Why you need to manage your time carefully by the case writer for T4 Part B

The T4 case study can be a time pressured exam and your success in this final test of professional competence is dependent on you managing your exam time carefully so that you submit a complete report and short communication document that satisfy all 9 assessment criteria. In order to address all of the issues and criteria of the assessment matrix, you must break down the 3 hour exam time and 20 minutes reading time into slots for specific aspects of your report. It is very important that you allow time to plan your answer and think about all of the aspects, implications and alternative actions for the problems or proposals presented to you in the unseen material on exam day. This exam is about the quality of what you write and not about quantity. Whilst planning time means that you lose some writing time, it should help you to write a more comprehensive professional report which has a logical flow, offers a detailed analysis of the issues and concludes with sound, well justified recommendations. So, what to do in the exam room? Firstly, do not panic. Use the 20 minutes reading time to read the unseen material and with a pen underline or jot down your initial ideas and key data on the pink exam booklet (this is allowed). As you read, start to thinking about what calculations are required and what alternative actions could be taken for each issue. You may also start to plan what theoretical models are relevant to help you analyse the material. After the 20 minutes reading time, I suggest you then spend up to 20 minutes planning your answer. During this time you will decide what models to use and decide on your prioritisation of the issues in this case. You should also prepare a plan for each issue identifying the impact and alternative actions that could be taken, as well as identifying the relevant theories and calculations required. This then leaves 160 minutes exam time for you to write your entire answer, including the 90 mark report and the 10 mark communication document in part (b). There is no right or wrong way to allocate this time, but you may find the time plan suggested below useful. Based on 160 minutes (180 minutes less 20 minutes planning time) and 100 marks available, this equates to spending around 16 minutes for each 10 marks available i.e. 1.6 minutes per mark. Lets round this down to 15 marks for each 10 marks, which allows a little time if you overrun anywhere. Therefore, a suggested time allocation (excluding the 20 minutes reading time) using the T4 Case Study assessment criterion is: Marks Planning and thinking time Technical & Application Diversity Prioritisation Judgement & Focus Integration & Logic Ethics (including advice) Question 1 (b) Total 0 20 marks 5 marks 5 marks 25 marks 25 marks 10 marks 10 marks 100 marks Suggested time 20 minutes 30 minutes 10 minutes 10 minutes 40 minutes 40 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes 180 minutes

The 3 key areas to concentrate on within your report in part (a) are: Preparing suitable and accurate calculations marked in Application Analysing each of the issues in the case with alternative actions to approach each issue marked in Judgement Preparing sensible, commercially realistic recommendations marked in Logic

I advise you not to spend too much time on your calculations as these carry less than the total 15 marks available in Application. The most important thing to remember in the exam room is not to waste valuable time on aspects of your report such as: Worrying too much about prioritisation it is the quality of your discussion on each issue which is most important, not their ranking order Placing too much attention and time on the presentation of your report Going in to too much detail in the earlier parts of your report (especially the calculations) and not leaving enough time to complete fully justified recommendations Re-reading what you have written it may help you to write the recommendations for each issue immediately after you have analysed and discussed each issue although this is not always possible when issues are linked.

In order to earn marks in Judgement, you should ensure that you discuss each of the issues in good depth, explaining the impact, your financial analysis and alternative actions that could be taken. The plan is 40 minutes for this part of your report, which works out at 10 minutes per issue (with 4 issues). However, the top 2 priority issues will carry more marks (in Judgement and Logic) and should be analysed in more depth. Therefore a more refined allocation of your time is around 12 minutes for the top 2 issues and the remaining time of 8 minutes each for the other 2 prioritised issues. Your recommendations are a very important part of your report and it is suggested that you spend around 40 minutes preparing clear, well justified recommendations of what action you are advising for each issue. Your recommendations should show what, why and how as follows: what course of action or what decision you are recommending why you are recommending this course of action justify your decision if you dont know or cannot explain clearly why you are recommending it how can you expect the reader of your report to understand your decision! give details of the actions that should be taken to make the recommendation happen, and by who, and what timescales (such as immediately, short-term or longer term).

Ethics you should write around 2 paragraphs for each ethical issue, showing: what the ethical issue is and your justification of WHY it has an ethical dimension detailed advice on what actions should be taken to address the ethical issue

Suggested timing is 5 -8 minutes for each ethical issue with a total of 15 minutes on this section.

Question 1 (b) this 10 mark communication document will require a separate answer which will cover 1 or more of the issues that you have already analysed in your report in part (a). You should allow around 15 minutes for part (b). You should ensure that your answer addresses the specific requirement of this 10 mark question, such as a presentation, an email or a graphical presentation. It should include an analysis of the issue raised as well as relevant financials a clear recommendation of what action should be taken on the specific issue(s) in part (b).

Remember to plan your exam time and then to stick to your plan! It is harder to pass T4 if you miss out attempting whole sections (such as Ethics or part (b)). Practice using past T4 cases or mock exams from tuition providers, so that you know that you can write a complete answer in the time allowed.