Interview with the ACCA Global Prize winner in Paper F4

Interview with Kayleigh, ACCA Global Prize winner, who scored 100% in the Paper F4 June 2014 exam.

Please tell us in which country you live, and what work do you do.

I live in the Uk and currently work as an accounts assistant. My main duties, at present, revolve around the purchase ledger and some bank reconciliation work.

How much time each week did you spend studying, on average?

On average I would say I spent around 10hrs per week studying. As the exam time got closer this increased to about 18hrs per week.

Which study resources did you use?

For F4 I used Kaplan textbook, exam kit and revision kit. Online I relied heavily on Open Tuition for the lectures and downloadable notes.

Did you get support from your firm?

I have not had any financial support from my firm but they are extremely flexible when any study time is needed – especially closer to exam time.

What was your approach to your studying?

I set myself achievable targets throughout all my studying and made sure I stuck to them. I always make notes as I read or watch lectures as it helps me to process the information a lot more effectively. I read the examiner reports and past papers to ensure I knew exactly what they wanted from a well written paper. Beyond that it was a lot of practice of exam questions that really helped me to prepare and allowed me to see where i needed to improve.

What would you say was the most important factor that helped you to achieve such a high mark?

Practicing exam questions was the most effective part of studying for me. It helped me to write more effectively under time pressure and highlighted any gaps in my knowledge which i could revisit and improve on. I would, also, say that answering all the questions is really important during the exam as missing just one question can really limit your score potential.

How did you find out about OpenTuition, and which of our resources did you use?

I found OpenTuition through internet searches and relied on it heavily during my studies. I used most of the resources, including downloadable lecture notes, the forums and the flash cards. The main resource I used was the online lectures. These really helped a lot of the F4 cases come to life and made the course content both interesting and memorable.

Thank you, and Congratulations!