CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective

Course Delivery

Introduction
This guide is designed to provide a practical overview guide to help you design a successful CIMA course, especially if you are new to
teaching CIMA subjects. These guidelines are based on many years of accumulated knowledge and insight and a result of work with
course providers across both public and private sectors. While there is no one best way to conduct CIMA courses successfully, this
guide offers a blueprint for successful and effective CIMA course delivery with suggestions grouped around the process CIMA lecturers
are recommended to go through when establishing a course of CIMA teaching.
The key (progressive) stages of designing a course of CIMA teaching are;

Knowledge

Review

Support

Plan

Delivery

The focus is on the students learning processes, engagement and experiences, and the environment within which learning takes place.

Knowledge

Knowledge

The primary responsibility of a CIMA lecturer is to ensure that students fully understand the
requirements of the CIMA examinations and demonstrate the required level of knowledge and
skill in their answers to examination questions so that they will be confident and successful.
The CIMA syllabus is designed to develop five progressive competencies and skills vital for
employment (not mere knowledge), hence CIMA exams focus on testing both knowledge and
competencies. As a CIMA lecturer, students expect you to support and guide them in identifying
and developing the skills and competencies that will be examined in CIMA examinations.

Review

Support

Plan

Delivery

The CIMA syllabus is designed to develop five progressive competencies (CIMA calls them Learning Objectives), as illustrated in the
diagram below. These five progressive skills and competencies are taken into account in setting the examinations.
Knowledge is what CIMA students are expected to know in terms of facts, theories, models, techniques, frameworks, calculations etc.
(e.g. Definition and types of stakeholders)
Comprehension is what CIMA students are expected to understand. That is
the history, background, strengths, weaknesses and links between other topics
in the same syllabus. (e.g. Relationship between stakeholder analysis and
Mendelows matrix)
Application is the ability to do something in practice. That is, CIMA students
are expected to apply knowledge in different contexts. (e.g. applying
Mendelows matrix to a given business scenario)
Analysis is the ability of CIMA students to identify problems and suggest
practical solutions. Students are expected to consider proposed solutions
and then discuss issues arising from the application of such solutions. (e.g.
Alternative strategies to manage stakeholders and issues arising out of such
strategies)

5 - Evaluation
4 - Analysis
3 - Application
2 - Comprehension
1 - Knowledge

Evaluation involves the ability of CIMA students to identify possible solutions

and then discuss their strengths and weaknesses, so that they can then
recommend and justify the most appropriate solution. (e.g. Recommending a
course of action to manage stakeholders and justification for it)
If you refer to the table of verbs hierarchy (see Appendix 2), the five Learning Objectives, and their associated skill levels, are closely
linked to the exam verbs. For instance, the verb Explain is linked to the level 2 learning objective, comprehension and the verb
Discuss is linked to the level 4 learning objective, analysis.
These verbs are usually found:
In examination question requirements; and
In the syllabus, more precisely, in Component Learning Outcomes (explained below)
Therefore, the verb in the question requirement indirectly communicates the skill level students are expected to demonstrate in their
answer. Similarly, the verb in the component learning outcome in the syllabus conveys a very important message to lecturers (and
students too) about the nature and the level of skill you need to help students develop the knowledge / information (found in the
indicative syllabus content) you teach. The knowledge / information in the indicative syllabus content is usually in the form of facts,
theories, models, techniques, frameworks, calculations etc.

CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective Course Delivery

Discuss the importance of post completion audit

This is a Component Learning Outcome (CLO) from E2, Enterprise Management. The knowledge / information is post completion
audit and you are expected to coach your students to demonstrate analytical skills with regard to post completion audit in the
CIMA exam. This is simply because the verb Discuss in the above CLO is linked to analysis, a level 4 skill.
Each subject within the syllabus is divided into number of broad syllabus topics with an assigned study weighting. The percentage
weighting is intended as a guide to the proportion of study time each topic requires and also the proportion of marks allocated for
each topic in the examination.

E1, Enterprise Operations

The syllabus comprises the following syllabus topics and study weightings:
A The Global Business Environment 20%
B Information Systems 20%
C Operations Management 20%
D Marketing 20%
E Managing Human Capital 20%

Navigating the CIMA syllabus

P1 C. PROJECT APPRAISAL (25%)
Learning Outcomes
On completion of their studies students should be able to:
Lead

Component

Indicative syllabus content

1. prepare information to support

project appraisal.

(a) explain the processes involved in making long-term

decisions;

The process of investment decision making, including

origination of proposals, creation of capital budgets, go/
no go decisions on individual projects (where judgements
on qualitative issues interact with financial analysis), and
post audit of completed projects.

(b) apply the principles of relevant cash flow analysis to

long-run projects that continue for several years;
(c) calculate project cash flows, accounting for tax and
inflation, and apply perpetuities to derive end of project
value where appropriate;
(d) apply activity-based costing techniques to derive
approximate long-run product or service costs appropriate
for use in strategic decision making;
(e) explain the financial consequences of dealing with longrun projects, in particular the importance of accounting for
the time value of money;
(f) apply sensitivity analysis to cash flow parameters to
identify those to
which net present value is particularly sensitive;

2. evaluate project proposals.

Identification and calculation of relevant project cash

flows taking account of inflation, tax, and final project
value where appropriate.
Activity-based costing to derive approximate long-run
costs appropriate for use in strategic decision making.
Need for and method of discounting.
Sensitivity analysis to identify the input variables that
most affect the chosen measure of project worth
(payback, ARR, NPV or IRR).
Identifying and integrating non-financial factors in longterm decisions.

(g) prepare decision support information for management,

integrating financial and non-financial considerations.

Methods of dealing with particular problems: the use of

annuities in comparing projects with unequal lives and
the profitability index in capital rationing situations.

(a) evaluate project proposals using the techniques of

investment appraisal;

The techniques of investment appraisal: payback,

discounted payback, accounting rate of return, net
present value and internal rate of return.

(b) compare and contrast the alternative techniques of

investment appraisal;
(c) prioritise projects that are mutually exclusive, involve
unequal lives and/or are subject to capital rationing.

Application of the techniques of investment appraisal to

project cash flows and evaluation of the strengths and
weaknesses of the techniques.

P1 D. DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY IN ANALYSIS (15%)

Learning Outcomes
On completion of their studies students should be able to:
Lead

Component

Indicative syllabus content

1. analyse information to assess

the impact on decisions of
variables with uncertain values.

(a) analyse the impact of uncertainty and risk on decision

models that may be

The nature of risk and uncertainty.

based on relevant cash flows, learning curves, discounting

techniques etc;
(b) apply sensitivity analysis to both short and long-run
decision models to
identify variables that might have significant impacts on
project outcomes;
(c) analyse risk and uncertainty by calculating expected
values and standard

Sensitivity analysis in decision modelling and the use of

computer software for what if analysis.
Assignment of probabilities to key variables in decision
models.
Analysis of probabilistic models and interpretation of
distributions of project outcomes.
Expected value tables and the value of information.
Decision trees for multi-stage decision problems.

deviations together with probability tables and histograms;

(d) prepare expected value tables;
(e) calculate the value of information;
(f) apply decision trees.

CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective Course Delivery

Check that you understand

The five Learning Objectives
The relationship between the Exam Verbs and Learning Objectives
The syllabus navigation
The importance of Component Learning Outcomes
The importance study weighting

Actions
Study the syllabus. Carefully go through each Component Learning Outcome (CLO) of the CIMA paper you intend to teach.
Identify the relevant Learning Objective (skill level) for each of the CLO, via the Exam Verb at the beginning of the CLO.
Read the examiners article. This will help you to understand the approach in teaching and examiner expectations.
Go through recent past exam papers. This will help you to understand the assessment strategy, style of questions and also will
enable you to identify the Exam Verbs most frequently examined in that paper.
Understand the Verbs used. In appendix 1, you will find a very useful article that will help you to understand the varied and
specific course of actions warranted by each Exam Verb.
Go through recent Post Exam Guides (PEGs). The PEGs are written by the examiner or the lead marker, and contain: marks
allocation, common mistakes by students and the Component Learning Outcome examined for each exam question.

Plan

Knowledge

Most of our CIMA students are adult-learners, even so, they still tend to depend on their CIMA
lecturers for study material, psychological support and direction. Therefore, careful and extensive
planning and preparation is needed, prior to the face-to-face teaching sessions with students.

Review

Plan

One key decision would be how much face-to-face teaching time is required in the classroom.
Support
Delivery
This depends on a wide variety of factors including, how much students can afford or will be
prepared to pay; whether students are going to be full time or are employed; students prior
knowledge of the subject matter / educational background; other challenges such writing skills etc. CIMA recommends 200 hours of
study time in total per paper, but one hour of high quality lecturing equates to about 3 hours of private study time. In other words,
if you plan 40 hours of face-to-face lecturing, this provides the equivalent of about 120 hours of the required 200 hours study time;
students will then need to dedicate about 80 hours of their own time to personal study time. You need ensure that the face-to-face
teaching time includes exam preparation by way of past paper question practice, mock exams etc. You may plan to balance this
between homework and class-work.
At the planning stage, another key decision you need to take is what teaching materials you are going to use in the classroom (this
may have been already determined by the course provider / leader). In general, you have a number of choices, namely:
a) CIMAs Learning Systems these are the only products endorsed by CIMA, and a good choice for a new tutor.
b) Material produced by other reputable course providers.
c) To create your own material if doing this, make sure they are exclusively produced for CIMA courses and strictly in line with the
learning outcomes in the CIMA syllabus.
Lesson planning involves preparing detailed Schemes of Work (SoW) covering the syllabus in full. The SoW will be very helpful in
organising the teaching resources, classroom teaching, homework assignments etc. SoW need to be individually made for each CIMA
paper you intend to teach, and need to be regularly updated to reflect syllabus changes, student feedback, and lessons learnt during
the course delivery.
In the SoW, each teaching session (say, 2 hours) is recommended to include:
Component learning outcome(s) to be covered during the session.
A list of CIMA past paper questions that examined the CLO(s). Tables analysing past papers by learning outcomes for each paper
can be found in the CIMA website[insert link]
Key terms. These are the core vocabulary students need to learn.
Key points. These are what the students have to know (facts, theories, models, techniques, frameworks, calculations etc) as they will
form the foundation of examination questions and therefore also answers.
Teaching material. The relevant pages from the CIMA Study Text, CIMAstudy.com modules, your own course notes, presentations,
mind maps etc to aid teaching the key points.
List of CIMA past paper question(s) to practice during / at the end of the session.
List of CIMA past paper question(s) for home / self practice.
List of CIMA past paper question(s) to which students should write answers to time and submit to you for correction and feedback.

CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective Course Delivery

An extract of E2 paper SoW may appear as follows:

Date(s)
and
Time

Class Questions

Homework
Questions

Analysing
competitors

May 2010 Q1
(Full answer)

May 2011 Q1
(Lecturer feedback)

Accounting for
competitors

Nov 2010 Q6b

(Plan answer)

Sep 2011 Q4
(Self practice)

SWOT analysis

Mar 2011 Q5
(Full answer)

Sep 2012 Q1
(Self practice)

Learning
Outcomes

Key Topics (models,

theories, techniques,
calculations)

Discuss the
nature of
competitive
environments

Reference (e.g. CIMAstudy.

com modules / CIMA
study systems chapters)

Nov 2012 - Q7b

(Self practice)

Actions
Refer to the relevant Self-Study Guide in the CIMA website. This will be a useful guide to preparing your SoW.
Identify the number of face-to-face teaching hours available (for both teaching theory and practice questions).
Breakdown into 2 3 hour teaching sessions.
For each teaching session, identify:

Component Learning Outcome(s)

Key terms
Key points
Reference material, such as relevant pages from the CIMA Study Text
Business examples (e.g. any relevant, but short news items, newspaper / magazine articles relating to the topic that will help
students to understand the theory better)
List of CIMA past paper question(s) to practice during / at the end of the session.
List of CIMA past paper question(s) for home / self practice.
List of CIMA past paper question(s) for which students will write answers to time and submit for you to correct and provide
feedback.
Read relevant Post Exam Guide for the above lists of past paper questions. This will give you deeper insight from the examiner
how to plan answers, the allocation of marks and potential mistakes your students may make.
Read relevant CIMA technical articles on CIMA website. These articles are written by examiners, experienced CIMA lecturers,
technical experts etc, so you will be able to derive useful insights and a different perspective on the subject matter.
Prepare teaching material such as presentations, your own course notes, mind maps etc.

Delivery

Knowledge

Your behaviour as a teacher in the classroom can have an immediate and visible impact on
student motivation. If you appear enthusiastic, presenting the information in an organised and
interesting way, and showing a genuine interest in teaching, it will have an immense positive
impact in maintaining students attention.

Review

Support

Plan

Delivery

Help your students to keep the end in mind. Keep reminding them (in almost every lesson) that
your collective effort is about getting them through the exams. Often you may help them to
reflect as to why they have embarked on CIMA exams and the rewards in life once they pass CIMA exams. Explicitly communicate to
your students what they need to do to be successful and achieve their personal goals.
It will be very useful to mention the Component Learning Outcome you will be working on during your teaching session, as you have
identified in your SoW. Give students a list of past papers which examined that Component Learning Outcome and allow them to flip
through the question requirements of those past paper questions. This will enable your students to see how the rest of your teaching
will fit into passing the exam.
Adult learners display greater enthusiasm and interest for a course if they can relate the content and course activities to their daily
lives. By connecting the academic information to real-world experiences through newspaper articles or something that was on TV
news will deepen their understanding of the material and allow your students to see the value of what they are learning.
Vary your teaching methods. In addition to the conventional board and chalk teaching, you may use academic activities that get your
students to actively participate in the class and allow for more immediate feedback. Problem-based learning, collaborative learning,
experiments, etc will allow for greater student interaction and the opportunity for students to practice newly acquired skills and
knowledge. Supplementing your lecture with guest lectures, a group discussion, or student presentations will add variety and hence will
make your teaching more effective and enjoyable.
All students like to interact with their peers, and many students claim to be inspired by competition. However, you must be careful not
to create an environment that will lead to comparison, divisions, or irreverent dialogue among your students. Extremely competitive
environments may induce performance anxiety which can impact learners experience and in turn will work against your efforts at
motivation.
Generally, adult learners learn well when they view the potential outcome to be of personal value to them. Therefore, it will be useful
to give them a list of key terms and key points at the end of each teaching session.
A feeling of achievement is more important to adult learners. Towards the end of your teaching session, it is useful to practice a past
paper question from the list you provided at the beginning of the teaching session. Given the time constraint, you may just plan the
answer or write a short part of the full answer to time. This enables them to get self-evaluation and motivate them take more action
towards a sense of accomplishment.
At the end of each subject topic, you may include a session in the scheme of work to revise that subject topic and practice more past
paper questions / mock examination.

Actions
Design and use class surveys or diagnostic tests to get a sense of what students already know or believe about the CIMA course
they are about to study. These can be used on the first day of class and also when introducing a new topic.
Collect business examples so that you may relate current affairs to what you teach.
Spend time with students whenever possible (say, before the session or during breaks) so that you may build a good rapport
with your students and collect informal feedback.
Collect mid-session feedback from students about your teaching methodology, exam preparation, classroom environment etc
so that you may fine-tune your delivery for the rest of the course.
Demonstrate genuine interest in teaching and be enthusiastic always.
Have a regular conversation with the fellow CIMA lecturers to share your own teaching experience and learn from their
teaching experience.

CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective Course Delivery

Support
CIMA students generally have busy life styles. They meet you face-to face only when they come
to your lectures, yet they expect your support and guidance throughout the time leading to the
exams.

Knowledge

Review

Plan

Some lecturers share their email address as the main mode of communication in between faceSupport
Delivery
to-face teaching, and students are encouraged to clarify any doubts they have. You may send
an email periodically, perhaps with some interesting business news you read or reminding them
about their homework. If you think that it is practical, you may share a phone number, providing clear instructions when you will be
available to take calls from students if they need any help from you.
The best support you can offer is to help your students develop exam techniques and confidence towards the exam, Question practice
is the key for exam confidence and exam success. Set past paper questions for home practice. Warn students of areas where they may
go wrong in planning and writing their answer. The examiners comments in the Post Exam Guide will help you identify these.
End of session revision and timed mock exams have proved very effective in exam success. The syllabus topics may be revised through
question practice using relevant CIMA past papers, as all CIMA questions have gone through a thorough quality assurance process.
Timed mock exams will enable students to gain near-exam experience in terms of reading time (20 minutes), question selection, time
management etc.
Recognising your students hard work and the effort they put into their learning will certainly motivate them. Correcting their
homework assignments and returning them quickly and by constructively communicating both positive and negative feedback, you are
able to acknowledge your students hard work while still encouraging them to strive for more. Although this requires time and effort on
your part, it will provide you with valuable feedback as to whether students have understood your lesson and any areas they generally
struggle with. It is helpful to maintain a record of student performance for home work practice questions in order to track students
progress.

Actions
Create a separate email account to share with your students, through which you may maintain a dialogue between your faceto-face sessions.
Organise end-session revision / exam preparation in order to develop exam techniques via question practice.

Review

Knowledge

Review

Student feedback is an important part of the review process. This will enable you to take
corrective action in order to ensure that your students are both satisfied with your service
and pass the CIMA exams. Further, the student feedback will help in future course planning,
identification of problem areas and the development of appropriate action plans to address the
issues raised.

Support

Plan

Delivery

Encourage students to inform you of their exam results. This will enable you to maintain a record of students pass rates which in turn
will help you in future target setting and overall appraisal of the success of your teaching.

Actions
Collect end-session feedback from the students and reflect upon what went well and areas for improvement, and take action
accordingly.
Maintain a record of exam results so that you will know how your teaching has helped students in their exams and any actions
of improvement needed.

Conclusion
This guidance is especially designed for lecturers who are new to teaching CIMA and offers only basic and overview guidance. If you
need any specific technical support, including a dedicated Train the Trainer workshop for your college, you may contact CIMA via
cimalearning@cimaglobal.com through your CIMA course leader.
The following support material is freely available in the CIMA website that will be very helpful in planning and delivering your lessons.
CIMA syllabus
Past paper questions
Analysis of past paper questions by Component Learning Outcomes
Post exam guides
Suggested answers
Articles from the examiner
Technical articles from the examiner and experts
Reading lists
Short exam techniques videos
All the best, and enjoy teaching CIMA.

CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective Course Delivery

10

Appendix 1
This is an extract from an article by David Harris, who explains the importance of verbs in learning outcomes in the light of
understanding the syllabus and exam questions. Read the full article at http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Student%20
docs/feb2010verbsarticle.pdf
List As it says, just provide a list. Each of the items on your list should be expressed in terms of a full sentence, for clarity, but theres
no need to go any further than that.
State Again, pretty obvious. Just say what you need to say in a fairly concise manner. No need to explain or clarify, unless you think
that what youve written isnt clear.
Define This is really asking for a dictionary or textbook definition, but your own words can be used instead. Asking you to define
something is simply a test of memory a pretty low level skill but if you use your own words youre actually doing describe or
explain, which is fine.
Describe A straightforward what it is statement. Think of it as the next step on from list or state. However, you might need a short
paragraph, rather than a single sentence, depending on how complex or technical the issues are.
Distinguish One or more lists. You can only distinguish between things, so there need to be two or more things given in the
question. The trick here is only to list the features of each of the things that make them different from each other.
Explain A tricky one. Quite often examiners ask you to explain something, but get a description instead. Think of it this way if
you are asked to describe a dog, its easy: Furry animal, four legs, goes woof. Now explain a dog. See what I mean? You need more
guidance as to what approach to take, or you need to decide on your own approach. Its not possible to explain what a dog is, but its
easy to explain why people keep dogs as pets, or how a dog may be trained. If youre asked to explain something, use a paragraph:
Write a sentence that makes your point, then write another to explain why the first sentence is so, or the consequences of the first
sentence. If your point still isnt clear, write a third sentence that makes it clearer.
Identify To do this, its really necessary to have a scenario. Its not really application of your knowledge, but more a selective use of
it. Think of identify as being like explain in this situation. Go through what youve learned, and pick out only the bits that apply to
the situation described in the question.
Illustrate Easy. Give an example. If theres a scenario, give a relevant example. If not, pick whichever you like. Alternatively, you could
draw a picture (we call them diagrams) or do a quick calculation by way of illustration (as in explain and illustrate what is meant by
an adverse variance).
Apply This verb is used quite a lot in the learning outcomes, but rarely in exam questions. In a learning outcome it means that youll
have to do it for real, not just talk about it in theory. In the exam, youre more likely to be given a different (and more specific) verb
from level 3.
Calculate Obvious. Do the maths.
Demonstrate A tough one. You need to prove something to be true, beyond any doubt, or show that it applies in the situation
described, by giving evidence. This verb is most likely to be used in situations where there is one correct answer, rather than where you
are expressing an opinion. Think of it as an explanation with an illustration.
Prepare For this verb to be used, there has to be a fair amount of (often numerical) data in the question. You take the relevant
data, process it (perhaps by calculation, but often just by rearranging it), then provide it in a particular format; for example, Prepare a
balance sheet from the trial balance provided.
Reconcile Another numerical one, this time asking you to prove that two things (often the results of calculations) are the same as, or
are consistent with, one-another. Think about reconciling an Income Statement to two Balance Sheets.
Solve Again, generally, calculating an answer to something. Literally, providing a solution. However, whereas calculate normally tells
you how to do something, solve may leave you to choose the most appropriate method.
Tabulate Obvious. Produce a two-dimensional table of results.

11

Analyse Now were starting to get into the really difficult stuff. This is asking for a series of detailed explanations, often opinions
rather than facts, each with an illustration (if appropriate). Think about analyse the published accounts: Calculate some ratios,
explain what you think they mean, relate them to each other, relate them to the context of the question. Alternatively, what about
analyse the variances? The same set of steps? I think so.
Categorise A number of lists, with an explanation after each item saying why you put it in that particular list and not one of the
others.
Compare and contrast Fairly obvious - an explanation of the similarities and differences between two (or more) things. Compare
and contrast a dog and a cat? Theyre both furry animals, but one goes woof and the other miaow.
Construct Like prepare, but possibly with an explanation as to why you put things where you did.
Discuss This is a tricky one. In order to discuss something, there needs to be an argument. In other words, you need two or more
differing or opposing viewpoints. Also, any discussion should, if possible, end in a conclusion. Think about; advantages, disadvantages,
conclusion. Or; reasons why, reasons why not, conclusion. Or; maybe this, may be that, conclusion. Can you discuss one viewpoint?
Sure. Examiners often ask you to discuss the advantages of. Does that mean you have to do the disadvantages as well? No. Simply
go through the advantages, saying whether they apply in this situation, or whether theyre each a major advantage or a relatively
minor one.
Interpret Literally, translating from one form of words to another, where the latter is more understandable than the former.
Interpret is often the second stage of analyse. Think about variances again. In order to produce a variance analysis, first you calculate
the variances, then you interpret them. Got it?
Prioritise Normally you will be asked to prioritise a series of issues/problems or options/actions. What you need to do is to use
one or more appropriate ranking criteria (such as financial impact or urgency) to put the items into what, to you, seems a logical
sequence for attention. You need to explain, unless its obvious from the question, or from earlier parts of your answer, what criteria
you have used, and why. Youll also have to explain, for each item, why you put it where you did in the list of priorities.
Produce This is really creative stuff. You start with very little (or nothing), and end up with the finished article. How about, given two
Balance Sheets and an Income Statement, produce a Cash Flow Statement? Or, what about produce a report?
Advise Tell them what you think they could, or should, do. Construct a good, comprehensive, argument that leads to one or more
options for the owners or managers (normally) to consider pursuing. An evaluate with a recommend it doesnt get any more difficult
than this.
Evaluate The second of our top level verbs, and another tricky one. Think of evaluate as a higher level discuss. It might mean
calculations, but it might not. You can say how valuable something is in qualitative terms, as well as monetary. This is easier to
illustrate than to explain, so Ill give an example later.
Recommend Just that. Tell them what to do. Often, when recommend is used in an exam question, its the last requirement. If there
are three requirements (a, b and c), you might find that part (a) says explain or identify, part (b) says discuss or evaluate, and
part (c) says recommend. Are these the three stages of recommend answer? I think so. If you get an exam question that asks you to
recommend, without any preceding requirements to identify and evaluate, you need to do a series of things; identify and explain any
reasonable options, evaluate each, conclude and recommend. Once again, notice how you are breaking a high level verb down into a
series of steps, using verbs from lower in the hierarchy.

CIMA Lecturer Guide for Effective Course Delivery

12

Appendix 2
LIST OF VERBS USED IN THE QUESTION REQUIREMENTS
A list of the learning objectives and verbs that appear in the syllabus and in the question requirements for each question in this paper.
It is important that you answer the question according to the definition of the verb.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE

VERBS USED

DEFINITION

List

Make a list of

State

Express, fully or clearly, the details of/facts of

Define

Give the exact meaning of

Describe

Communicate the key features

Distinguish

Highlight the differences between

Explain

Make clear or intelligible/State the meaning or Purpose of

Identify

Recognise, establish or select after Consideration

Illustrate

Use an example to describe or explain Something

Apply

Put to practical use

Calculate

Ascertain or reckon mathematically

Demonstrate

Prove with certainty or to exhibit by practical means

Prepare

Make or get ready for use

Reconcile

Make or prove consistent/compatible

Solve

Find an answer to

Tabulate

Arrange in a table

Analyse

Examine in detail the structure of

Categorise

Place into a defined class or division

Compare and contrast

Show the similarities and/or differences between

Construct

Build up or compile

Discuss

Examine in detail by argument

Interpret

Translate into intelligible or familiar terms

Prioritise

Place in order of priority or sequence for action

Produce

Create or bring into existence

Advise

Counsel, inform or notify

Evaluate

Appraise or assess the value of

Recommend

Propose a course of action

1 KNOWLEDGE
What you are expected to know.

2 COMPREHENSION
What you are expected to understand.

3 APPLICATION
How you are expected to apply your
knowledge.

4 ANALYSIS
How you are expected to analyse the
detail of what you have learned.

5 EVALUATION
How you are expected to use your
learning to evaluate, make decisions or
recommendations.

13

Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants
26 Chapter Street
London SW1P 4NP
United Kingdom
T. +44 (0)20 8849 2251
F. +44 (0)20 8849 2450
E. cimalearning@cimaglobal.com
www.cimaglobal.com

ED003V0211