Expert tutor, John Bennett, discusses the benefits of opting for CIMA’s CGMA Finance Leadership Program (FLP) to boost your career.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Once upon a time, all accountancy exams worked, roughly, in the same way. You sat three or four exams at a time twice a year. CIMA was no exception - you’d sit four exams at a time in either May or November.

Oh, and did I mention? You had to pass all four at once. If you failed one, you’d be back to do all four again in six months’ time. Speak to your CFO - they probably still bear the scars, but will undoubtedly still say that ‘it never did them any harm!’

The evolution of CIMA

Times change, and CIMA has always been at the forefront of innovation. To begin, with the ‘fail one, fail all,’ moved on to credit retention, followed by exam sittings four times a year. CIMA rocked the boat in 2015 when their syllabus scrapped the majority of fixed sittings with their on-demand objective test subject exams.

The thought process behind the new exam process was that it would help speed up the time it took to pass the qualification. No more waiting three months until the next exam sitting.

However, for some learners, the opposite proved true in a curious echo of the Streisand effect of unintended consequences.

Before the introduction of on demand objective test exams, exam sittings were like the Olympics. You wouldn’t pass up the chance of a gold medal just because you woke up feeling a little off on the day. You’d train hard, and the next opportunity was a long way off.

There’s no denying that the flexible objective test dates are, however, beneficial to many learners for a plethora of reasons. But for those who struggle with self discipline when it comes to sitting the exam, or even if you’re just not a fan of exams in general, and struggle to showcase your knowledge this way - this is where CIMA’s CGMA Finance Leadership Programme (FLP) comes in.

With CIMA’s CGMA FLP, rather than sitting three objective test exams over 18 months, you can now work through the learning content while building up your knowledge to sit the regular case study exam at the end of each level. FLP seamlessly mixes learning with continuous assessment to ensure learners understand key topics and can apply new skills. In other words, this negates the need for Objective Test exams. Therefore, instead of sitting 12 exams (16 if you include the Certificate in Business Accounting level), you can now achieve CIMA’s CGMA Professional qualification from the three case study exams.

Not only this, but CIMA’s CGMA FLP option is accessed via a subscription plan. With your subscription, you’ll gain access to every level within the CGMA Professional qualification which will help you see your progression path and move on to the next level as soon as you’re ready.

What’s the catch?

There’s no catch - it’s really as simple as working through CIMA’s content before sitting the case study for each level, but it can be tough.

When you begin, the endpoint case study will seem extremely far away. This means that it can be easy to allow your studies to slip so you need to be dedicated to your progression.

Before you know it, your beautiful study planner that you’ve spent days filling in is as obsolete as a CD (ask your parents).

CGMA FLP - how it’s delivered

In addition to the traditional route to CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification, we have teamed up with CIMA as the official partner of FLP skills premium and support with a variety of packages to suit your needs.

Let’s take a closer look at how FLP skills premium is delivered.

In level learning (ILL)

When you enrol on your FLP course, you’ll be prompted to choose a case sitting date (and in my opinion, I’d advise you to choose one - a plan without a deadline is just a dream).

Give yourself a minimum of six months, nine to be prudent. There will be an ILL course running over around six months to support your studies. This includes a live online tutorial scheduled for a couple of hours every fortnight, usually around 6pm (UK time).

Experienced CIMA tutors (like myself) are scheduled for these online sessions, and our purpose is twofold. First, we’ll introduce the topics you’ll be looking at on the FLP platform, which will give you the chance to ask live questions on technical matters.

Secondly, we will tie the content into the case study exam. Whilst the FLP content is technical and numerical, the case study involves no calculations. Instead, you’ll be asked to apply your knowledge to a specific scenario. In my experience, candidates often have the knowledge but struggle to explain the concepts in time-pressured exams - so the ILL option is gold dust.

Case study review course (CSRC)

You need to complete the ILL course before you will be ready for the case study. After completing the ILL, this is where the CSRC comes in.

Over the course of around a month, the content will be recapped but in the context of the pre-seen information which will be issued by CIMA. So, instead of looking at, say, throughput accounting from a technical perspective, you’ll be shown how it would apply to the case study that you’ll be sitting in.

Again, in my experience, this is priceless and helps candidates make the leap from the technical textbook to the practical real-world application. Not only is this important for the exam, but it’s a great skill in its own right.

Mock exams

Our Publishing and Content teams are the unsung heroes in this piece. Once you’ve received the pre-seen materials, the aforementioned teams will write three mock exams based on the pre-seen case study and in the style of past exam questions.

Once you complete these mock exams (ideally under exam conditions), they’ll be submitted for marking and sent back to you with feedback on how to improve going forward. In my experience, there is no better way of preparing for an exam than trying to recreate the conditions you’ll be facing on the day - and for many, this is a real lifesaver.

Extra support

In addition to all of the above resources, you’ll also gain access to our Academic Support team who are on hand, even outside of standard working hours, to answer any technical queries you have.

CIMA’S CGMA FLP programme has been running for a few years now, and our learner’s results have been nothing short of excellent. If you’re looking for a quicker, fully supported route to CIMA’s CGMA professional qualification, then this option is something to consider.

Ready to get started?

Kickstart an exciting career with CIMA’s CGMA professional qualification and browse our CGMA® FLP Skills Premium course or our more traditional study methods now.

If you’re an employer looking to upskill your workforce, get in touch with the team. And for learners looking for more information, contact our Student Services team at studentservices@kaplan.co.uk, and they will be able to point you in the right direction.