If anyone who ended up sitting this exam went through the dilemma of whether to choose this or SA6, can you let me know how you eventually chose and whether you ended up being happy with your choice? What kinds of openings might qualifying in Finance (SA5) bring? It concerns me that with only about 30 people taking the subject per sitting, that it might be too niche. On the other hand, if the area is in demand, then it's no bad thing. I've looked through the past papers and my perception is that they seem to have got harder in SA5 over the last couple of years while at the same time SA6 has got a bit easier. Would this be right?
Hi Sauny Bean, May I ask, did you write SA5 in the end. I am preparing for this exam and find it very hard...What is the most efficient way to study in your opinion? Is reading notes enough? Or is the scope far beyong the notes? Thanks very much in advance...
I did SA5 and have been suggesting it to other people ever since. I found it a very good subject to study for. The material is relervant and interesting. Compared to SA6, the core reading coverage is much better. While preparing for it I did find it difficult to prepare as there are so many areas to cover and the exam paper seems to only cover a small section of it. My advice is to build a good structural knowledge of the course and use the exam questions to train your techniques. Most questions are quite broad and when answering you should cover the impact from many different areas. The examiner is testing your understanding of how the separate parts of the course fits together and the relationship between them. Keep your answers well structured, precise and complete.
yes I did, elliepoon. There were some overlap but not many. i would say st5 does help the preparation for sa5.
st5... thanks for your quick reply...Oldstu..I have been busy with other stuff and only back to my studies recently..... It is really nice to know that you wrote ST5/SA5-originally I plan to write them both next spring , now I think it is too ambitious and I would just aim for ST5. I have read the notes and am now looking at past papers. I saw the solutions are usually really long for a just few points.do you think to score points the solution is already the minimum or they are detailed for illustration purposes? I am actually quite lost about how to study for this exam . .what was your strategy..do you find any material other than cmp helpful..?..would be truly grateful to hear from you......
Hi Ellie, I assume you mean you are lost on SA5 preparation not ST5? For SA5, I did some extra reading but not as much as I thought I needed too. The core reading gave me most of what I need to pass. I think the key for SA5 is that the examiner is looking to hear your opinion and how you back up that opinion. This is why your answer needs to be structured well and complete. A good way to practise is to pick a topic (e.g. was UK's action in EU recently right or wrong?), make an assessment and try to convince an imaginery audience that you are right. This is probably not directly related to SA5 but that's the kind of angle the examiner wants to see you coming at. I found SA5 was different to all the other exams in terms of how I prepared for it. It was also the one that I was least sure about passing unfortunately. However that doesn't mean it's the hardest to past. At the end of the day your performance is judged against other students. I must admit I didn't always get similiar answers as the exam report when I tried past papers. Also my mock exam marks were no where near a pass. But I felt quite confident going into the exam as I felt I had a better understanding of the topic than other students. You should focus on that. Good luck
