MCS February Examiner's Report- What Can We learn?

One of the best ways to prepare for a future exam is to look at what the examiner's have to say about a previous sitting.

After each Case Study sitting the examiner's write a report of what they noticed and what tips they would give to future students.

Here is a summary of some of the key themes from the February report:



Pre-seen Preparation

One of the key points raised by the examiners is the importance of getting to know the pre-seen:

"Candidates must make better use of the opportunity to gain familiarity with the pre-seen material. It is not necessary to memorise the material or to become an expert in the industry, but candidates should develop an understanding of the business."

It is essential that you analyse the pre-seen company, but if you want to get those extra marks you need to go further.

The examiners are looking for that extra research into how the business operates and how this may relate to the question you are being asked.

Understanding the Question

The examiners raised an issue regarding students not understanding what the question was asking of them:

"Questions give explicit instructions as to what is required and marks will not be awarded for anything that has not been requested. In particular, essays on the theory underlying the problem at hand are unlikely to score well if the question asks for a response to a particular issue arising from a scenario." 

It is essential to look at exactly what the question requires from you - rather than answering a question you wanted to be asked.

The examiner is not going to give you marks for theory if it isn't specifically related to what the question has asked.

Time Management

The final topic mentioned in the examiner's report is time management:

"With the time constraints in place candidates can only spend a limited amount of time on each task. Therefore, it is essential that candidates focus on making the points that they are most confident of early in their answer before they run out of time."

Time management is an issue which is mentioned by a number of past students, and is often highlighted by the examiners.

It is vital that you manage your time efficiently to ensure you answer the most amount of questions to the best of your ability.

You may find you need to skip some difficult questions to start with to get some easy marks - before coming back to these questions at the end.

Full Report

To find out everything mentioned by the examiners, read the full report:

MCS Examiner's Report February

If you are looking for help in exam technique and what you can do to improve your chances of passing-, take a look at our Course Videos and our Study Text Part 1