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Hi,
I have taken the AA exam twice now (Dec24 & Jun25) and failed both times. First time with 41% and the second with 42%. The feedback I got from ACCA was that my knowledge was high but application of the answers not sufficient, however I fail to understand where I am going wrong, as I feel that I follow the model answer guidance. I don’t usually have this problem with other exams, it is usually my knowledge which is not sufficient rather than my application.
Is there any advice you can give me in regards to passing this exam and answering the questions? I will be taking it again in December alongside SBL. I would naturally like to pass this time, it is becoming frustrating as it is my last skills exam and I’ve already passed SBR. I have just 4 exams to go with this one.
Many thanks for your help,
Welcome to my forum! It will be my pleasure to try and help you! I have never seen a my exam performance report, but have always expected that it would be quite informative based on ACCA’s information about https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-entry-and-administration/exam-results/exam-performance/tips-and-advice.html
Do you have a breakdown for how you did on Section A and each of the Section B Qs – “planning”, “controls” and “substantive procedures (maybe with a 5 marks of auditor’s reports).
To my mind only a relatively few of the available marks are for pure knowledge – this is typically 4 marks in a planning Q that otherwise asks for 8 risks and responses (16 marks). You could be doing well in this and getting the full 4 marks – but that doesn’t go very far towards achieving 50%. If you’re lucky there might also be 4 marks for knowledge in a controls Q.
If you’re not getting pass marks for Section A – I think you should be getting 3/5 of each Q set correct, which will give you 18/30 marks – i.e. 60% – you need to learn from every Q that you get wrong when practicing. OTQs by definition are not subjective – but the wording can be quite nuanced. So do ask if you get questions wrong and don’t completely understand the answer justifications.
Then to Section B – the style and standard of the Qs here are quite “formulaic” – and I know that some students rely on learning past answers. BUT anything that is written that is not relevant to the specifics of each Q set will not earn marks – so I urge against this approach.
If you haven’t already read it, I recommend the Read the Mind article https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Students/fun/f8/Read_the_mind_of_AA_marker_WEB_v3.pdf – or if you have read it, maybe read again.
Also to read the examiner’s reports for the exam(s) you failed https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/examiners-reports1.html – can you relate to/identify any of the shortcomings identified by the examining team? For example, regarding risk responses “Responses must be practical within the context of the scenario and care should be taken to ensure the response is one an auditor would make and not a management response.”
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