CIMA - Professional Operational

2. Structure

The level is made up of three Objective Test subjects and one Case Study. You must pass all three Objective Tests before moving onto the Case Study, which tests what you’ve learned overall in the level. You need to pass all assessments to be able to progress to the Management level.

Entry requirements

You’ll need to have completed CIMA Certificate, AAT Professional (Level 4), or have an accountancy or finance degree.

Exam Overview

Each subject is assessed by an objective test, and the level as a whole is assessed by a final Case Study. Remember, you’ll have to book your exam as well as your course.
The Objective Tests are computer-based and are 90 minutes each, taken at a Kaplan centre or Pearson VUE test centre. The exams can be sat at any time of the year, and can be taken in any order. All assessments are marked by computer. Your results will be available with 48 hours.
In the Case Study, you have to use what you learned in the Operational Level to work through a real life scenario, where your ‘role’ will be a Finance Officer. The Case Study exam is 3 hours long, is computer-based, and available to take in four windows throughout the year (February, May, August, November), at a Kaplan centre or Pearson VUE assessment centre. It is marked by a human, and results are available 5 weeks after the close of the exam window. It will test your research and analysis skills, how you present information, and your persuasion and communication skills.

3. Study Methods

Whatever study method you choose, you’ll benefit from high quality learning materials, practical learning methods, hundreds of practice questions, marked mock exams and expert support even on evenings and weekends. You can be confident with Kaplan.

4. Study Materials

Classroom, Live Online and OnDemand students will receive printed and online study materials. The CIMA materials are the only official CIMA study materials that cover the full syllabus, and are reviewed and approved by CIMA faculty, so you can be confident of their quality.

We provide the below for each Objective Test:

• Study text
  A textbook covering the full subject syllabus with worked examples and activities.
• Integrated workbook
  The integrated workbook helps you work through the syllabus, with room to write your notes. It helps you keep everything in one place to make it easy to study and revise from.
• Study programme
  Outlines the course structure, providing guidance on what to do, and when.
• Revision cards
  Pocket-sized, brief revision notes that highlight and prioritise the essential topics you need to understand to pass your CIMA exams.
• Exam kit
  The exam kit gives you plenty of exam style questions and answers to test your knowledge and practice.
• eLearning modules
  Interactive tutor-led video modules that teach the whole syllabus and extend learning via tricky topic tutorials.

We provide the below for each Case Study:

• Study text
  The official CIMA textbook covering Integrated Case Study Exam preparation with worked examples and activities.
• Familiarisation and Practice Workbook
  An examination preparation tool, based on the case study, including ethical considerations, key issues, how to prioritise, and plan your answer. It includes 10-12 case specific tasks with a familiarisation quiz and exercises.
• Case analysis videos
  Watch a tutor walk you through the pre-seen, highlighting key facts, information and potentially examinable topics.
• MyKaplan videos
  Technical recap recordings that will help you revise key syllabus areas from the underpinning subjects, and introduce you to how those topics could be examined in a case study examination.

Support

• Tutor support
  Dedicated support* whenever you need it through LiveChat, email or callback for UK students, evening and weekends included.
• MyKaplan
  An online learning portal that helps you access all your online learning and testing resources such as your study materials.
• Track your performance
  Easily identify where you need to improve; you can even compare yourself with others in your class
• Discussion forum
  Keep in touch with your fellow students and tutors through the online discussion forums in MyKaplan.
• Test
  Hundreds of questions that you can use to build your own tests to help target weak areas, or check your overall knowledge and mock exams.
• Student Relations Officer
  Receive support from our dedicated Student Relations Officer.