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Important dates – Semester 2, 2022

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CPA Australia important dates

Semester 2, 2022

Semester 2 enrolment opens in June 2022 – which makes this semester a shorter duration than Semester 1. Many CPA candidates will also be working through end of financial year responsibilities in their professional role – so early planning on how you will approach your semester of study will be critical to a successful result.

For all subjects (except for Australia Taxation and Australia Taxation – Advanced), the CPA Study Guides will remain the same for Semester 2 as in the previous semester. This means it is possible to start preparing for the semester prior to enrolment opening in June. This is particularly valuable to any students planning to complete two subjects during the semester.

CPA Australia important dates

Enrolment and exam scheduling opens — Monday 6 June 2022

Closing date for enrolment changes — Wednesday 29 June 2022

Early bird enrolment closing date — Wednesday 6 July 2022

Final enrolment closing date — Friday 15 July 2022

Semester starts — Monday 18 July 2022

Exam scheduling closes — Monday 25 July 2022

Closing date for deferrals — Monday 26 September 2022

Exam period — Tuesday 27 September 2022 to Sunday 16 October 2022

Exam results released via CPA Australia website — Friday 25 November 2022

More information about the CPA Australia dates and fees is available here.

Study Shortcut important dates

Study Shortcut is designed to fit in with your study plans – you can enrol at any time! You’re also able to extend your access to our programs if you defer your exam during the semester.

Please reach out via email if you woul like to discuss your specific needs for the semester ahead.

Mid semester check in

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Mid semester check in - Semester 1, 2022

It’s amazing to think that we’re almost at the halfway mark for Semester 1, 2022 of the CPA Australia program.  With the exam period commencing in April 2022, it is a good time to reflect on the progress of your study to date and to ensure you’ve effectively understood the first half of the course.

Mid semester is also a great time to start thinking about your exam technique – it’s a good opportunity to complete practice questions to ensure that you approach your study with a good understanding of how the course will be examined by CPA Australia.

Knowledge Equity provides a great mid-semester exam as part of Guided Learning (with the test available from 25 February 2022 for ten days).

Study Shortcut also has a range of packages with practice questions to ensure you are regularly testing your understanding of the course. Our courses can be accessed at any time.

We have our Exam Cram package which includes a mid-semester test and two practice exams, as well as our very popular Module Mind Maps. Our Gold and Platinum packages are our most comprehensive options – each package has a weekly test to ensure you’re regularly testing your understanding and tailoring your study to your own learning needs. These packages also include our Summary Notes and Mind Maps which are a brilliant resource in the final exam.

Please reach out if you have any queries on how Study Shortcut can support you during the semester. You can email us at [email protected]

CPA Scaled Score

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CPA Scaled Score

What is the CPA Scaled Score and what score do I need to pass my exam?

Why are Scaled Scores used by CPA?

Because CPA Australia uses multiple exams for each subject – it is necessary for scaled scores to be used to measure student performance. Scaled scores ensure fair and equivalent results are awarded to each student – reflecting the level of difficulty in the version of the exam completed.

For example, a student achieving 50% in a very hard version of the exam may achieve the same scaled score as a student achieving 60% in an easier version of the exam.

Each semester, there is a very large cohort of students completing the CPA, which provides plenty of data points for CPA Australia to appropriately calibrate the exam grading process. If you found an exam very hard, it is likely that other students did to, and your result will be calibrated accordingly.

So, what is the pass mark?

The pass mark for CPA exams is a scaled score of 540. This is a score within the range of 100 to 900 set by CPA – it is very important not to confuse this score with being equal to 60% (= 540 / 900).

This scaled score is designed to reflect the minimum competency level for the subject being completed. As CPA Australia has the responsibility of ensuring all members carrying the CPA Australia designation have a certain level of understanding of the relevant content, the standard set is high. No doubt, this perspective helps explain the high fail rates across the CPA Program (you can read more about that here).

The Candidate Exam Report received by each student reinforces this message around competency. The second page of the Exam Report shows the relative competency demonstrated by the student for each module of the relevant subject. This enables candidates to understand their areas of strength and weakness and how their performance in each module influenced the overall exam result.

What does the Candidate Exam Report look like?

If you have any queries on the CPA scaled score or would like to discuss your recent exam results, please get in touch via email!

CPA results – Semester 2, 2020

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CPA Results - Semester 2, 2020

A tough semester with online, proctored exams and digital whiteboards

CPA Australia recently released the Exam Report for Semester 2, 2020.

Despite the extra challenges presented by COVID-19 closing most testing centres and the transition to online exams, the results reflected similar trends to previous semesters.

Key observations are as follows:

  • Ethics and Governance consistently has a high fail rate, and Semester 2, 2020 was no exception to the rule. Ethics and Governance is often the first subject new students attempt in their CPA journey and many students withdraw after an unsuccessful attempt at Ethics and Governance.
  • Although Strategic Management Accounting is of a similar difficulty to Ethics and Governance, the fail rate is usually much lower. This is likely because Strategic Management Accounting is often the second subject completed by students, and the additional exam experience has a positive impact on grades.
  • As all CPA students know – Financial Reporting is a tough subject for students to pass – it’s always a relief to complete it successfully! Financial Reporting again recorded a fail rate of approximately 30% for the most recent semester.
  • With respect to the electives, Australia Taxation – Advanced continues to stand out as the most challenging elective to pass with a fail rate of 46%.

Semester 2, 2020 results - all subjects

The chart below shows the grade split across the four core subjects. These results can be compared to the results in 2018 in the second chart, and the following observations can be made:

  1. Although the fail rate was similar (an average of 31% across the four subjects in 2020 vs 30% in 2018), it was significantly harder to achieve a High Distinction in 2020.
  2. Global Strategy and Leadership recorded substantially better results in 2018 vs 2020 – with 12% of the cohort achieving a High Distinction in 2018 vs only 6% in 2020 and 22% achieving a Credit in 2018 vs 16% in 2020.

Overall, all students should be very proud of passing subjects in Semester 2, 2020 – CPA is not an easy course and the added challenges of COVID-19 only increased the pressure experienced by students. The fact that results remained consistent with previous semesters shows a very high level of commitment from students.

Why Summary Notes are key to exam success

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STUDY SHORTCUT – STUDY TIPS

Why Summary Notes are key to exam success

Shortcut Summary Notes will get you exam ready – fast!

Summary notes serve two primary purposes in preparing for your exam.

Firstly, notes are a critical study tools that can streamline and focus your learning and revision on the key areas of the course. Secondly, summary notes provide a powerful reference to have to hand in an open book exam.

There is no need to prepare your own summary notes – why waste precious study time! Instead, you can use the Shortcut Summary Notes that covers each subject comprehensively. That way, you’ll be able to extract maximum benefit from the materials, without spending unnecessary time summarising and formatting.

Streamline your learning and revision

Using summary notes as you begin learning a CPA subject is a brilliant way to narrow your reading to the important and high value areas. You can use the summary notes to quickly determine if you have understood a concept – if it makes sense, you can move on quickly. Where you have not quite understood, the study notes will usually provide references to the main textbook to enable you to do extra reading. That way, you only read the detail on topics that are new or challenging, rather than the whole course.

You can also use the Shortcut Summary Notes as a reference when completing module questions and practice exams. The notes can provide a helpful reference as you move through the questions, building your confidence and speed. Certainly, building your exam technique is a critical part of CPA success and is something that is developed over time.

Ace an open book exam

Open book exams present a unique challenge for students. Although you can take all of your books and notes in with you, the exam is often much harder and requires you to answer questions quickly and in more depth than if you were in a closed book exam.

This means it is critical to have good summary materials with you in the exam! You will have built a familiarity with your Shortcut Summary Notes while you were learning the course, which you can use to your advantage when in the exam environment. Where you are unsure of an answer, you can flip to the relevant page of your study notes and remind yourself of the key point. Our summary notes also include worked examples and calculations, which are extremely valuable when applying the course content to a more difficult topic, like in Financial Reporting.

Overall, good quality study notes are an investment that will set you up for exam success. Our notes will enable you to study more effectively and efficiently, and provide an invaluable reference tool in an open book exam. 

Learn more about the Shortcut Summary Notes here.

 

The Best Order to Complete your CPA

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STUDY SHORTCUT – STUDY TIPS

The Best Order to Complete your CPA

Completing the CPA subjects in a clever order can contribute to your success

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Structuring your CPA Program in response to your commitments, career objectives and prior learning will set you up for success.

At Study Shortcut, we agree with CPA Australia’s recommendation of completing Ethics and Governance as your first subject. E&G is a great introduction to the program and is of moderate level difficulty to help you gauge the effort required for the course.

Following Ethics and Governance, we recommend completing Strategic Management Accounting and Financial Reporting. These subjects, along with E&G, provide a strong base for the remaining subjects that you choose (two electives and Global Strategy and Leadership).

It is important not to underestimate Financial Reporting – it is the hardest subject in the CPA Program and requires you to complete at a time when your other commitments are manageable. Study Shortcut recommends completing Financial Reporting in Semester 1, which is a longer semester and one that does not overlap with end of financial year work commitments.

Electives – which should I choose?

Many candidates are required to complete Advanced Audit & Assurance and Australian Taxation if they don’t have previous learning in their undergraduate degree in these areas.

If you have flexibility in the electives you choose, you can consider which subjects are most appropriate for your career objectives.

Contemporary Business Issues is suited to candidates working in corporates or in consulting roles.

Financial Risk Management would be perfect for candidates in the banking industry or corporate treasury roles.

Advanced Taxation is for taxation professionals or those in public practice.

Please reach out to the Study Shortcut team if you’d like to discuss your specific career objectives.

 

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