I've been trying to study for CT2 and I've encountered some difficulty in terms of tackling some of the short answer questions. I saw this question in a past paper which stated: 'Suggest possible reasons why acceptable gearing ratios often vary between countries.' I don't recall that the textbook had anything in it about gearing ratios and different countries (but correct me if I'm wrong). I had difficulty figuring out where to start - which was concerning that apparently this question was answered quite well. Bearing the above in mind, what is the best approach to study for these kinds of questions? I can envisage that doing many past papers and understanding the answers is but one part of the picture. However, there must be some framework in place so that one can handle any question thrown. Any tips or advice on how to best utilise my time and energy will be appreciated.
Hi, Yes this is a common (and from the examiners' perspective, intentional!) problem. The short answer questions are often more loosely related to the core reading, or indeed testing "higher order" skills. Which means that you need to try to use logic, judgement and general financial awareness to come up with a few ideas. Generally, if you find it hard, then other students are finding it hard as well, and the marks for these types of question will be lower. So I wouldn't worry too much about not managing to get 100% in all such questions, so long as you can get more than 60% overall across the entire paper. In terms of changing your study approach, it is difficult to recommend any changes. These questions are hard (or impossible) to predict, so I wouldn't change your study method on the basis of these questions.
