ITC - What does SAICA say you need to focus on? And HOW do you do this?

[@oscarmudzamiri3413]

I watched this video 8 times before writing my ITC in June and internalized everything you said. Now I’m happy to say I passed the ITC June 2023 sitting 😊 Thank you Yvonne

[@accountingstudyadvice]

That's so awesome to hear! Congratulations from me and EVERY other student who watches these videos. What an amazing achievement!

[@zakhelembhele7046]

I like your authenticity. You made it so clear. Please don't stop, it builds us. That's what we call passion.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

I have such a passion for helping students CHANGE their approach to studying. I feel so frustrated that school and studies don't teach us what learning REALLY is, and lets us, or encourages us, to focus mainly on theory and not on the skills that underpin the qualification :) You can TOTALLY do this... we just need to make sure that you're working on the right skills and building the right tools, and they MAY be different to the ones we've used before :)

[@phulusonetshivhuyu2900]

Watched this ,took notes, applied it ,then I passed.Thank you so much

[@accountingstudyadvice]

YAYYYY! That's so awesome! One day when you're qualified and making millions, I'll send you an invoice for a little commission :) hehe. Well done! That's so awesome!

[@olwethumaqubela1946]

People underestimate how incredible you are keep doing the good work...Thanks a lot for your informative videos. God 🙏 Bless you.

[@gwenchiwanda6929]

i can feel your passion and frustration with us students, i will incorporate all this in preparation for April. Thank you so much Yvonne.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

I hope your studying's going well... and that you're focussing on the skills, not just the content... SO easy to say, SO tough to do!

[@sibusisomsibi2471]

currently doing my CTA with UJ, I really resonate deeply with what u just said in this video. really appreciate u Yvonne

[@accountingstudyadvice]

I'm really glad you're going through this now... keep it close to you as you study now... these are skills you should be building in CTA. ;) I wish you well!

[@maccloud7043]

sibusiso msibi You definitely read my mind.. This was very insightful and informative, indeed!!! Thank you, Ms Yvonne.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

By the way... you can find the exam and study skills I discuss in the video here for CTA: financeinstyle.teachable.com/p/study-skills-pgda-cta/ (The course goes through each of the skills I discuss in the video, for you to apply to whatever questions you have. You don't submit questions or anything, so it's not the same as the ITC course I've discussed above, but it will give you the methods you need to build the skills I've discussed)

[@jjndz3782]

Thank you, this video really reveals a lot of important things in order to pass ITC.

[@tshidisonage]

I am so glad I found this channel before my cat 2022. I sincerely hope to come back having been successful in the first attempt. Thank you for your passion and explanations. Definitely subscribing.

[@neosweedo4962]

Very impactful, thank you so much Yvonne I will definitely join your board course

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Looking forward to working with you ;) You can also email me at [e-mail] Bookmark this video so you can keep reminding yourself what you should be focussing on, whereever and whenever you're studying ;) And these will be super-valuable for APC as well. These skills are seriously important for the APC exam.

[@missmmmoimana1261]

I just found the channel🥺🥺🥺 all I can say is Thank you for this videos sure💯 am going to learn a lot.

[@bokanidube1764]

Thank you very much Yvonne for this video. Definitely helpful. Sitting for the ITC in April and restrategising as we speak to incorporate all of this because been falling into the trap of doing knowledge alone.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Awesome! Put a huge poster up on your wall :) Let's make sure you nail this thing in April!!! :)

[@kyleg2787]

Thank you so much for this video, i am currently doing my CTA this year and can see how much my poor exam technique has let me down so far, this video has given me a much better insight on how to approach my final exams in October.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Awesome! I'm glad to hear it. It's incredibly frustrating to put in so much effort and not quite 'get there'. Hopefully this gets you there!

[@kyleg2787]

@@accountingstudyadvice Thank you so much, If I could just ask one question, my financial accounting seems to be my worst module so far, how would you suggest I improve my exam technique when it comes to answering questions? As I do feel I have sufficient knowledge of the content

[@accountingstudyadvice]

@@kyleg2787 That depends a little on what it is you're struggling with :) If it's the discussion-type questions, you generally need to focus more on communication, structure and application. For the more technical, calculation, format-type questions... practice is often the bigger issue. We focus on the detail and the theory, but when it comes to the actual question, we often are not sure where to START, how to structure the answer, the order to do stuff, how to deal with something we don't quite know but can't 'move past', and again, the application of information that may not be presented in the way we're used to seeing them. This requires practice, focussing on the PROCESS, your methodology of answering and NOT CHECKING THE MEMO when you're doing questions... because you need to work on HOW to do the questions. I often tell students that their knowledge is 'brittle' if they spend more time on theory. You know 'stuff'... but you know it in ONE way. So, if they ask it in a different way, your knowledge 'breaks'. You need to practice using your knowledge like clay... pick it apart, use it in different ways, understand what the purpose of your knowledge is... what problem does the 'topic' solve / address? This helps us to understand where and how to USE the knowledge. It's tough, because our habit is generally to 'study the solution'... which means we can do THAT question again... but still aren't THINKING about the PROCESS! (Our personalities are SUPER 'answer-focussed'!) Not sure how helpful that is...!

[@kyleg2787]

@@accountingstudyadvice Thank you so much for this incredible insight, I really appreciate you taking the time to share this, it was very helpful thank you

[@xichavoveronicatheka7047]

Everything you are describing up here is me, more like you sneaked into my life and saw my problem, thank God i watched this today cause the past 2 days i have been doing the same problem of sitting with theory first for way too long😭😭😭😭 Did the same in Nov

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Awesome! It's such a good thing to realise what you should be working on :) It will be uncomfortable... but will absolutely pay off.. and if you KNOW that's your issue, you can nail it!

[@sphesihlesibisi7720]

Your are bloody experienced shuuu🔥, you are spitting factual misstatements!...very insightful, an eye opener, great video and one can only say Thank you!

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Awesome... glad you found it valuable.. I SO badly want students to pass! And they will... if they're focussing on the right stuff :) All those hours, all those sacrifices you've made... they must pay off!

[@mohitlakha8867]

Excellent video. I needed to hear this today especially. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with this upcoming ITC, having failed the Nov one.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

I can understand how you feel. There's just SO MUCH! And it's so incredibly tough to NOT go back to theory, because of that continuous nagging feeling of "I don't know enough!". And yet, focussing on structure, planning and communication is the best way to earn marks for WHATEVER YOU DO KNOW :) I wish you the best of luck :)

[@mohitlakha8867]

@@accountingstudyadvice I can relate entirely. Like you said, going back and learning theory almost gives me a false sense of comfort that I'm making progress in the right direction, when in fact, when you look at the solutions, everything is familiar and not that complex. Instead, the points that SAICA mentioned is honestly where you can make 50% of the marks, even if your theory is poor. But I appreciate that you brought those points to our attention through this video, and also addressed how to resolve each of them. After recommending this video to 3 ITC repeaters from Nov - they all agreed that this is probably where they fell short. I'd say TAX is the only subject where knowing your ledge and your theory can get you through.. Other 3 subjects is predominant exam technique as explained in this video. Thank you for your time and insight.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

@@mohitlakha8867 Thanks for sharing with others :) Do be a little careful about the Tax stuff... because more and more tax-based questions are discussions. They require you to BUILD a discussion of the impact of the issue on the tax / all relevant taxes. When I mark sim exams and candidate question attempts, and as I've reviewed Nov repeat candidates, they perform really badly at these. We're really used to giving the ANSWER. "Rxx is tax deductible due to Sec xx". This is great... gets you ONE mark... but HOW do you build your discussion to get the other 9 marks in a question like this?! Tax is sneaky like this. Candidates are more used to auditing communication and are starting to build formats for accounting treatment discussions... but they're still ignoring tax discussions... so do be careful there :)

[@mugabe7]

you are the best tutor alive

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Flattery will get you everywhere!

[@millicentngwasha9630]

I needed this. I wrote the Nov ITC and didn't make it 😭

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Ah, I'm sorry. I wish the journey wasn't so tough. Now you know what you need to do ;)

[@lindiswatembe3671]

Hi Yvonne Thank you for this. I also wrote in Nov 2020 but I failed. Just to be sure do I qualify to write again in April.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

As far as I know, yes :)

[@lindiswatembe3671]

Thanks Yvonne, my registration was successful 😁

[@kevemuinekangumba5935]

Thank you for this. Do you mind sharing or providing a link to your ITC course and also the fees etc if it is possible? I failed the November 2020 ITC. I am from Namibia and thus doing it with ICAN but we write the same exam as SAICA.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

I'm sorry to hear that. Let's make sure you nail April's exam! You can find the course details here: www.tabaldi.org/support-for-itc/itc-saica-board-exam-course-2021-autumn.html and you can email [e-mail] to get more info if you need.

[@NyashaSamukange]

Hie Yvonne where can one get a copy of the document you were using and also probably one for the November results

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Hi hi, you can find it on SAICA's website, here's the link for the Jan 2020 one: www.saica.co.za/Portals/0/LearnersStudents/Examinations/Past%20Exam%20Papers/ITC_2020_Jan/Part_I_Jan_2020_Examiners_comments_.pdf They have also released the review notes for the November ITC exam, you can see it here: www.saica.co.za/Portals/0/LearnersStudents/Examinations/Past%20Exam%20Papers/ITC_Nov_2020/ITC_Examiners_comments_November_2020.pdf (You'll note that the issues are EXACTLY the same!)

[@NyashaSamukange]

@@accountingstudyadvice Thank you for the link. the stubbornness of students continues

[@accountingstudyadvice]

@@NyashaSamukange hehe... we're human, it's part of our DNA :) It's why I focus a lot on mindset... we've had our whole LIVES to study and learn the way we do. We focus on skills we understand and those that make us feel like we're progressing. A lot of these types of skills take more time to 'feel' like you're getting somewhere... for our personalities... this is tough for us! We need to learn that learning is not 'cramming', memorising, and getting the answer quickly :) That disappeared in 2nd year :) Focus on the right skills and you'll be fine... just remember that they take time to perfect. You wouldn't expect to be able to go from 4 pushups to 50 in one day :) It's a skill that takes time. I wish you well :)

[@NyashaSamukange]

@@accountingstudyadvice What I am getting is; the process needs patience and intentional action. Progression is also key so knowing how well you can time and pace your study to remain constant as well. Add 1 pushup a day and you will get there :) I Will definitely be following these as I gear up for September

[@Qball30]

Really miss your classes !

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Ah! Thanks :) I appreciate that :)

[@Embodying_Bibi]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@accountingstudyadvice]

Awesome :) I take it you're writing ITC? Email me if you need help :) [e-mail]

[@BusieMM]

I feel like she's talking about me. Lol

[@accountingstudyadvice]

At least you know you're not alone :) We're so quick to feel silly for the mistakes we make... but we all end up making similar mistakes :) The beauty is that we get to move past them :)

[@timChisale]

what does RFTR stand for/mean?

[@timChisale]

RFTQ*

[@accountingstudyadvice]

@@timChisale hehe... Read the F***ing Question :) This is the phrase we as lecturers use, to try emphasise the importance of making sure you've read the question properly and interpreted the task accurately ;)

[@munyamunya2500]

Thank you. I failed the Nov ITC and can see why it did not work out for me.

[@accountingstudyadvice]

I'm so sorry you went through that. I wish you didn't have to do this. But it's a good thing that you know what you need to work on. I hope it goes well.