Passing a CTA Advanced Technical or Application and Professional Skills exam is not just about working hard and blitzing past papers. Nitin Rabheru explains why.
Having taught professional tax exams for over 25 years, one of the biggest challenges I face – especially with first-time sitters or retakers – is helping students understand that blitzing past papers alone is not the key to passing a CTA exam.
In my experience, the CTA exams are as much about mindset and training your brain to solve tax problems as they are about technical knowledge. Unfortunately, many students underestimate the demands of the CTA qualification, assuming the examiner will simply recycle questions or test familiar patterns.
Here’s the truth: CTA exams demand strategy, structure and a problem-solving approach.
My top tips
- Get your tutor to walk you through past paper questions
From day one of the taught phase, I walk my TOLC AT and OMB APS students through past questions. This builds early confidence and teaches students how to read, interpret and plan their answers properly. - Deep dive into key application questions
For OMB APS students we dedicate a full seven- hour session on day three of the taught course to review the most recent OMB APS question.
We deconstruct how it should be planned, structured and implemented into a professional report. This isn’t just about answering a question – it’s about learning how to think like a tax adviser. - Adopt a scenario-based approach
Memorising tax rules or drilling through the question bank isn’t enough. Instead, you need to train your brain to spot issues, interpret client scenarios, and apply tax legislation with precision. - Learn to identify the core issues quickly
One of the biggest stumbling blocks is not knowing how to start. Success in CTA exams depends on your ability to spot the key issues, tax problems and relevant facts in a question – and do so under pressure. - Create a 60-second written answer checklist
Before you write an answer, take 60 seconds to note key points, trigger words, and any tax terms that must appear. Use memory aids like flashcards or memory joggers to keep this process sharp and consistent. - Prepare for computation with proformas and a game plan
Build a library of proformas and practice using a consistent computational plan of attack.
This ensures you know what to do even when numbers look unfamiliar or complex. - Review, annotate, practice – then repeat
Keep reviewing and annotating past questions and examiner reports throughout the taught phase. Many students leave this too late. Don’t make that mistake.
Final thoughts
Passing the CTA exams is absolutely achievable, but it requires more than just hard work. You must train like a tax professional, develop critical thinking, and treat each question as a real-world client scenario. If you approach it this way, you’ll not only pass – you’ll thrive.
Let’s start preparing smarter, not just harder.
- Nitin Rabheru is the Senior Tax, Law, Ethics & Corporate Governance Lecturer for BPP
