Help:FR resit, how to prepare

@amysnowy said:
Hi All,

I failed my FR at first attempt, mark 45. I am certainly not happy about it. What annoyed me the most is, when I did my AAT financial reporting exam, I failed on the first attempt as well. It feels I have never done financial reporting exams previously, All I have learnt from AAT is wasted.

I used Kaplan study materials. I practised all the questions on the exam kit, twice. I have a notebook with questions I have done wrong and notes how to answer these questions. I thought I put a lot of efforts. but to be honest, when I sit the March exam, I didn’t even understand what is the first question asking about….

What I try to work out now is, where I did wrong and how I can correct it. I have BPP exam kit but it’s for 2017-18, I assume I can still use it for more practice or should I still use Kaplan’s book, just practice again? or should I study F3 following opentuition’s lectures ( as F3 is the foundation of F7) or should I just study F7 lectures?

I am also self-studying AA and FM and planning sit all 3 papers in June, time allocation is important to me too. I am working full time……

any suggestions/comments will be much appreciated

Thanks in advance

Hi Amy,
My suggestion would be to try and focus on one or at the most two exams for June. One exam every three months is a lot more feasible than trying to do more than one exam in a sitting. With regards to FR, the key was to try and get an understanding of the whole depth of the course and not to try and second guess a certain area. I remember when I sat it there was a fair few people who weren’t expecting cashflows and when it appeared they struggled to know how to approach that question.

The first thing is to realise that at 45%, you knew most of the syllabus and it is more likely just to need a few tweaks on your exam technique. This is where I recommend you look at the technical articles in particular (https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f7/technical-articles.html)
This is important at focusing areas that are traditionally weaker for students and they try to simplify more difficult areas on the course.
The second factor I would say is crucial is your time management in the exam. How much did you complete? Do you keep to the 1.8 minutes per mark roughly? The key is to try and do so as it is easier getting the first few marks of a question than the last few and therefore keeping to this approach will maximise your marks.
Finally, consider what areas you dread? Focus mainly on question practice on these areas are they consolidation, is it impairment? Is it Cashflows? is it Deferred tax? etc. By practicing weaker areas and ensuring they are as well practiced as stronger areas, you will be less surprised and more well practiced and this can help you be calmer and be more successful.

Good luck and I hope this helps and please try to focus on a fewer exams on a sitting as this helps to pass.

Many Regards,
Samir.