So you've started your CA Core Module, whether it be FIN, TAX, AAA or MAAF (Capstone doesn't have quiz assessments), you've barely started studying (the trimester has only just begun!) and the first dreaded CA quiz has come upon you.
Not only that, but the quiz assessments are worth 20% of your total mark! (or 6.66% per quiz i.e. 20%/3 quizzes). That sounds like a lot!
Don't worry - we are here to help. Here our top 3 points of advice to ace your CA online quizzes. You can also practice your quiz on our free quiz practice page.
1. First, don't stress too much about the marks.
Your final exam will be worth 80% of your mark - this is where your focus should be. The table below will help explain what we mean:
The first column is showing, if you get 0%/20%/40% etc. in your quizzes, what mark you need to get in your final exam to pass your module (50%). For example, if you get 20% in your quizzes (i.e. only get 2/10 questions correct), you need to get a 58% score in your final exam to pass.
OR if you get a 50% score in your quiz (5/10 - not hard to get) you only need to get a 50% mark in your final exam to pass. The reason is weighting (e.g. 50% of quiz's 20% weighting = 10% + 50% * final exam weighting of 80% = 40%. i.e. 10% + 40% = 50%)
Any quiz mark after 50% will reduce your 'final exam score needed' below 50% - but here's the thing - you need to get above 50% in your final to pass anyway! So it doesn't really matter if you do well in your quiz, unless you are aiming for a merit score.
As you can see in the diagram above, if you are only aiming to pass your module, you only need a quiz score of 50% - after that it doesn't help you as you need to get 50% in the final exam no matter what (CA requirement). Also, its not that hard to get 50% in your CA quiz, as we will cover in the next point:
2. Your online CA quiz will be multiple choice
Unlike your final exam, which is extended and short written response questions, the online quiz is 10 multiple choice questions. Given there are only 4 possible answers in any MCQ question, even if you know nothing you already have a 25% chance of getting it right! In reality, getting above 25% will be a lot easier than you think, given you will know some information at this point, at least more than nothing! Most people can get around 50% without studying too hard, just by using educated guesses and their knowledge to date.
MCQ also allows you to deduct the correct answer in a way that the final exam will not allow you. For example, if you calculate an answer to a question and you get $100k, but the 4 possible answers are a) $10k b) $25k c) $30k d) $50k, you will know you've got the answer wrong! (unlike in the final exam where you would write down $100k without any confirmation)
Furthermore, looking at the possible MCQ answers can allow you to deduce which answer is correct by revisiting the steps of the question. For example, if there are 4 parts to the question (e.g., "which of 4 items would be GST exempt") and you are fairly certain about 3 of those parts but uncertain about the 4th, you can cross reference both possibilities against the answers (e.g. adding up your calculations for items 1-3 + option A where 4 has GST or + option B where 4 does not have GST). If only one of those calculations corresponds with the answer, you will know this is the correct answer.
So if you don't practice/study, it's still quite easy to get 25-50% and you don't need much higher than 50% as per our first point! If you do practice, it will be quite easy to get 100% in your quiz, which we will cover how to do this in our next point:
3. We have quizzes tests for you to practice with
Each of our exam prep courses come with quiz applications with a series of past quiz questions for you to practice on in your own time. Each quiz has 30-50 past questions (so you should be covered for all scenarios and variations), plus the correct answer and explanation. Our exam prep courses come with quizzes for all 3 modules as well.
If you don't have the exam prep course you can also check out the quiz page, where we give you 1 free test quiz with all 30-50 questions for a single module. This is available for all subjects.
Conclusion:
1. Don't stress about the quizzes - if you are aiming to pass your module, any quiz mark above 50% doesn't add much value (unless you are aiming for a merit score)
2. It is not difficult to get 50% in a MCQ (the minimum score to aim for) given the quiz is multiple choice.
3. We offer quiz tests for you to practice and ace your quizzes. We have hundreds of past questions for all 3 modules, as well as the correct answer and the detailed explanation.
You can access these:
i) for all modules in our exam prep courses (online tests)
ii) for 1 modules on our quizzes practice page (1 online test)
iii) we also have word documents with MCQ questions in our CA notes packs (download only)
Good luck and don't worry!