16/08/2026
💥The final month before the CTA and PGDA examinations should begin with something very simple: go back to the tests you have already written.
📣There is a lot of value in learning from corrections. You already attempted those questions under pressure, with limited time, and with the knowledge you had at that point. Now you have the opportunity to go back calmly and understand what actually happened. Where did you lose marks? Which principle did you misunderstand? Which topic did you know, but fail to apply properly? Which areas still feel unclear?
That is where revision should begin.
👌🏽Revision is really about mastering principles that you have already encountered. You are revisiting them with more time, more experience and a better understanding of what the examiner expects. Before you begin the full one month revision programme, use your previous tests to identify the topics that still need attention. Those are the areas you should brush up first.
💯You should also spend some time going through previous IAC questions. Look at the last three IAC sessions and pay attention to the topics that were tested, how they were tested and the direction in which the questions are moving. CTA is preparing you for IAC, so those questions can give you a useful indication of the areas that continue to receive attention and the type of thinking that is expected from candidates.
Once you understand where your weaknesses are, create a revision timetable and be disciplined with it.
🔥Your timetable should also allow you to breathe. There must be days where you press hard and days where you slow down, put your house in order, organise your notes and prepare yourself for the next module. Revision works better when there is a proper transition from one subject to another.
💯Try to avoid mixing too many modules in one day. Give yourself enough time to stay with a topic until the principle makes sense. Some topics are bigger than others. Some topics carry more weight. Some topics are still giving you problems. Those are the areas where you need to spend proper time now.
Spacing the modules also helps. You can spend time on one module, move to another, then come back to the first one after a few days. That second visit is important because it tells you whether you actually understood the work or whether it only felt familiar at the time.
As you revise, make short notes.
🤗The purpose of those notes is to make your final revision easier. You should reach a point where you know where important information is, where your flags are, what you highlighted and which pages contain the principles you usually struggle to remember.
Get used to your textbooks and standards now. Get used to finding things quickly. Your references should start becoming familiar to you.
🤞🏽Be careful about relying too much on AI during this period. AI can help you understand something, but your examination will test what you can do with the resources available to you on the day. If your brain becomes used to asking ChatGPT every time you are unsure, you may weaken the habit of going back to the textbook, the standard or your own notes.
Use AI to clarify. Use your prescribed material to build your examination habits.
💯Another important thing is to ask questions, but ask questions properly.
Attempt the work first. Think through it. Make the mistake if you have to. Then ask the question.
It is much easier for someone to correct your logic when you have already shown how you were thinking. That correction usually stays with you because you understand exactly where your reasoning went wrong.
🎉Time management also needs to be practised now.
Time management begins before you start writing. It begins with understanding the required, planning the question, identifying the important information and understanding the context in which the decision or calculation is being made.
When you understand the question properly, you spend less time writing things that do not matter.
The final month is therefore about putting everything together.
Your corrections.
Your weak areas.
Your textbooks.
Your flags.
Your short notes.
Your question practice.
Your time management.
Your understanding of the IAC direction.
And your ability to move from one module to another without losing what you have already revised.
And lastly, pray.
📣Have faith that you are going to make it.
There is something important about believing in the person you are working towards becoming. The clearer that picture becomes, the easier it becomes to remain disciplined, to keep going when you are tired and to continue correcting yourself even when the work feels difficult.
Use this month properly.
Go back.
Correct.
Understand.
Practise.
Rest.
Return again.
And keep believing.
🤗I wish every CTA and PGDA candidate the very best with the final revision period.
