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How to Pass ACCA F5 Exam – ACCA F5 Key to success

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Nature of the ACCA F5 paper

The ACCA F5 Paper – Performance Management – continues from Paper F2 and is concerned with managing the business so as to achieve better performance. Most of the topics were introduced in Paper F2, but are examined in more detail and to a greater depth.

Structure of the ACCA F5 paper

There are three sections to the exam – Section A will comprise 15 multiple choice questions of 2 marks each; Section B of the exam comprises three scenarios, each with 5 multiple choice questions.  Section C has two ‘long form’ questions (a full question requiring a full answer) of 20 marks each.These two questions will come from decision making techniques, budgeting and control, and/or performance measurement areas of the syllabus.The Section A and B questions can (and will!) cover any areas of the syllabus.

There are 3 hours for the exam, plus 15 minutes of reading time if you are taking the paper based (as opposed to the computer based) exam.

Overall, approximately 50% of the exam involves calculations, and approximately 50% is written.

Emphasis of the ACCA F5 exam

Although most of the arithmetic involved is not difficult in itself, the calculation parts of questions are designed to check that you understand the techniques, and can decide what information is relevant, rather than checking that you have just learned rules.
For the written parts of questions there is some learning involved, but most of them are again checking that you understand the techniques – that you can explain them, that you can discuss advantages and disadvantages, and that you can identify the problems of applying them in practice.

How to use OpenTuition to study for the ACCA F5 Exam

Use the OpenTuition ACCA F5 lectures along with the ACCA F5 Lecture Notes. Make sure that you are happy with the arithmetic, but also listen carefully to the lectures and check that you really do understand the techniques.
When you are confident of a topic then practice as many past exam questions as you can. To help you we have recorded F5 revision lectures and F5 Revision lectures based on past F5 exam questions.

How to pass ACCA F5 Exam

However much you have studied, your approach in the exam room can make a big difference. For Sections A and B, look for the short and easy questions and answer them first. In whatever time you have left then spend more time on the longer and harder questions. Try not to spend too long on either section – you should be allowing yourself about 27 minutes for each of Sections A and B. When the time for the whole exam is almost up, go back and guess the answer to any questions that you have not completed – guessing a few questions may only result in one correct answer, but 2 marks is huge if you would otherwise have failed on 48. Don’t waste time doing neat workings for Sections A and B – nobody will look at them.

In Section C allow yourself about 36 minutes for each question. Make sure that you write something for each part of each question – you might get stuck or you might run out of time, but you can always write something, and writing anything sensible will likely get you a mark. For the calculation parts of questions, make sure your workings are neat and easy to follow – the marks in Section C are for the workings rather than for the final answer.

See also:

F5 Forum Support – post your questions to get help from other students

Ask the Tutor ACCA F5 Forums

Exam formulae & maths tables
F5 Past exam papers
F5 Technical articles
F5 Examiners’ reports
F5 Examiner’s approach interview
F5 Examiner’s approach article
F5 Examiner’s analysis interview
F5 Pass rates

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I am preparing for f5 and f6 on a serious note in DEC 2013 exam .
    please guide me on how the answers are presented in the exam .
    can we follow the exact format as the answers that are given to us on the ACCA answered questions

  3. I have just recently been transferred to Acca( FIA is done). Now my seniors are scaring me EVEN my course advisor was saying that its too much difficult, many boys stay unpassed. I really demotivated.

    Please help me to motivate or what you think better. Because I know you are the greatest and superb to other nerd teachers.

    Many Thanks

    • The ACCA exams are certainly difficult. However I assume that you have passed the FIA Diploma exams in which case you already know how much studying is necessary. Obviously the later exams are harder, but they are progressive and provided that you are prepared to put in the necessary studying there is no reason not to qualify.

      The Qualification is certainly worth having – it is a passport to much greater employment prospects 🙂

      • ok. Thanks.
        2nd Question:

        My knowledge of f2 is so poor because I passed it about last year’s March( there was a crises that delayed my papers, but now I am a regular student with the part time job). So do I need to study f2 again or it will be covered in f5 lectures and….

        Many Thanks

  4. Ok, I intend to write paper f5 in dec though I wrote f2 10 years ago. With all the assumed knowledge based on the admin reply how do I start. Do I need to revise f2 again befor reading f5. My background is in medical sciences

  5. Hi admin,
    I wish you could advising me on this; is the opentuituon course notes and video lectures complete enough to help one pass the exam or should they be studied alongside other course notes from different ACCA course providers?

    • The course notes (like all course notes) do not go into as much details as Study Texts and therefore cannot be guaranteed to cover 100% of the syllabus.
      They do however (combined with the lectures) cover more than enough to score highly in the exam – provided, obviously, that you do properly understand what is covered.

      There is little point in using other providers Course Notes in addition to ours. If you want to study more, then better to obtain a Study Text from one of the providers.

      However, again, our Course Notes and lectures contain enough to pass the exam well 🙂

    • Basic variances have been removed from the syllabus because they are assumed knowledge from Paper F2.
      There will not be full questions on basic variances, but you can still be asked them as part of a question. Also, you must understand basic variances to be able to calculate planning and operational variances (which are still in the syllabus and are very likely to be asked!).

      • Hi admin,
        I got Accountant magzine today it says Basic variance and operating variance have been removed and planning and operational variances have been calried, can you adivce and explain above meaning thanks

      • What has happened is that basic variances have been removed from the syllabus because they are assumed knowledge from Paper F2.
        There will not be full questions on basic variances, but you can still be asked them as part of a question. Also, you must understand basic variances to be able to calculate planning and operational variances (which are still in the syllabus and are very likely to be asked!).

  11. My advice (as a tutor) is to practice practice practice. Those difficult questions do start to become easier after a while. You start to know what the examiner wants quickly. Good luck to you all. It is a big syllabus!

  14. This is depressing between these post and the ACCA fb feedback session today I am now worried I may not pass even if i knew the study text from back to front.
    I plan to practice as much as i can that must the only way to pass.

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