Top tips for sitting a computer based assessment

Fresh from her revelation that you can actually study whilst cleaning your teeth, AAT student Amanda Ward is back with part two of her tips for studying accountancy. This time she shows you how to get yourself ready for a computer based assessment (CBA)

When it comes to revision, I can’t recommend question practice enough. Get a hold of as many past papers as you can (in fact you can find them all on MyAAT) and set aside some time to practice questions.

I started doing this as soon as the tuition phase was over, and the more you practice the more you can apply what you know. If you make a mistake it actually helps, since you can go back and fill in the gaps in your knowledge. It is better to make the mistakes during this phase than the actual assessment.

For CBAs I would again do this – practice, practice, practice. For my first AAT assessment I practised a CBA and I had never seen one before. I made so many mistakes just because I didn’t know how to work it.

I tried again once I had been shown how to complete it and without this I would have almost certainly failed. An added bonus is that the practice assessments are timed so you can see how well you can work to the 180 minutes you are allowed. Don’t forget to compare your answers against the model answers to see where you can improve.

One final tip – study little and often

After a long day, the last thing you want to do is study for hours, as you’ll just be too tired. Cram sessions may work for some, but they’re not always the most effective way to learn.

Start from the beginning of learning a topic and do a little bit each day, even if it’s just one question or reading a chapter of a book. By doing this you’ll build up your knowledge slowly but surely, continuously reinforcing what you have already learned.

Just remember that what you put in, you’ll get out in the end, so keep working hard to pass those assessments.

Good luck.

This is the second post by Amanda on tips for studying accountancy. The first part is available online.

Read more on studying effectively;

• Study hacks to help you slay your final assessment
• Study tips: Write in a more professional way
• How to learn smarter and faster

Browse the full range of AAT study support resources here

Amanda Ward is a former AAT student.