How important is coaching?

To attend tuitions or not is one of the biggest questions facing CA students. Infact the first question any CA student asks me is – where did you take tuitions from? I have seen students traveling to another city (Chennai or Pune) to attend tuitions just because they feel that they cant pass without taking tuitions from reputed institutions.

However there is no correlation between taking tuitions and passing CA exams. Had there been any correlation between these two the pass percentage would increase with the increase in students taking up tuitions. This is not the case. There is no guarantee that if you attend tuition in a good coaching centre, you will pass.

To attend tuitions or not wholly depends on each students aptitude. Students who come from science background do require coaching to become familiar with the stream. Still I have seen instances where even science students have cleared CA exams without attending tuitions. If one is an above average student then I feel there would not be much value addition by attending tuitions. One of my friend has secured 2nd, 18th and 2nd ranks without attending tuitions. I attended coaching in PE I and PE II just to obtain eligibility certificates. The centers where I attended covered hardly 20% of the syllabus, meaning I had to do all the preparation at home on my own. Some of my friends also have cleared CA exams without attending tuitions. One thing I can authoritatively conclude is that tuitions are not mandatory for passing CA exams.

Tuitions are basically meant for those who need an initial push to start preparation. Some students who really cant extract time out of there daily routine (either because they have hectic articles schedule or just because they are lazy) also need tuitions so that their preparation takes off smoothly. Students who have no resort to clear their doubts may also need tuitions. Tuitions or not is to be decided by the student himself after assessing his abilities and previous experiences. You are the right person to take a call.

Whether you take tuitions or not, you should realize that about 80-90% of preparation is to be done at home. One major reason why many students fail despite taking tuitions is they lack self preparation back home. They feel that once they attend tuitions at coaching centers, they have pass certificates in their hands. You should revise and re-revise the concepts taught to you at your coaching centers to get a good grip over each subject. If you don’t do this you will tend to forget whatever is taught over a period of time, given the voluminous syllabus. If you stay away from your books for a couple of months, then everything would appear Greek and Latin (as they say).

If you are in a dilemma, try self preparation at the first hand. Assess your progress after about two weeks and ask yourself if you can continue on your own. The answer to this question would decide whether you continue with self preparation or should you switch to tuition mode.

All the best.