Is it time to quit Acca???

I have two exams left to pass. One of those i have just failed fir the third time. Ive been doing acca for 7 years without any dispensations …so ive had to pass 13 exams to get where i am.

For me its a combination of a number of factors . Fairly poor handwriting i struggle to improve, lots of pressure at work (they want me to worka 14 hour day before an exam and complain when i dont pass!), im not a person who can naturally remember things well which makes memorising proformas (for p7 or p2) or ratios (for f9) very difficult. Ive also got two young children so finding spare time to study is difficult. There also always seems to be some big even that happens to me in november/early december which completely ruins my prep for that sitting (this year my father in law had an aneurysm) but thats probably just specific to me …..

I think you have to be realistic and refer to the pass percentages published for each exam. Acca seems to want to keep its passmarks around the 33% mark…. you can see where papers that have previously had a higher rate (p5 had circa 45% at one point) have all drifted down to the 30-35% range. Personally i feel it isnt about acca showing that their affiliates have the right skills but about acca demonstrating that their qualification is a ‘hard’ qualification which is ‘difficult’ to get. As such their candidates must be ‘better’. As such looking at the %’s you would have to assume that the ‘average’ candidate has to sit each paper 3 times.

There will always be people who race through the full qualification quickly… and there will always be employers who wont even interview candidates who have had ANY resits during their study time. But you have to look behind the figures and see the silent majority of normal hardworking people like us who will take most of the 10 years yo qualify.

i think the move to 4 exam sittings from 2015 will also help.

Hi there, i am an affiliate, married with 2 daughters and i’m working. i wrote my last paper P7 in December 2013 and i made it. DO NOT quit, there is a formula for success. I have also never attended tutions due to the cost which i was unable to afford.

My formula which has worked for me since i started in December 2009 is :

>get the latest Kaplan text and Revision kit. Begin studying at least 4 months before the exam.
> Ensure you study each and every topic (not easy i know)
> You MUST attempt at least 95% of the questions in the Rev kit. That means you can only leave out maybe two on each topic.

If you can competently answer 95% of the questions in the kit, YOU WILL PASS all your exams in the fundamentals level. (IT WORKED FOR ME)

Just remember that you need to give 100%, you will not pass if its a by the way thing for u. Be positive and work really hard.

All the best!

If I’ve to quit ACCA because of I can’t pass, than probably I would implement a better study method/ find an alternative tuition provider /have couple of study buddies and so;instead of giving up.

Here is my approach to study a subject (from an older thread), hope this help in some extend.

Step1: Print out the last six (6) exams question papers and suggested solution from ACCA site.

Step2: Follow the lecture

Step3: After each lecture, I glance through the textbook to mark the lecture coverage area of that day in the text book (No more than 15 mins).

Step3: Than straightway I look into these printed past questions papers and try to find out the related questions on these chapters (I take my time to read each questions paper and try to understand each question; and mark only relevant questions from the lecture coverage area of the day).
For the first time when I read these past papers, I usually read these again and again over couple of days. It helps me to understand what this new subject is all about and what I suppose to learn. It also helps to improve the questions reading skills, which is extremely important in exam hall under time pressure.

Step4: start doing homework (if any) and solving these marked questions on these chapters
Priority of order in doing homework/solving past question paper
Lecture note?Textbook?ACCA suggested solutions ?friends help

Step 5: Make my own note, cross check with tutors and file it.

Step 6: 10 days before exam,lock myself in home. Make a note of tips from all tuition providers and mark them on these last 6 question papers.

Step7: Over these 10 days, every day I try to attempt 2 question papers from these last 6 papers as in exam condition, and one of them at 10 am. I attempt all questions of a questions paper+ mock exam.

Step8: Take a bottle of freezing cold water (without any level) and go to exam centre (at least 30 mins before)

Step9: In reading time, choose quickly which questions I’m going to attempt (or eliminate the hardest one).And mark them according to the difficulties level. (Should not take more than 2/3 minutes).

Step 10: start taking notes/solving on the questions paper on easiest one. If still any reading time left, than I try to take notes on the next easy one.

Step11: Order of attack in exam
Easy?Hard?Harder

Result: I hardly ran out time in exam and not to mention that, I never failed any exam so far. I’ve only 2 more subjects to pass.