How to Pass Your Professional Exams

AIA Professional Qualification Assessments

The AIA Professional Qualification (PQ) can now be completed entirely online with computer based exams and the AIA's digital Achieve Academy Course.

The online exams are conducted in multiple formats, including text documents. For the first time we are offering objective test style questions in the form of multiple-choice questions covering each of the four components of the syllabus in the Foundation Unit.

You can see a sample assessment by logging in to My AIA – take time to try out the ‘Business and Financial Management’ paper. Your responses ae not marked so you are free to access the sample paper as many times as you like.

Practice, practice, practice

Take time to try out practice questions using different methods:

Self-review responses – type your response and review it against a model answer. You can attempt these questions as many times as you like, which allows for further studying should you need it
Tutor marked questions – you type your response onscreen in the AIA platform, receiving feedback on your performance from the tutor
Automated responses – you will receive immediate feedback for the practice questions in the Foundation unit.
Practising questions onscreen allows you to become familiar with the functionality of the online exam, which uses both word and excel in a split screen format.
Tables, formulae, case studies, and other supplementary material is viewed in a pop-out exhibit tab – take time to view these and become familiar with how you can access this information.

Take time to check your knowledge as you progress through the course. Every course offers two checkpoint tests – these tests are available at key stages in the study periods. Once you have completed a checkpoint test you will receive an automatic response within the learning platform.

Active participation in the Achieve Academy Course is your key to success

AIA Achieve Academy brings together a range of learning tools to offer you the best chance of exam success. For each paper there are 20 hours of recorded lectures which you can access on demand and expert tutors are able to offer technical assistance and feedback.

Study Tip!

Read the chapter in the ‘Learning & Practice Workbook’ before you listen to the lecture – this will help to build your understanding of the subject. You can then revisit the ‘in chapter’ practice questions – make notes and attempt these questions. The summary answer is also included in the chapter, so you can self-review your performance.

Understanding the command words

You will see a list of the command words in the ‘Learning & Practice Workbooks’. Command words like ‘explain’ or ‘identify’ are often used in exam questions. These command words are instructions for how to answer a question, so it is important you know the meanings of these words. So, ‘discuss’ will require you to write about a topic in details, taking into account different ideas, and where appropriate different opinions.

The following definitions will help you understand what the words are asking you to do. These words are specific to the level in the syllabus.

Cognitive levels of learning	Command words	Definition
Foundation Level Knowledge and Comprehension 90% Application and Analysis 10%	Calculate Compute	Select the appropriate method and techniques and apply your knowledge and understanding to work out and show how figures were arrived at
	Explain	To make clear giving reasons
	Describe	To give an account of in words or formula including key features
	Identify	Recognise and select
	Plan	Present a method or argument for doing or achieving a task
	Select	To choose in preference to another
	State	Express fully the details/facts
	Tabulate	Arrange in a table
	List	Present a number of connected items
	Recognise	Identify as already known
	Name	To identify by title an object or concept
	Compare	To explain the similarities and differences between things in order to interpret them
	Discuss	To examine in detail by argument
	Distinguish	See or point out the differences between
	Relate	To have reference or relation to
Professional 1 Application and Analysis 50% Knowledge and Comprehension 50%	Advise	To inform or notify
	Analyse	Examine in detail in order to interpret its meaning or essential features
	Calculate Compute	Select the appropriate method and techniques and apply your knowledge and understandings to work out and show how figures were arrived at
	Demonstrate	To show or prove by reasoning or evidence
	Determine	Find out or establish
	Perform	Carry out into effect
	Prepare	To make or get ready for use
	Record	Document the information
	Estimate	Make an approximate judgement/calculation
	Journalise	Produce a double entry of events
Professional 2 Synthesis and Evaluation 20% Application and Analysis 70% Knowledge and Comprehension 10%	Evaluate	Determine the value in light of arguments for and against
	Recommend	Advise the appropriate action in terms the recipient will understand
	Assess	Determine the strength, weakness and significance
	Calculate Compute	Select the appropriate method and techniques and apply your knowledge and understandings to work out and show how figures were arrived at
	Critically Analyse	Examine in detail using arguments for and against, and develop a view
	Justify	Demonstrate the correctness of an action, claim or conduct
	Appraise	Assess the worth, value, or quality of
	Develop	Elaborate or expand in detail

All AIA exams are now conducted as computer-based assessments.

FAQs

How will the assessment be conducted?

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You will receive two emails. The first email provides you with important instructions on how to download the ‘Rogo Kiosk’ to your computer desktop. The second email contains the actual link to the exam itself, so you receive an email link for every exam you will be sitting. You receive these emails the week before the exams session.

Making sure your preferred email address is up-to-date and AIA has this information is crucially important so you can gain access to the online exams and the Achieve Academy Course, both of which are delivered in Rogo.

What are the rules for the Proctors conducting the exams

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The Proctors (invigilators) grant you access to the test and offer assistance during the tests. They will also advise you if there are any issues.

When and how should I ask for assistance during the tests?

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You can ask for assistance at any stage, use the onscreen chat box to request assistance. Should you have an issue with typing onscreen, you can write a note and hold it up to your webcam for the proctor to read.

How will the tests be scored?

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The Foundation Unit is auto-marked by Rogo software. The professional levels are human marked by AIA markers within the Rogo platform. As part of the moderation process the exams team conducts a quality assurance to make sure the marking is of the highest stand. The examination results are issued as soon as possible e.g. for November exams the following February and May exams the following July.

What is the best practice in relation to completing the tests?

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Many of the best practices steps still apply to onscreen exams, so you should use the 15 minute reading period to read all of the questions. Irrespective of the paper/level all questions are compulsory – you should work out in advance how many minutes you are allocating to each question. The Rogo system allows you ‘flag’ questions you wish to return to, whilst the ‘navigation’ screen shows all questions attempted and those you may wish to revisit.

You should make to sure you do not ‘end the exams’ until you have responded to all questions.

How will I know how to navigate the screens in the AIA online exam?

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You can try out a sample assessment, we have a link to an eTest for the ‘Business and Financial Management’ paper, which you can access by logging in to My AIA Online exams web page.

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