You might have been studying for business tax in the Spring when coronavirus came and threw your plans out of sync. If you used the extra time to keep studying, you may have ploughed ahead with decision and control and budgeting. As a result, your assessments are beginning to pile up.

Accountancy is a challenging subject to master. Each paper can require a slightly different way of thinking and method for tackling questions. 

In this article, Gareth John BA FCA Chief Executive of First Intuition Cambridge offers advice on how you can study effectively for more than one paper.

How to study for more than one accountancy paper

If you’re studying for more than one accountancy paper, it’s important that you plan your time. 

You can help make your study sessions more effective by building routines and habits and break your learning down into three key stages. These are Learning, Revision, and Rehearsal.

• For most papers, the learning phase will take roughly 4 to 6 weeks.
• With some papers, the learning phase might require a refresher of ‘assumed knowledge’ from prior studies. For example, Financial Reporting papers normally assume that you have covered the material from more basic Bookkeeping and Financial Accounting papers. It can be worthwhile digging out old notes and texts and spending a week or two reminding yourself of what you have already seen before getting stuck into the new unit.
• The revision phase will probably take 2 to 4 weeks before moving to the final.
• It’s a good idea not to start the rehearsal phase until the last 2 or 3 weeks before the real exam as you don’t want to peak too early and use up all of the available mock exams.
• However, in the meantime, you can do a great job over the coming weeks of covering the learning and rehearsal phases of more than one paper to prepare themselves to pass 2 or 3 exams once they restart.

How to balance studying more than one accountancy paper

It’s possible to ‘overlap’ the learning phase of a new paper with the revision phase of another paper if you plan and organise your study sessions in advance. A suggested approach would be:

• Spend an entire study session on a single unit, rather than trying to mix them together.
• Regularly alternate your study sessions between the two papers you need to overlap.
• It’s good for knowledge consolidation to stick with the same unit for a few study sessions in a row before switching to the other one.
• Put a bit more emphasis on learning the unit that is newer to you without neglecting revision of the one you already have knowledge of.

So each week, you might spend 4 or 5 study sessions focusing on the Learning Phase of the newer topic, plus 2 or 3 study session on the Revision Phase of the other unit. This should allow the newer one to ‘catch up’ the older one.

In a month or two, you could shift the balance so that each week you are doing 3 or 4 study sessions on the Revision Phase of each unit. You could even consider starting the Learning Phase for a third paper at that time.

How to remember what you’ve learned

Many students will understand the difference between the material being in your ‘short-term’ memory and your ‘long-term’ memory. The danger of only spending a few days ‘cramming’ for an exam is that, whilst you might be able to pass that exam, within a few weeks you will have forgotten most of what you learned. Short-term learning leads to short-term memory!

Having a longer period to learn the material gives the opportunity to develop reserves of longer-term memory. This will not only lead you to higher marks when you sit assessments but that means you will be able to draw upon the knowledge both in later studies and in your working career.

To build longer-term memory, it’s important to have a process of ‘knowledge consolidation’. This involves regularly revisiting and reviewing a topic that you have worked on.

An example revision process 

Let’s say you spend 90 minutes one evening working through a section of notes on the material and labour variances.

The potential process could be:

• Review it one hour after the original study session (before heading to bed), just for 5 or 10 minutes. Try reading summary notes and maybe redoing a couple of short questions you have already had a go at.
• Next, review it one day after the original study session, again for around 10 minutes. Practice a couple of new questions that are similar to the ones you have already done.
• Then, review it one week after the original study session, maybe for a little longer, say 30 minutes. You might rewrite your summary notes (including proformas or equations and calculations) to see how much you can remember and then practice some more new questions.
• Two weeks after the original study session, review it again, just for 15 minutes, completing one or two new questions.
• Review it one month after the original study session. This is likely to now fall into the Revision Phase of your studies. By this stage, you should be attempting exam-standard revision questions.
• Finally, review it six weeks after the original study session. This might now fall into my rehearsal phase where you are completing full mock assessments. This will include exam-standard questions on the variance calculations you need to be able to perform. Hopefully, by now, you are bossing them!

Further reading:

• 5 tips for successful independent study
• Free online revision programmes
• How to Study an Accountancy Course at Home
• Tutors explain how to get the most out of the online classroom

Studying alone and online can be intense and it can be a challenge to adapt to a different way of working. However, there are lots of ways that you can set yourself up for success.

Here are our five tips to become more independent with your studies.

1. Set up a study timetable

You might have access to an online classroom but the structure of attending lessons and seminars is gone. Much of the responsibility to plan, manage, and structure your time is now left to you. In many cases, you will be set homework which you have to complete in your own time.

“Defeat procrastination by promising yourself a treat when you have finished your work – going for a walk, reading your favourite book, or watching your favourite film,” says Emily Coltman FCA, Chief Accountant at FreeAgent, which provides accounting software for small businesses. 

Emily studied for her first set of exams entirely by herself using textbooks and home study, and so is well placed to understand the challenges facing students who are working on their own.

“Plan as early as possible – if you know by a certain point that you will need to complete a course or textbook then build this into your timetable,” she says. When your schedule has been upended, it is important to create a new one, says Chloe Burroughs, graduate ambassador for the Open University.

“Identify the activities you need to do each day, including studying and then assign a time for each. Replace your usual commuting time with something else such as exercising or reading. Add pockets of connection to your day by video calling a friend.”

2. Proactively seek help from tutors and mentors

Emily Coltman says it is important to make use of support where it is available. This might include regular zoom meetings with tutors and fellow students. Sometimes a chat with a tutor, friend, or work colleague can help you get to grips with a concept that you have been struggling with for a while. There are also AAT forums where you can chat with other students.

“If you are in industry or in practice, talk to your colleagues,” she says. “I found two or three colleagues who were very helpful when I was studying. Also, talk to your boss. The senior partner where I was working let me go into the office at the weekend as I was boarding in a noisy home and I needed some peace and quiet to study.”

As offices are not being used much at the moment it may be possible to go in and work on your own there. Your boss will want to support you through the process and it may be OK if you clean the office down after you have finished.

3. Find additional resources

Online study can be supplemented with different resources – you can look at the AAT Learning Portal, online resources, and podcasts and use hard copy textbooks.

“Use the potential extra time you have in lockdown to read as much as you can online and in books,” says Emily Coltman. “Seek out books by business owners, how they set up their accounts and finances, books in general about small businesses and how they are run. You could find this very valuable when talking with your own clients in the future. Plus examiners like to see that you have been reading round when you answer questions in the exam.”

If you get stuck, search on Google or YouTube for a different explanation, take a break, go back to a point you did understand, ask a fellow student, or email your tutor, says Chloe Burroughs.

4. Find ways to stay motivated

It is important to stay disciplined and manage loneliness and anxiety. In the classroom, there is the mutual support of friends and teachers, but when you are working alone it can feel very isolated.

“Don’t spend hours without a break,” Emily Coltman says. “Spend half an hour to 45 minutes at a time and then get up and get some fresh air and have a drink. You will find you come back fresher than if you sit wrestling with something for hours.”

She also recommends using practice questions and past papers, as this will let you know how long they are going to take you to complete and you can see what topics have come up in the past. You could also listen to podcasts and or AAT study briefing and approach each topic by breaking it down into small chunks.

Nathan McGurl, founder of revision aid The Study Buddy, says the  important thing is to use your time effectively, rather than equating time spent in front of your books as being time well spent. 

“A well thought through plan can reduce levels of anxiety, giving students a clear sense of purpose. Not knowing where to start is one of the things that leads to feeling out of control and that can result in anxiety or simply giving up,” he says.

5. Protect your study time

“Make sure you set up a quiet space to study – your bedroom, down the bottom of the garden, a room away from noise and disturbance,” says Emily Coltman. If you cannot find a quiet space at home, you could always sit in the car.

“Everyone will have a slightly different way to approaching home study. While it can be helpful to share tips, remember to focus on what works for you,” says Nathan McGurl. Some people find background music helps them to work, while others need total silence. Some people find being tested helps them to consolidate what they’ve learned, but if this increases your anxiety it may not be the best tactic for you. “The important thing to remember is that you are the one in control!” he says.

Mental well-being is reliant on having a good balance, so ensure that your study plan factors in time with your friends and doing things that you enjoy – while sticking to the Covid-19 rules, of course. 

Further reading:

• Tutors tips on getting the most out of your online classroom
• How to keep what you’ve learned and carry on
• Tips for moving from classroom to remote study