Getting the numbers right isn’t always enough. The ICAG Management Accounting Chief Examiner’s Report, March 2025 diet, documents two separate questions on the same paper where candidates who computed correctly still lost marks — because they didn’t deliver their answer in the exact format the question, and the marking scheme, required.
Case One: The Four Categories That Weren’t Optional
Candidates were asked to discuss, with examples, four categories of environmental costs. The marking scheme is built around four specific, named categories: Conventional costs (raw material and energy costs with environmental relevance), Potentially hidden costs (captured by the accounting system but lost inside general overheads), Contingent costs (future-dated costs like clean-up costs), and Image and relationship costs (intangible costs such as preparing environmental reports).
The examiner’s comment is precise: “Most candidates demonstrated adequate knowledge in environmental cost. However, they could not categorize them under the prescribed headings. Headings like preventive, restoration and social costs were used yet some of the specific cost elements where not different from what is in the scheme.” The knowledge was there. The label wasn’t.
Case Two: The Ratio the Question Asked For
A capital-project appraisal question asked candidates, explicitly, to “evaluate the acceptability of each project on the basis of benefit-cost ratio.” The examiner’s comment: “others, instead of using the cost benefit ratio to appraise mutually exclusive projects used the net benefit which was not a requirement.”
BCR = PV of Benefits ÷ PV of Costs. In the real question, Option A yielded a BCR of 1.39 and Option B yielded 1.122 — Option A preferred. Candidates who computed accurate discounted cash flows but reported “net benefit” (essentially NPV) instead answered a question that wasn’t asked.
Exam tip: Before you touch a single number, underline the command phrase — “on the basis of,” “using the,” “categorise under.” That phrase tells you exactly what shape your final answer needs to take.
Why This Keeps Happening
Both weaknesses come from the same habit: reading a question’s numbers and scenario carefully, then skimming the actual instruction line. To a marking scheme, the command word is the work.
Conclusion
This wasn’t a weak paper — the examiner described overall performance as one of the best in recent sittings. Learn the four environmental cost categories by name, know the difference between benefit-cost ratio and net benefit, and always let the command word decide your answer’s format.
Ready to Go Deeper?
This exact question, fully worked, both cases, is covered inside the Passkoguru past question and revision system.
Get past questions at Passkoguru.com →
Preparing for CITG, ICAG, or ADIT? Join students getting free weekly study tips and exam breakdowns from Bill Cobby Impriam — subscribe to the newsletter from the homepage.
Comments are closed.