Regarding study technique

The ST1 course is assumed knowledge for the SA1 course, so you need to have a good knowledge of ST1 to sit SA1. However, the SA1 course does not repeat all the material from ST1 as the examiners assume that you are already familiar with this.

So I think it's important on a first attempt to read through the ST1 chapters thoroughly. However, for a resit of ST1 you perhaps wouldn't necessarily need to read all the ST1 chapters again. You need to know the ST1 Core Reading very well and the chapter summaries, revision notes questions and flashcards can be very helpful here.

A lot depends on how well you understand each chapter. Some chapters may be very familiar, perhaps because you do similar work in the office, or because of overlap with other subjects, eg ST2. However, if you find other chapters difficult (eg you find answering the questions in the revision books/flashcards difficult) then its worth going back to the ST1 chapter again.

It's also important to know the SA1 Core Reading well. The P1 multiple-choice question packs can help here.

Question practice is important for both ST1 and SA1 and so ASET and the past exam questions and examiners reports on the web are very useful. You should try to do some of these under strict exam conditions as this will highlight any lack of understanding or problems with exam technique. It's also worth attempting assignments/mocks and getting some feedback from the markers. SA1 has a very different style to ST1 - questions are longer, more in depth, more practical, and will cover a wider range of ideas. So a different approach to the exam is needed.

Finally you need to balance the time constraints. It's true that SA1 requires a deeper approach while you also need a good grounding in ST1. The SA1 material is harder so you may need to re-read the SA1 chapters several times, while only having time to look at revision materials for ST1.

I hope this helps, but do let me know if you have further questions.

Good luck with the exams.

Mark