Can you tell us more about yourself?
Hi, my name is Vanessa and I am from Ireland. I currently work as a Financial Analyst in Industry. I started ACCA professional exams the year after I completed a degree in accountancy. I was exempt from F1-F9 and I have passed P1,P2 and P3 to date.
Many students are working just like you, how do you balance between studying, job and private life?
I work long hours and it is difficult to do more than 1-2 hours per night. I make up for this at the weekend and usually study 5-6hrs each day at the weekend.
Do you get support from your firm?
No, I don’t get any support from my firm. I pay all my own fees and I take my vacation days for study leave and to sit exams.
Which Study Texts and/or Revision Kits and other resources did you use, or found the most useful in your studies for this exam?
I always use BPP revision and study texts and I download the open tuition notes. I usually watch the open tuition lectures several times also. It is a great way to familiarise yourself with sections before you attempt questions.
You have scored such high marks, many students must wonder what is your study technique?
The P3 exam was the first exam I didn’t attend lectures for; I self-studied at home to prepare for it. I downloaded the open tuition notes and watched all of the on line lectures. I purchased the BPP study text but I didn’t really use it. I mainly used the Open Tuition notes and the BPP revision text. I attempted every question in the BPP revision text and as Q1 accounts for 50% of the available marks in the exam, I tried to do each Q1 in the revision text twice.
I also bought the BPP Passcards and I found these very useful, each section was reduced down into a few cards.
I usually take some vacation days before each exam; I like to have 5 consecutive days to study, practice questions and to keep the material fresh in my mind.
What do you think was the most important factor in your success in your ACCA exams?
Question Practice! It is important to practice as much questions as you can before each exam. It is useful to attempt a question and to compare your answer to the answer in the book and give it an honest score. This helped me gauge realistically where I was with my study and which areas I needed to focus more on.
In the exam itself, I find timing is the biggest issue. It is easy to spend too long on a section worth only 8 marks and not leave yourself enough time for a question where there may be 15marks available.
It is crucial to work out how much time you can afford to spend on each section in relation to the marks available for it and to stick rigidly to your plan.
How did you find out about OpenTuition and which OpenTuition resources helped you towards your success.
I found Open Tuition in a google search for ACCA material and I have used it for all of my professional exams.
I find the online classes an invaluable resource and they have contributed greatly to my success so far.
Thank you for your time and congratulations