CA Final student despite being average in school, cleared CA IPCC with exemptions

• Hi, I am Amar Kumar, a CA Final Student hailing from Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
• Being an average student in my school I received a lot of criticism but despite all that, I pursued Chartered Accountancy to prove to myself that I am better.
• Here is how despite facing many challenges I cleared CA IPCC exams with exemptions, with the power of positivity and hard work.

Difficult school life 

I was a very average student in my school.

Once one of my school teachers told my parents – I would never even pass class 12. In spite of all this criticism I always wanted to be a doctor.

But this dream changed after passing class 10th as I realized that I was very weak in chemistry. So, pursuing science would not be a good choice. That’s when I decided to pursue commerce.

Now again while in class 12 my parents were called and they were told that I would not be able to pass the 12^th board exams. This made me feel a little sad from within.

I knew I deserved better. So I let those words stay in my mind and I prepared really hard for class 12 and I topped my school.

CPT journey

Now moving forward, I enrolled in Chartered Accountancy (CA).

I belong to Muzaffarpur and for my CPT (1^st level CA exam) coaching, I had to move to Delhi. I was admitted to a coaching class, studied well, and gave my CPT exam.

• CPT 1st attempt (Dec 2015): I failed that attempt as I scored only 84/200 (The minimum to pass the exam is 100). I was upset. To add to it many people told me to leave CA. CPT is the easiest level. If you cannot clear CPT you will never clear other CA exams.
• CPT 2nd attempt:  However, I took all the negative things and turned them into positive ones, and started preparing for my next attempt. On my 2^nd attempt, I finally passed the CPT exams scoring 145/200.

IPCC journey

Then came IPCC (2nd level CA exam consisting of Group 1 & Group 2). Many people who gave IPCC demotivated me telling me it is tough!

However, I started my preparation. I wish I had someone back then who could guide me on how to clear CA IPCC.  I decided to prepare only for IPCC – Group 1.

• 1st attempt IPCC Group 1: In this attempt, I failed Group 1 because of getting 30/100 (min to pass a subject is 40) in Law, though I scored 205/400 in Group 1 (The minimum to pass Group 1 is 200). I analyzed the situation and realized that I had made a few mistakes and decided to better my preparation.
• 2nd attempt IPCC Group 1: I had 3 months to prepare for the 2^nd attempt, so I decided to again give only IPCC Group 1. Finally, on the 2nd attempt, I cleared my IPCC Group 1 with 4 exemptions getting a score of 263/400. Here are my marks:  Accounts 60/100, Law 60/100, Taxation 67/100, and Costing and FM 76/100.
• 3rd attempt IPCC Group 2: Though I technically took 3 attempts to clear IPCC, for Group 2 I passed in the 1^st attempt scoring 71/100 in Advanced Accounting. After clearing Group 1, I prepared really well in just 3 months for the IPCC Group 2 and cleared it in one go.

Study tips to clear CA IPCC with exemptions

I had not taken any coaching classes for Law, Audit, or IT/SM. I had not even written any Mock Tests (however I suggest students write mock tests as it helps in time management)

For theory-specific subjects, I did lots of writing practice and revised 3 times. So, my revisions were very strong.

Also for theory papers, I used to write 1 to 1.5-page answers. All my answers made sense and I did not write irrelevant things.

The presentation is also very important. I focused a lot on my style of writing and kept it neat, point-wise, and underlined keywords.

While preparing for theory subjects I did not make any self-notes but I used to make mnemonic codes while studying. This helped me remember stuff easily. For example Application Control in IT (BCIPOD)

B – Boundary control

C – Communication control

I – Input control

P – Processing control

O – Output control

D – Database control

When I prepared for IPCC Group 1 on my 2^nd attempt I had only 3 months. In those 3 months, I studied for 8 to 12 hours a day, giving my best on most days. There were days when I felt a little bored studying but on most days I gave my best. CA preparation requires one to study with dedication.

Now coming to practical subjects – I also wrote working notes for every practical question that helped me score well.

A lot of students freak out if they do not attempt 100 marks. It’s best to attempt 100 marks but what happens if one cannot due to a lack of time? It is absolutely okay do not worry.

I could not attempt a 100-mark answer as well and still got exemptions. Here is the amount of marks I attempted:

1. Accounts – scored 60 – attempted 70
2. Law – scored 60 – attempted 84
3. Auditing – scored 44 – attempted 80
4. Costing/FM – scored 76 – attempted 86
5. Taxation – scored 67 – attempted 84
6. Advanced Accounting – Scored 71 – attempted 81
7. IT/SM – scored 42 – attempted 64

So I could not complete the papers as I used to write long answers and I did not practice writing mock tests. If I had written a mock test I would have known and planned my time effectively. However, the above worked for me luckily.

Wrapping up…

We all have been written off by someone at some point in life, and that’s okay. My only request is – Do not write yourself off.

Lessons I have learned in my life –

1. Never focus on negative energy and distance yourself from demotivators.
2. Do not let anyone else decide what you are capable of doing.
3. Work Hard