ACCA Administrative Review explained for students who had a marginal fail, scored 48-49 marks.
If you are unhappy with your exam result, then you can ask the ACCA for an administrative review.
This review will NOT mean that your exam is remarked.
The ACCA will only check that the marks have been added up and recorded correctly.
They will also tell you whether each question passed or failed, but they will NOT tell you the marks for each question.
The fee for ACCA administrative review is 拢52
(This includes FIA, ACCA and Dip IFR exams)
If you would like to request an administrative review you can now submit your request using our online service at myACCA. Alternatively, you can complete the form (see ‘Related documents’) and submit to:
Pfff… I’ve taken F9 three times now and each time just below the limit.. 49, 48, 49..that’s the trend! I’m wondering if this is not affecting my confidence.. I worry about not being able to leave this endless circle of “fail”… but still, I’m going to use my money not for administrative review but for a re-take. I advise all of you to do the same, since after all, this can only be a value added to your knowledge…
Practice and… good luck!
Hello I have no attempted f9 4 times and my last result come out at 47% my revision had been good and prep was also good however I feel that it must be something in the exam hall time management is also not to bad would this now be down to exam technique ? I’m really confused at where I am going wrong
It would be more sensible to ask this in the F9 forum rather than as a comment on administrative review (unless of course you were thinking of asking for an administrative review, in which case see the comments below).
Hi, i have a query it is rare for ACCA to pass students despite them not attempted all questions in the exam paper?
This is not a matter that ACCA take the decision that a student shall not pass if the student has failed to answer all questions
The post would be better asked as: “is it rare for students to pass despite them not attempted all questions in the exam paper?” and the answer to that depends on the quality of the answers that actually were submitted
Your chances of success are clearly improved by attempting questions with available marks worth 100 but it’s not unheard of for students to achieve that success with fewer than 100 marks’ worth attempted
Ok, so the chances of gaining 50%+ on a paper which one has only completed 80% of the paper depends on quality not quantity.
Is this a fair assumption ?
If you only attempt 80% of the paper you’re looking to score 62.5% of the marks attempted to achieve the pass mark of 50%
Which is easier – gaining 50% of the marks attempted or 62.5% of the marks attempted?
Tutors will always tell you the same story – the first 50% of ANY question are easier to score than the last 50%
And why do tutors say this? Because it’s something they learned at tutor-school and they are programmed mentally to spout this – that’s why they all do it! It’s because they’re brain-washed
Or …. wait a minute! Maybe it’s said by all because it’s a fundamental truth. Yes, that could be it! They say it because it’s the easiest way for a student to achieve a pass grade and that’s what all tutors are hoping for with their students
It’s a basic, immutable fact of life as important as any and all other facts of life … well, nearly all others
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your response and to answer your question i think it is easier gaining 50 % of marks attempted than 62.5 % of the marks attempted.
Yeah – that sounds about right to me too!
Hi Mike
We have spoken in the past almost a month ago regarding my queries I had on the acca exam marking.
Following from that I received my results and I don’t feel that my final mark is correct, thus I had went through the route of an administrative review as I had fell short of 2 marks which has consequently resulted in me not passing this sitting, but if I am not satisfied with the outcome as I understand that acca only calculate the marks per section to confirm that it has been added correctly, but what steps could I take to get my paper remarked as whole, if they still feel that my mark will not be changed?
Overall, I really felt I have done exceptionally well and I was consistent all the way through in terms of my answers.
Although, I feel the only mistake that I made which I still criticize myself on is not completing this paper, as I only had 14 % of the questions to complete but could not due to time constraints.
Whereas, I have heard of similar situations whereby some has missed out more percentage than me in an exam and still received above a pass not even a marginal pass.
Where is the justice in that ?
I got 49% in f9. i was expecting a lot more. I used extra sheet for exam i just have this feeling my extra sheet is not marked can that be the reason? should i get a review i am devastated rightnow
Hi, if you read the thread below your own post, you’ll see comments from both John and me about the futility of paying for administrative reviews.
Save your money, accept the result, and move on quickly
sir i did not circle the question number in part b in F5 exam what will be effect of this on my result? i completely forgot to circle the question number..! please guide me
Hi,
I had sit for my P1 paper recently. Unfortunately as I walked out the exam hall, I remembered that I forgot to indicate questions number on the front cover and questions booklet. Is there any possibility that my paper won’t be marked?
No possibility at all. You’re not in a pass/fail situation in a professional examination testing your professional skills where your result is dependent upon being able to indicate which questions that you have attempted.
Oh no! If you’re going to fail, it certainly will NOT be because you failed to indicate the question numbers
Hi – My colleague wants a administrative review as she was quite confident with the paper, yet got quite a low mark. I know it wont tell you your marks for each question, but is it worth getting the admin review for guidance on where you went wrong?
I鈥檝e never heard of a successful administrative review. Having scored 49%, that is so close that the ACCA will have checked the additions VERY carefully.
Not only that but the marker will have gone through your paper a second and maybe even a third time trying to find that one more half mark that would be enough to get you to 50%
Accept this (and apologies for it sounding brutal) if you are awarded 49% it is because you didn鈥檛 deserve 50%
Save your money and put it towards the cost of a retake and, starting today, get practicing!
Hi, I scored 46 in F7 in these sept 15 exams. Should I opt for administrative review ? Are there any chances they might have missed something ? As I’m pretty sure I should have passed this time. I have f7 before so this time I was sure I would.
The chances of them having missed anything really are minimal and it really is not worth wasting your money.
Mike’s reply below to someone who got 49% applies equally to you with 46% 馃檨
Oh ok. Thanks of your reply. 馃檨
do you know how ACCA treat individual circumstances such as them sending me to the wrong exam hall (two different rooms in the same location)? I got 43 so not sure what difference it made but turning up late and into the reading time certainly didn’t help when I was pushed for time already. I’d like to think that with a bit more composure at the beginning I could have answered more questions and answered the questions I did in a better way although I appreciate 7 marks is actually quite a lot in the scheme of things,,,
I emailed them at the time and they said exam conditions would be noted by the examiner and factored into results but I think that’s more along the lines of conditions affecting everyone whereas I have proof that ACCA sent me to the wrong room in the form of my exam docket. Probably clutching at straws but when it’s the difference between being finished and having to do the last exam again ill try anything!
If you mentioned the problem about the wrong exam room when you first emailed, then I think that they will have taken it into account in the marking.
You could write again, but to be honest I do not think it will make any difference.
thanks and I’m inclined to think the same. When I emailed him initially I also mentioned that the exam conditions weren’t great (at Charlton FC with someone shouting down the loudspeaker followed by a man mowing the pitch on a tractor) and they seemed to focus on that rather than the exam docket issue (which was down to them) so I’ll have another go. I might push for them waiving the retake fee instead as I think they might be more open to that.
Does anyone who pay for the admin review got more marks? I got 49 for F9 in Sept 15 :(.. I am thinking maybe who knows? They forgot to add up 1 mark. I know it’s not remark, but errors to add up marks do happen? Thanks
I’ve never heard of a successful administrative review. Having scored 49%, that is so close that the ACCA will have checked the additions VERY carefully.
Not only that but the marker will have gone through your paper a second and maybe even a third time trying to find that one more half mark that would be enough to get you to 50%
Accept this (and apologies for it sounding brutal) if you are awarded 49% it is because you didn’t deserve 50%
Save your money and put it towards the cost of a retake and, starting today, get practicing!
Thank you. Yes meke
Sorry for my previous post :). Thank you and yes you must be right,you are not brutal at all. I will start studying for Dec15. If I would have done another MCQ correctly.. I don’t like MCQ, I need to practice more of them.
As some one who has got 49 twice and got the admistrarive review once I would leave it off,waste of money,I sent it for review and literally 10 minutes later they sent it back saying no change in result so literally they just tot up the marks again,for the expense of it,it is not worth while in my opinion,just another money making racket.i still can’t believe that people aren’t able to view their papers,the more I hear about things like this the more frustrated I get by the whole association to be honest
Thanks,i’ ll pull myself together, use this site more and practise many questions.
i completed the F7 paper every inch of it though it wasn’t enough but got 48 now what?
Hi Shiza
I’m sorry to hear that you failed the F7 paper, and so close too.
However, please don’t waste your money on an administrative review. Save that money and use it towards the cost of a resit
As to what you can do …. countless times I have recommended simply “Practice, practice, practice”
You say that you completed every inch of the paper but clearly your efforts were not enough to get that magical 50%
But with endless, tedious, repetitive, motivated practice, you should find that you can squeeze those extra 2 points
And when you feel that you’ve done enough practice, then …….. do it all again
This is probably not what you had hoped for from me, but it’s the only thing that I can recommend. It has worked countless times for others – there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work for you
That’s exactly what happened as I cleared FIA in march amd afterwards I started F5 and F7 got 60% in F5 but luck didn’t worked in F7!! I think it’s because lack of hardwork as you mentioned !! But I’m opting F6,8,9 for this attempt and in march I’ll go for a resit!
Ok, but maybe think about doing F7 in December whilst it’s still reasonably fresh in your mind
Hi I came out of P2 exams confident that I had passed.Because the sitting before i was 75% prepared because of medical reasons & had not completed Qt 1 but got 45.This time I was 95% prepared & attempted all questions & got 36.How is this possible?
Countless times I have heard students claim as they came out of the exam room that they had failed badly, yet had in fact passed
And an equal number who “knew” that they had passed yet the official result differed
And you’re in amongst those who cannot understand how their prediction is so far different from the ACCA’s position
A lesson I learned many years ago was that it was totally pointless to attempt to predict the outcome of your exam performance. Not only pointless but, when the results are announced, also utterly incomprehensible.
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t pass this paper in June but my best advice is for you to stop worrying about it and simply move on. Get on with it! There can be very few that have thrown in the towel and changed career path basing their actions on failure in the P level papers. Take heart from the high probability that you WILL pass.
And use this site more! I’ve never seen any questions from you!
I failed F5 with 47 marks, I am considering to go for administrative review , is it recommended? . This is my third time failure.
Save your money and use it to contribute towards the cost of a resit
hi..
iv got 48 in F9 and am thinking for an admin review.
what do you suggest??
Save your money and prepare for a resit!
It is so true .. i had 49in f5 in december and now i hav passed it…. very good advise by little mike… i still remember your funny word money ….hahaha
Failed F6 for the fourth time with 46 marks! It is really demoralising and demotivating for someone who is middle class and have dependent parents.
same here failed 2nd time 49 marks very disappointed
do not lose hope, study harder, the key to success is to practice as much question as you can within the time frame. I think you must have a good time management in the exam hall because those who failed marginally are those people who would have passed the exam if they were given 15 minutes more…
it seems like some people got their mark adjusted.
https://www.pqaccountant.com/pmag-FFFF0050018003888C74E041.html
I failed my p1 with 44 in this seating, it was my last paper and i had attempted it thrice.. cant believe i failed this.. and i am pretty tempted to go for the review, any recommendation? for those who went for the review, please share ur result?
This will most likely not be the result of administrative reviews. It is most probably the case that one (or possibly two) marker in each of the marking teams for the papers mentioned in the article were seen in retrospect to have been a little harsh. On a subsequent review, the papers marked by those individuals will probably have been reassessed by the examiner and the marks adjusted accordingly.
It is extremely difficult to achieve absolute consistency where a task is carried out by a group of individuals (the members of the marking team) and, even with controls in place, where a task comes down to the assessment by individuals absolute consistency is non-achievable.
Accept it! There have been occasions in the past where I have considered that the performance of students on courses I have taught did not reach my expectations. Maybe they collectively had a bad day? Or maybe their group of scripts were allocated to a relatively inexperienced marker or a marker that expected higher standards than the other members of the marking team
It will never be the case that all markers mark to exactly the same standard.
But administrative review is not going to correct that 馃檨
Ok?
hi, be not disheartened. The key to passing P1 is using the scenarios in the questions to answer it. Always illustrate your answer using the key areas in the question. Realized that when I failed miserable with a 38 the first time. Resit and got a 67%. Don’t loose hope.
i have appeared for f5 and f9 and my f5 paper attempted wonderful but god knows why i have failed in it and instead i was afraid with f9 but i go through with it…sometime hard to believe but truth is truth…i am ready to fight back again for f5 ….i am not sure whts lack in my study…plz someone guide me for this…
Put this post on the F5 Ask the Tutor page and maybe John could suggest something
Hi mike little.. thanks for your help on f7 i wudnt have passed it otherwise your help. Ilike the way u teaches and u convert hard point in very easy explanation.. i have passed f7 in first go… thank you sir god bless you.
Hi You’re welcome and congratulations on passing F7 馃檪
In ACCA even one mark counts, so don’t worry. Just study very hard as if you are now going to write the paper for the first time and trust me you will be amazed with the mark you will score this time. Don”t give up.
Hi. I wrote a couple of days ago about getting 49 on my F5. I paid the 拢52 for the review and they wrote to me the next day saying the mark hasn’t changed. All they send you is a short summary saying
Q1. Pass
Q2. Fail
Q3. Pass
Q4. Fail
Q5 Pass
Hi there .. i am very gutted i have got 49 marks in f5 ..not expected at all. I am very sure i had done enough to pass but this is very strange .. when i have got my result i was shoked .. i have passed f7 and i have managed to attend only three questions but those 3 questuins were spot on . I wud defineatly pay 52 pound if they practically show me my script … any way lesson lerned and i will prepare for my nail and teeth this time round .. i have already started .. thanks buddy
Just had a quick read through the above.
I must admit 拢52 for review from the ACCA is stupid, however the moderators on this website state i don’t know how many times that your mark WON’T change it is just ‘reviewed’ just see if there was a mathematical addition problem
Im of the opinion if you fail you fail for a reason most enough and not its because you didnt answer the question asked but you answered what you though it asked. ACCA will not purposely just to make more money (they make enough as it is)
I recently failed F6 with 46% and i have taken it on the chin and im going to prepare for June 2015 not grumbles to dust myself down and go again
If you want to spend 拢52 on a ‘review’ which tells you not alot more thats up to you……me……ill put the 拢52 towards my next exam fee.
Each to there own, but thats my two pennies worth
Well said i am doing the same thing its better to give it another go rather than wasting money for the review
well said!!!!!!