How can I create a summary note for my CIPS exam revision?
Have you ever looked up summary notes in a CIPS discussion group? As an admin of several CIPS revision groups, I’ve seen many requests for notes, especially before exams. I often ask myself how these notes actually help. Obviously, we can’t guarantee their clarity or accuracy, as they’re often written by unqualified individuals.
We know that summary notes provide students with an overview and the key points of a module. Based on that, we can explore the details in the notes and avoid missing any important concepts. There’s no denying that summary notes are indispensable for revising for the CIPS exam. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to spend time developing our own notes. In this post, I will guide you on how to create effective summary notes.
To develop an effective summary note, we need to grasp all the key concepts in the CIPS study guide and understand how they are interconnected. As you may have noticed, the study guide is quite dense, especially in some CR modules. If you try to read every page carefully to create your notes, you’re likely to give up quickly. Sound familiar? To tackle this, we’ll use 3 techniques: the table of contents, skimming and 7W1H.
The table of content
Reading the table of contents should be the first step when opening the book. It provides key learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Typically, you’ll find it on page ‘iii’ of the CIPS study guide, or you can access it via the CIPS syllabus. From what I know, CIPS designs exam questions based on these learning outcomes and criteria, so it’s essential to explore them in depth. When reviewing the table of contents, keep asking yourself, ‘Why did the author place this topic here?’ Doing so will help you uncover the logic and structure behind the content in the study guide. I can share an example to make this clearer.
In the picture, you can see part of the L4M2 table of contents. The learning outcome for Chapter 1 is to understand how to develop a business case when sourcing from external suppliers. CIPS considers the business case a crucial step in defining the need and obtaining approval from the management and executive team. That’s why this content is placed in Chapter 1 of the L4M2 module. Under the learning outcome, you’ll find four assessment criteria that may appear in the exam.
- Learning outcome 1: Analyse how business needs influence procurement and supply decisions. Not every purchase requires a business case. It’s typically used for new purchases, high-value purchases, or when the goal is to solve a problem or capture a new opportunity. Therefore, in 1.1.1, CIPS aims to differentiate between types of purchases. In 1.1.2, they clarify the role of the business case in each type. Then, in 1.1.3, they explain who is responsible for developing the business case.
- Learning outcome 2: How costs and prices can be estimated for procurement activities. In this section, CIPS provides students with knowledge about types of costs, pricing strategies, and whole-life asset management. Why did CIPS include this content in Chapter 1? Well, whole-life cost and price analysis are essential components of a business case. From the executives’ perspective, they care deeply about a project’s profitability. If procurement can analyze cost impacts and expected profits, they are more likely to gain executive approval.
- Learning outcome 3. Analyze the criteria that can be applied when developing a business case. In this section, CIPS provides guidance on how to develop a comprehensive business case. By incorporating the suggested criteria, the business case will be both thorough and impartial.
- Learning outcome 4: Interpretation of financial budgets and cost models for purchase control. This section provides guidance on using financial modelling to assess the viability of a business case. It involves analysing Return on Investment (ROI), profitability ratios, and cash flows. In addition, it covers methods for budget control and approaches to handling budget variances.
This is a small example of how to analyze the table of contents. I believe you now understand the connection between the learning outcome and the four assessment criteria mentioned above. You can apply this method to your upcoming exam subject.
Skimming
When developing summary notes, you may sometimes find it difficult to identify the key points from the table of contents. Skimming is a reading technique where your eyes move quickly over the text to grasp the main ideas. You can use this technique to clarify any ambiguous parts in the table of contents.
7W1H
This method uses seven questions: What, Why, When, Who, Where, What next, What worst, and How. When you approach a topic, you can ask these questions to gain a systematic understanding of it. For example, when studying types of purchase, consider asking questions like:
How can we carry out a new purchase?“
What is a new purchase?
Who is responsible for a new purchase?
When do we conduct a new purchase?
Why do we need to make a new purchase?
…
From asking different questions, you will explore a topic from multiple angles and you will not overlook important details.
If you stay focused, you can develop summary notes for each module in just two or three days. Moreover, you’ll retain the content longer because you’re turning CIPS’s words into your own.
We provide CIPS practice questions with answers and detailed explanation, besides they are updated regularly to reflect the actual exam. If you want to consolidate your knowledge before the exam, you can check the links below
L4M1: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-l4m1-practice-test-short-learning-guide/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L4M2: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-diploma-l4m2-practice-test/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L4M3: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-diploma-practice-test-commercial-contracting/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L4M5: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-practice-test-commercial-negotiation/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L4M6: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-diploma-practice-test-supplier-relationships/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L4M7: https://www.udemy.com/course/level-4-diploma-whole-life-asset-management-l4m7/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L4M8: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-l4m8-practice-in-procurement-and-supply/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L5M2: https://www.udemy.com/course/cips-l5m2-daniel-do/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L5M3: https://www.udemy.com/course/l5m3-daniel/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L5M4: https://www.udemy.com/course/l5m4-advanced-contract-and-finance/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25
L5M5: https://www.udemy.com/course/l5m5-daniel/?couponCode=MIDJUNE25