Did you know that if you are studying the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting, you can continue with your studies at your own pace throughout the year?
The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting subjects are assessed by computer in accredited centres worldwide. This means that you can take your exams at a time and place that suits you.
Get through the Certificate level quickly
You can make the most of this online flexibility to get through the computer based assessments (CBAs) as quickly as you can. If you complete all of your Certificate assessments by 1 September this year, you can take your first Managerial level exams in November, and start enjoying enhanced career opportunities and salary prospects.
Which subjects to study?
For guidance on which subjects to study together, look at our suggested study routes (PDF 29KB) and the full syllabus for each Certificate subject.
How to sign up
Firstly - find out where your nearest accredited assessment centre is.
All CBAs are held at CIMA-accredited assessment centres. The majority of our centres are registered CIMA Learning colleges so you may find that the college where you are studying at is also an accredited assessment centre.
If you are not studying at a college, or if your college does not offer CBA, search our list of accredited CBA centres to find your nearest centre.
Secondly - contact the CBA centre and arrange to sit the assessment there.
You do not need to let CIMA know that you are entering a CBA. The CBA system is flexible, which means you can sit assessments at any time of the year. Each CBA centre decides when and how often they will offer assessments, so speak directly to them to arrange a suitable date and time. You pay the assessment fee directly to the centre.
Preparing for your computer based assessment
To give yourself the best chance of success in your computer-based assessment, try to:
Attend a taught course at an accredited CIMA Learning college.
Use the CIMA Learning System. This integrated package has syllabus guidance, full text, recommended articles, revision guides and extensive practice questions.
Visit CIMA Publishing to find out more about these useful resources:
- Exam practice kits ' these have an extensive bank of practice questions. Each solution provides an in depth analysis of the correct answer and highlights why alternatives are incorrect.
- Revision cards - exam focused, pocket sized revision guides summarising the key topics of each syllabus
- E-success CDs ' computer based assessment preparation CDs and question bank
- Look out for relevant articles on Certificate subjects in the Study Notes section of Financial Management and download relevant past articles from CIMA's website.
On assessment day
Make sure you know where the CBA centre is and how to get there.
It is a good idea to do a trial run of the journey to the centre before the day of your assessment.
Each computer based assessment is two hours long and uses objective test questions. The most common type is multiple choice, but a variety of other objective question types are used in the computer based assessment system ' for example: true or false questions, matching pairs of text and graphics, sequencing and ranking, labelling diagrams and single and multiple numeric entry.
Receive your results and feedback as soon as you finish the assessment.
You will see your results and indicative feedback onscreen as soon as your assessment has finished. If you are successful, you will receive a Certificate of Achievement for that assessment and your exam status will automatically be updated at CIMA. If you are unsuccessful, the feedback you receive will indicate where in the syllabus you should concentrate your studies. You can arrange your resit as soon as you are ready.
Once you complete your last computer based assessment for the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting, we will send your certificate - you should receive it within four to six weeks.
You are now ready to move onto the Managerial level and continue your progression to ACMA status. Well done!
Related links
CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting
Entry for Certificate level
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