Your guide to staying on track for FAE exams

With the FAE exams approaching, Bryan Rankin, Head of Student Operations at Chartered Accountants Ireland, outlines essential exam advice, syllabus updates and resources to help you structure your revision and maximise your exam performance

With the FAE exams not too far away, we’re focusing on exam advice for our FAE students.

There are several important educational resources students should incorporate into their exam preparation, along with specific points they should keep in mind. This advice is based on the experiences of previous FAE students and aims to provide some structure for your final revision weeks.

FAE syllabus 2024/25

The FAE syllabus is a dry, dusty, and irrelevant document with no relevance to the FAE exams in August? On the contrary! The syllabus and its close neighbour, the FAE competency statement, are a list of everything that is examinable and so can be a very useful resource.

Moreover, the observant student will be aware that new syllabus topic material was introduced this year at Core and at the Financial Services electives. At Core, the new topic, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Emerging Technologies (DAAIET) 3.1.5, was covered in your education programme, including this year’s Shannon integrated case day.

Cybersecurity was also introduced into the FAE syllabus. The topic hit the business headlines in the past 12 months when big brand retailers experienced cyber-attacks, estimated to have cost Marks & Spencer over £300 million, for example.

Students repeating the Financial Services elective exam should be aware that there were some notable updates in this subject.

FAE Committee reports

The 2024 FAE Committee Report from will help current FAE students in their exam preparation. The reports explain how the papers are authored, marked and adjudicated while providing an overview of how 2024 students performed, and examiner comments for each question.

The report provides key insights on what candidates did to pass the examination and, more importantly, to highlight the areas where candidates can to struggle.
Due to the slight dip in performance last summer, Audit elective students should carefully review the examiner’s comments from last year. The comments from the examiner refer to audit but could equally apply across the board at FAE.

The examiner wants to ensure that you know the basics and standards. Last year’s FAE examiner reports state that students were identifying incorrect standards in a couple of questions. Take the time to get it right and use your notes in this open-book exam.

We recommend that you read the last two FAE examiner reports. It’s clear that students in Summer 2024 did not demonstrate some of the basics to the examiner and missed out on easy marks.

FAE Committee reports are available in the exams section of the Chartered Accountants Ireland website.

CASSI FAE exam report

After each main exam sitting, the Chartered Accountants Student Society Ireland (CASSI) issues a survey to candidates to garner their views on the exam and the education programme.

The 2024 FAE CASSI survey results reveal what students felt just after their final exams last year. You’ll feel better prepared and more focused after reading this interesting report, which is available on the CASSI page of the Institute website.

Integrated case days

The integrated case day series finished last month and has satisfied the requirement to engage with at least five of the seven available.

Integrated case days (ICDs) help bring the four core subjects together and integrate the knowledge and skills obtained from earlier studies and the work environment. Attendance at five of the seven live ICDs webinars is deemed mandatory and the bare minimum, but it’s a great idea to undertake all seven.

Feedback from past FAE students is that working through case days is perhaps the best way to prepare for the requirements of FAE Core. All seven cases are available on the Learning Hub.

Tips to keep in mind

FAE students must read the questions carefully and answer all elements. While it seems basic, based on past evidence, a cohort of FAE students will drop marks next month for these reasons. Don’t let it be you.

Ensure your answers are thorough. We mention this each year, but some FAE students still tend to provide answers that are too brief or too generic. You are tasked to make recommendations and include rationale to support your assessments where appropriate. Applying knowledge is what FAE is all about, so demonstrate this for exam success.