TOPCIMA is the final hurdle of the CIMA Professional Level Exams. However it is not uncommon to see students taking the TOPCIMA exam for the fourth or fifth time. Considering the fact that all of them have got qualified in strategy level there should not be any problem as far as their technical knowledge is concerned, but the fact remains that most of the students sit for TOPCIMA more than once.

I believe that the main reason for this is the unstructured nature of the problem they encounter in the exam- "Prepare a report that prioritizes, analyses and evaluates the issues facing a company and make appropriate recommendations"-, identifying the problems and providing solutions is all left to the student. To tackle such a task a student should have developed his or her analytical skills, logical reasoning and the ability to provide commercially sensible recommendations. In addition, poor time management is also a critical reason for TOPCIMA failure.

Senaka Kakiriwaragodage is the lecturer for TOPCIMA at Achievers Lanka Business School. He is the Manager of the Corporate Advisory division of NDB Investment Bank, a leading investment bank in the country. In his normal course of employment he is engaged in business valuations, corporate restructurings, arranging of finance, mergers and acquisitions, project appraisal, feasibility studies, etc. for many corporate clients. Therefore, he possesses the practical experience and the theoretical knowledge required to dissect and analyze the business problems facing the Case Study Company and to provide appropriate recommendations.

The student population following TOPCIMA under Senaka has grown enormously over the past few sessions and this clearly is an evidence of his effective delivery mechanisms. Pass rates have been excellent throughout including the Computer- based TOPCIMA exam pass rate from March 2008 onwards, an area where Sri Lankan students had very little success before.

The TOPCIMA course at Achievers includes a detailed analysis of the case material, necessary and sufficient industry research, analysis of a past case study, practice mock exams and feedback. Senaka will also address particular issues facing each student and would provide the much needed guidance for students to cross this last hurdle of CIMA exams. Achievers has further proven its success in providing excellent CIMA education until the TOPCIMA level by producing 151 CIMA passed finalists out of the 324 CIMA graduates from Sri Lanka in 2009. No wonder 60% of the current TOPCIMA session is already totally booked!