cima operational case study february 2023

Exam Resource

Ocs november 2023 and february 2024 post exam materials.

This document contains the full post exam supporting materials for the November 2023 and February 2024 Operational Case Study exams. This includes:

• pre-seen material
• exam variants
• suggested solutions
• examiners report
• marking guidance

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Your CIMA case study pass rates are here

CIMA has finally released the pass rates for the February 2023 case study sitting.

And, they are a bit of a mixed bag.

Students sitting the first Operational Case Study exam for 2023 achieved a 68% pass rate. That is higher than any pass rate in 2022, and two percentage points higher than last November.

The Management Case Study February pass rate was also up on the November 2022 – from 71% to 72%.

The worry will be with the Strategic Case Study pass rate, which has dipped down to just 56%. The final case study pass rates seem to jump around a lot more than the other case study pass rates too.

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MJ THE TUTOR

Cima exam support and preparation, the mcs pre-seen for november 2023 and february 2024 is out.

CIMA has released the MCS pre-seen material for the November 2023 and February 2024 sittings. To get your copy of the pre-seen, check out my Home page . The pre-seen company is Cuppcar, a quoted company operating car dealerships in a fictitious country called Welland.

NOW is an excellent time to kickstart your CIMA case study preparation. If you need a refresher on the theories covered on the management level, we’ve got the theory series here for you.

My podcast episode featured a few tidbits from the MCS pre-seen material for November 2023 and February 2024 sittings. Subscribe and listen to the episode from the links below.

Various analyses will aid you in understanding and decoding pre-seen jargons:

• Pre-seen analysis – An in-depth analysis of the pre-seen material. We look at our pre-seen company in detail. We learn about the company background, structure and financial standing.
• Strategic analysis – Hot on the heels of a pre-seen analysis is to do a strategic analysis to help us with perspective. We need to know where the company has been, where it is now and where it is headed.
• Most likely issues – Based on what has been mentioned (and sometimes, not mentioned) on the pre-seen material, we can gather clues to risks, issues, and events that may affect our fictitious company.
• Industry analysis – This puts our pre-seen company in the context of the real world. We look at some real-life examples of companies in the same industry. We highlight problems and circumstances that have made the news, and find out how these companies have dealt with them.

The above analyses are delivered in both written and video formats. If you are unsure about the resources available, check out the  Astranti MCS course page .

Good luck, student!

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Operational Level

Operational Case Study

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Download detailed course notes on the complete syllabus. Crafted with clarity, these concise and clear guides are filled with real-world examples.

When you buy an individual standard course, you get access to that course forever . With any future syllabus updates automatically added.

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Andrew is a Chartered Accountant and award-winning tutor. He previously worked as a forensic accountant at a Big Four firm, and spent several years tutoring at Kaplan UK. He was voted PQ Magazine's Lecturer of the Year - Private Sector in 2018. His average student feedback score in 2022 was 9.6/10, having taught over 1,000 learners. He has guided '1st in the World' students on 4 separate occasions.

Andrew is VIVA's CIMA OCS guru and is ready to bring his considerable practical and educational experience to bear and help you unlock the latest pre-seen.

Elite Course Extra Benefits

Our Elite Courses include everything from the Standard Course offerings, plus a range of personalised and exclusive features that will guarantee you pass your exams.

Our Elite courses include live, interactive sessions with your tutor and a small cohort of Elite students. Personalised guidance on exam technique and marking criteria.

Elite students get round-the-clock support from their tutor, via office hours, forum access and live interactive sessions.

Mock marking comes as standard for all mock exams on the Elite courses. Our experienced markers give personalised feedback, not just generic advice.

Your tutor will guide you through full mock exam questions, explaining how to approach answering each component, things to avoid, etc.

Your Elite tutor will host sessions focusing on exam writing technique, giving demonstrations and inviting collaboration on constructing answers that are sure to pass.

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*We're so confident in the power of our Elite Courses, that we guarantee your pass. If you meet the conditions and still somehow don't pass, we will grant you free access to the next Elite Course.

Course Syllabus

Operational Case Study covers real-world problem-solving: applying operational theories to practical business challenges. Now enrolling for CIMA OCS Aug24 courses.

Pre-course work

Choose your exam window.

Select the tab corresponding to your preferred exam window, and then choose between the Standard or Elite Course (features explained in detail above).

The course runs for 5 weeks, starting on Jul 06, 2024.

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I passed my OCS with a scaled score of 137 and got a letter from CIMA saying that I obtained the joint third position for the February 2019 case study and I believe that VIVA's materials really helped to make this possible.

VIVA were absolutely key in my CIMA Case Study exam - where I received first position in the world! I felt extremely supported with VIVA throughout the course, and would recommend them to anybody. I just wish I had found them much earlier in my studies!

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I want to thank VIVA for bringing to a successful end my study journey. I only wish I knew about VIVA earlier! Since using VIVA, I have passed my final exams.

I have used VIVA for all three Case Studies, passing first time on all three. I could not have done it without VIVA's help! Hands down, the best resource out there for CIMA Case Studies.

Before I signed up with VIVA's Elite course I was already enrolled with another tuition provider, and the way VIVA runs this course is 100x better! I will highly recommend you to my coworkers who are early in their CIMA journey.

I have passed my SCS using VIVA. I had failed 3 times with other tuition providers. The difference for me was expert feedback on the mock exams.

CIMA Case Study: May 2023

For those students whose first taste of a case study will be in May 2023, what can you expect and how should you prepare?

The pre-seen materials release date is an obvious starting point for preparations, but from personal experience I found that using the weeks BEFORE the pre-seen materials are released as the perfect time to develop a exam strategy and look at the bigger picture on what CIMA expects of a student looking to pass the case study exams first time.

Here are three pieces advice I would give students sitting a May case study exam

Understand your Role

Each CIMA case study exam requires a different approach and mindset, it’s important to understand what role you are playing and how to react to the questions.

Bear this in mind when your answering questions on exam day.

For example, in the SCS exam don’t get drawn into answering a question from the point of view of a Finance Clerk or Manager, you role is Finance Director so you will be required to answer in that mindset – developing strategy and thinking long-term!

Exam Day: Have a Plan

Time management on exam day is crucial and having a plan when answering a question will give you a enough time to produce a full and well balanced answer.

You should have a plan on exam day on how you will answer your question.

Assuming you have 45 minutes for each question in the OCS and MCS (4 questions at 45 mins = 3 hours), I used the below as guideline for answer planning and time management.

• 10-15 mins: read the question, identify requirements and plan your answer with 3 to 5 bullet points.
• 25 minutes: add the detail and develop your answer (think about pre-seen materials, industry analysis and ethics)
• 5-10 minutes: review your answer and adjust where needed.

It’s a natural tendency to rush straight in and start writing out your answering as you see the question, but this can lead to rambling, not answering the requirement and forgetting to add relevant points from the industry analysis or pre-seen materials.

Answer the Requirement

The most common trap students fall into is not understanding the requirement of the question asked, but instead trotting out a pre-rehearsed answer based on the subject.

While it’s important to understand the theory you have studied in the CIMA objective tests, practicing rehearsed statements is not a good idea.

Don’t fall into this trap!

If you identify the requirements of the question and plan your answer around the requirements, you will avoid this trap and maximise your chances of passing the CIMA case study first time.

May 2023 CIMA Case Study Resources

Astranti was the training provider I used to pass my CIMA case studies first time and they’ve recently put together an informative guide on how to crack the case studies !

It’s well worth a read before the pre-seen materials are released later this month.

In terms of the resources, the Astranti course for the May CIMA Case Studies is packed full of resources and tutor support and they have an early sale on their full courses.

• Pre seen materials pack (analysis, top 10 issues, industry examples & 30 questions)
• 5 x mock exams with feedback
• Syllabus theory revision series
• Exam technique series
• Ethics and questions packs
• Tutor feedback
• Pass guarantee & money back guarantee

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