What the Strategic Case Study tests
The Strategic Case Study (SCS) is the final CIMA exam. It brings together E3 Strategic Management, P3 Risk Management and F3 Financial Strategy in one scenario. You act as a senior finance professional advising the board of a fictional organisation on strategy, risk and financing decisions, often with ethical issues to handle along the way.
The SCS exam format
SCS is a 3-hour computer-based exam.
- Pre-seen: CIMA releases material about the organisation and its industry several weeks before the exam window.
- Timed tasks: the exam is split into tasks with their own time limits, each bringing new information. Once a task's time ends, you move on and cannot go back.
- Marking: answers are marked by examiners against CIMA's competencies. Results are on a scale up to 150, and you need 80 to pass.
Case studies are sat in four windows a year: February, May, August and November.
Where students lose marks
- Not thinking at board level. Detailed operational points rarely score at Strategic level.
- Ignoring ethics. Ethical issues in the scenario need to be identified and dealt with.
- Weak recommendations. The board wants to know what to do and why, not a list of possibilities.
How TutorPOD teaches SCS
Classes are led by Paul William, founder of TutorPOD, who holds CIMA, ACCA and CA Singapore qualifications. SCS lessons analyse the pre-seen and its industry together, then practise timed tasks and full mock exams, with personalised feedback on your written answers.
Classes run live online and in person in Singapore, in small groups or 1-to-1.
Before the SCS
You need to pass E3, P3 and F3 first.