Key Tips to Clear CA Foundation
'Chartered Accountancy'- A dream for a large number of budding Commerce students. Just Imagine! a student with such dream has to spend most of the precious time of his life to study hard for CA exams, from morning to night, skipping all the social entertainment and end up with failure.
Such students do not just get awarded 'failure' in the beginning of their journey, but at the end of their attempts, when also, they have zero social life with zero achievements, and a deep sense of repentance for choosing to pursue this course and the worst - A defeated feeling.
Why does it happen? Why students who study hard get failed in CA?
What can be the reason behind it?
There is no specific reason as to why some of the CA students fail every time in spite of working hard and some clear it in their 1st attempt.
You can have an idea of the success rate of candidates in CA exams from the following:
Pass Percentage of CPT Examination - June 2018
| Group | No. of Candidates Appeared | No. of Candidates. Passed | Pass Percentage |
| Total | 54474 | 15284 | 28.06% |
| Male | 29962 | 8368 | 27.93% |
| Female | 24512 | 6916 | 28.21% |
Pass Percentage of Foundation Examination - May 2018
| Group | No. of Candidates Appeared | No. of Candidates Passed | Pass Percentage |
| Total | 6315 | 1215 | 19.24% |
| Male | 3877 | 682 | 17.59% |
| Female | 2438 | 533 | 21.86% |
Pass percentage of candidates who have cleared both groups of CA Final, has also gone down from 2017 to 2018.
But there is nothing in these tables that discourage you to leave your dream here only.
You can be among those in the third columns.
Here is a list of, some of the most important reasons for the failure of CA students which are ignored by almost every student who has failed. Just keep these points in your mind and just believe that you can go beyond.
Key Tips to Clear CA Foundation
Don't Forget Your Aim
Maybe you are about to give the 1st attempt, or you might not have passed in your 1st attempt. Some of your family members, teachers, relatives, friends will say a lot of things to you, like the syllabus has changed, ICAI has changed its checking plan, it's even tougher, you will be totally cutout from the family and society, it's a waste of time, people waste their life in becoming CA and blah blah blah.
What you have to do is - 'ignore' and 'focus'. Even after failure in 1st attempt, you can't think like life has no meaning to you or you are not made for 'CA'.
Patience is The Key
There was a student working hard for his CA Final attempt for years. He would fail and would again come back for exams. Finally, when he cleared the exam and came for the interview, he was asked - "We already have a fresher candidate who has cleared CA in 1st attempt, why would we hire you?"
He said, "He must have cleared his CA Final in the 1st attempt, and I am trying it for 7 years but still, I have one quality in which I bet that I am better than him. That is- Patience."
And guess what, he found the job.
Study Smartly
The study material is the same for you as in case of other students. There is enough information available out there, to successfully clear the CA examinations.
The important part is- 'How you cover it?'
Most of the students study hard but it's not enough, you have to study smart. You don't need to focus on everything and skip the things which are not important. Cut out the important part smartly and study them hard. That will be a mixture of smart and hard work.
Handwriting & Presentation
Handwriting obviously will not get you marks but you cannot ignore its importance. Your handwriting should be clear and readable. However, the presentation matters even more. It happens many times that a student knows the answer but does not know how to present that content in a correct manner.
Don't write long paragraphs without any breaks, just keep the answers precise, simple and clear. Learn how to write an answer that the paper checker gets your point in a summarizing manner, keep your grammar correct and don't do a filler writing.
Does Luck Matter?
Obviously, Luck exists! However, it's not for everyone but the person who really is worthy of it. There is a saying, "What you sow, so will you reap". Be it real life or CA exam, it has the same face everywhere. So, don't really think of it and work hard.
Key Tips to Clear CA Foundation
Special Tips for CA Exam:
- Never ask someone to prepare a timetable for you. You know yourself better than anyone. Can you wake up early or can stay awake at night? What part of the subject you feel is tough for you, which is easy for you. Choose day study or night study plan according to you. Select the subject according to you.
- Change your sleeping and eating time according to the examination timings when exams are approaching.
- Practice writing every day as you need to write fast and clear in the exam.
- Don’t get panic, it will do nothing but trouble you more.
The most important thing when you prepare for CA exams is - never stop believing in yourself. You are working hard and it will definitely give you a result. Blaming yourself won’t work. Success can give you a crown of a winner but Failures can teach you a lot of things you won’t learn from success. Don’t take it negatively.
Start with the plan to cover most of the chapters. Select specific topics/ matter from them and stick to it till the end.
All the Best.
Author Bio:
Nisha Singh is media manager at a renowned CA Coaching Institute in India. She is an enthusiastic content curator and loves to write and guide about various exams. Follow her writings here and don’t forget to comment what you feel about them.