Planning for This Years Exam and Revision Cycle
If you sat the exam in 2021, you’ve had enough time to digest the results. It was a tough year it would seem, and you’re probably fairly disappointed not to pass. The low pass rate in the exam of around 33% would suggest that this is a particularly tough year. I know how much hard work goes into preparing for these exams, so I’m sorry you didn’t get the result you wanted. There could be a multitude of reasons why the pass rate was so low, but to comment on why would be to speculate - about as useful as an inflatable dart board. Whatever the reason, it is done, and my personal view is that its best to take what lessons you can, leave it behind and get back in the game for the 2022 examination.
All I can say is that I will redouble my efforts to support candidates towards this years FD1 examination. The first step is to help you with planning effective revision for the time between now and the examinations.
Over the coming weeks I’ll do a number of articles analysing part A questions, part B questions, and the structure of the mark schemes. I will also be providing flash cards for learning procedural and substantive law - I’m just looking for a good app for doing so (any recommendations?).
I spoke last year about the IRAC(A?) formula - the majority of marks in the exam tend to come from comments made in the A and C part of that formula. As such, I will write new coffee table questions to have mark schemes focused more on that type of point and further reduce the focus on the R part. These new questions will be rolled into the existing bank of questions.
I would encourage encourage the following things now:
Draft and commit to a timetable that is going to get you the knowledge base you need in time for 24 October 2022.
If you’re a resitter, sign up for the mentorship program to receive 1 on 1 support with your exam technique.
Recruit an objective 3rd party to mark your past paper attempts (another trainee, your manager, whoever!)
The last bullet point is critical, in my view. Whenever I marked my own past papers I would score myself 60% or 70% or more, and then be gutted when I crashed out with <50% in the actual examination. In order for you to effectively benchmark where you are at in terms of knowledge, technique, and answer structure, you need to have an objective marker - you can never be objective because you know what you meant - even if it would not be clear to a third party.
The road to the October examinations is a long one, so let’s get going now.
Doug Ealey’s LinkedIn Group (see page footer) is a good resource, and he plans to release a revision timetable shortly to help you plan your revision. Don’t wait for this to begin your revision- you need time to go back over weaker areas a few times and get them solidified before this years exam.
Let’s make this year the year you pass.
