing questions for example, Number Entry and MultipleResponse questions.

The Study Guide comprises six sections labelled A to F. As these willoften be referred to in this presentation, it may be useful to list the mainheadings . . .

Section A : The Nature and purpose of Cost and Management Accounting

Section B : Cost Classification, Behaviour and Purpose

Section C : Business mathematics and Computer Spreadsheets

Section D : Cost Accounting Techniques

Section E : Budgeting and Standard Costing

Section F : Short-term Decision-making Techniques


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WHAT WAS

DONE WELL?


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Study Guide Sections A and B questions

Study Guide Sections C2 [Statistics] andC3 [Spreadsheets] questions

Study Guide Section D questions on:

Apportionment of overheads

J ob costing

Process costing

Service / operation costing

Questions set on Study Guide Sections A, B and most of C were answeredwell. The exception in Section C were the questions set on the topic of

uncertainty. However it should be noted that Sections A, B and C havea much lower weighting in terms of overall marks than Sections D, E andF. This point is covered in much more detail later in this presentation.

Section D of the Study Guide covers the cost accounting techniques andincludes a large number of topics. Questions on the methods for theallocation and apportionment of overheads were answered well.

J ob, processing and service costing questions were generally wellanswered too. It was perhaps a little surprising that the process costingquestions were included in this category.


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WHAT WASNTDONE WELL?


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All other Study Guide sections

Specifically weak areas: Dealing with uncertainty [C1]

Under/over absorption of overheads [D3]

J oint product valuation [D6]

Calculation of overhead variances [E4] Written questions on variances [E4]

Reconciliation of contributions [E5]

Linear programming [F3]

The topics not listed in the previous section on What was done wellshould obviously all be listed under What wasnt done well. So what has

been included in this list are the topics which were done badly rather thosethat were just below average in terms of performance.

Most of the topics on this list were, it is suggested, fairly predictable. Theyare topics that Management Accounting students often find tricky.

It was not surprising to find the topic of over or under absorption ofoverheads on the list. Nor too to find overhead variance calculations particularly on the fixed overheads. Written questions involving themeaning and interpretation of all variances were not as well answered asthe calculation questions on variances.

The reconciliation of budgeted and actual contributions seems to have

caused problems to many candidates. There was a lot of uncertainty interms of which of the given variances to include in the reconciliation andwhich to exclude. The Examiners Reports for December 2007 and J une2008 gave examples of these questions.

Linear Programming questions have also been answered less wellgenerally. Short multiple choice questions often try to test that candidatesunderstand the techniques they use in solving Linear Programmingproblems. Therefore graphs are often given in the questions as there is

insufficient time to expect candidates to be able to draw them in the 2.67minutes allowed for a two-mark question.

J oint product valuation questions were poorly done. This was the caseparticularly when the Sales value method was specified. Again this wasnot particularly surprising.

The surprise on the list of topics answered less well was Uncertainty[Study Guide C1]. This is tested at a very basic level but still seems to


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WHAT TOFOCUS ON?


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F2 Management Accounting

All topics in the Study Guide

The pilot paper

Examiners Reports

With 50 compulsory questions on the exam paper ALL sections of theStudy Guide will be tested in EVERY exam.

The pilot paper is still the best guide to candidates and lecturers alike. Ifthe pilot paper is analysed into how many questions [and marks] relate toeach of the six sections of the Study Guide then the weighting this giveswas very, very close to the weighting that appeared in the three exams setin December 2007, J une 2008 and December 2008. This weighting willapply for the next three paper-based exams too. The weighting in thecomputer-based exams is almost identical to the pilot paper.

This analysis of the pilot paper would show for example that questionson Sections A, B and C of the Study Guide together would account for less

than 30% of the marks. And questions relating to Sections D, E and Fwould account for more than 70%.

The pilot paper is also a good indicator of the split between calculation andnon-calculation questions that occurs in each paper-based exam.

Each Examiners Report highlights three questions that were not well-answered by candidates. The questions are reproduced in full in thereports

These questions on key topics are selected to provide useful feedback tostudents, lecturers and publishers. There is clear evidence that these

reports are not being given the appropriate attention that they should begiven. The topic of Reconciliation of budgeted and actual contributionsunder marginal costing [Study Guide Section E(5)] has been highlighted inthe December 2007 and J une 2008 Examiners Reports and still the worstanswered question in the December 2008 examination was on the sametopic!


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HOW TOIMPROVE?


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Be aware of the weighting given to the sixsections in the Study Guide

Teach topics properly

Use some long questions, but also use

Lots of Objective Testing [OT] questions

OT questions in every lecture

Make up new OT questions Mini tests of OT questions

Emphasise that OT questions are NOT easy

As just explained, some Sections of the Study Guide have a higherweighting than others when it comes to the questions set in any exam.

Students and lecturers should be aware of this in allocating the time theydevote to different topics.

Topics need to be taught properly that is in a traditional manner.However as the exams are 100% objective testing, it is suggested that thisfact needs to be incorporated into the teaching and students preparationthroughout the period of study. Are too many long [20 or 25 mark] stylequestions used? It is NOT advocated that no such questions are used, buton the other hand lots of objective testing practice is required inpreparation for F2.

It is recommended to lecturers that a few objective testing questions areincorporated into every lecture on every topic in order to show studentshow the topic could be examined.

Short tests of MCQ should be used throughout courses. Lecturers areencouraged to make up new questions for such tests.

Finally there is a misapprehension that MCQ are easier than thetraditional longer questions. There are no marks for workings or method inMCQ, for example. It is also worth saying that the examining team spenda lot of time discussing the suitability of the distractors [the wrong answers]to MCQ . They are very carefully chosen. The fact that in the past threeexams candidates have chosen the wrong answers to many questions


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FOCUS ON

FUTUREEXAMS


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WHATS NEW?


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Nothing

There are no planned changes to the Study Guide other than very minoramendments to wording.

There are no planned changes to the style or structure of the exam.


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WILL THINGSCHANGE?


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No

Hopefully pass rates will rise

As already stated, there are no planned changes to the structure or style ofthe exam.The pilot paper mix will continue and if there are any

unexpected changes they will be communicated widely well in advance.

It is hoped that as teaching becomes more focussed and candidatespractise more objective testing style questions in preparation for the examand that the pass rate for F2 will rise.


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f2 Study Guidance Frm the Examiner Point of View