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The December exam was exceptionally varied – with JIT, Benchmarking, Kaizen Costing, 6 Sigma Approach, etc.
For the first time, I actually wrote down the topics in every past paper. I then highlighted any areas that haven’t been examined for a while… for December, I highlighted benchmarking, kaizen costing, 6 sigma, corporate failure, target costing, business process re-engineering, and VBM. I would say focus on corporate failure, target costing, business process re-engineering.
This isn’t particularly accurate though – ACCA are known to not particularly have a “routine” of questions, but I think it helped me feel more confident on those areas – and for me, I was lucky that a couple did come up.
Make sure you do all the practice papers, quite a few of the questions are similar, so if it came up in the exam; you’d have plenty of practice!
Absolutely.
I actually find it easier to study hard for shorter periods of time as I forget what I did months ago otherwise!
One thing I have learned – everyone is different. I’ve often been told “you’ll never pass that with 6 weeks of study” – and actually, I always have.
Definitely opt for APM – the key for APM is lots of practice papers, and using business acumen.
AFM is a hard syllabus – lots of methods/calculations etc to remember so wouldn’t recommend – especially in a short space of time.I booked mine around an hour ago and haven’t received a confirmation email. I did find last time that even though I booked a centre exam, I didn’t receive my confirmation for a few hours… may just be delayed due to the number of bookings etc.
catherinemulcair wrote:Has anyone else who has successfully rebooked for a remote exam not received a confirmation email? I booked over 2 hours ago and am worried I’ve received no confirmation, although I can see the invoice on my account, the credit from cancelling the previous exam has gone.
Thanks so much for this. I kept trying through Safari (iPhone) and explorer on PC… Tried on Chrome and it worked straight away… yet on explorer the option still isn’t there!
All booked… just hoping there aren’t any issues! Fingers crossedACCAFINALIST2021 wrote:Hi I just booked SBL with he at home function, not sure if it was a coincidence with timing but I used chrome and used the incognito window (Ctrl + Shft + n) as someone else said they did it that way.
Yep. I know people who couldn’t sit their December exams due to availability, or had to sit them at ridiculous times (such as 6am)! Which is the most concerning part!
xiaoyueyue wrote:I do not have “at home” option either. Are there only limited seats for remote exams?
It still seems to be that half can, half can’t – which is extremely unfair, does that mean we’re all going to be left with the 6am slot? Which is a ridiculous time to take an exam.
Looking on a different forum, it seems that a few people have managed to get through to the phone lines, but are told “we’re having difficulties, it will be going live at some point, sorry”… and aren’t told much else than that.
As others have said, a simple email stating this, or some sort of communication would be good. Meanwhile on social media, ACCA are posting a tweet about “are your mistakes forgiven at work”!I can’t book either. Was awake all night – tried booking at midnight, 2am, 3am, 5am, 7am, and still can’t now. Tried calling since 7:30am, and continuously busy/system error.
I have to agree, I am so frustrated with ACCA. They cancelled my March and June exams last year, then one of my September exams, meaning they have already pushed back my end date by 9 months.
I have 2 papers remaining, so am keen to get this done, and it seems to be exactly the same issues, every single time – do they not learn from their mistakes?I’ve had a terrible experience with ACCA throughout – I’ve been sent to Cardiff, Wales to do exams before (I’m based in South East England – 3-4 hour drive!) due to them messing up my exams on their end. No test centres in South East so continuously have to drive well over an hour to take one. ACCA is becoming completely inaccessible. It does beg the question, what on earth are we paying our annual subscription fee for?!!?
Hi Andy,
I would strongly advise going to next level of AAT. ACCA as a professional organisation have been horrendous during the coronavirus – continuous IT issues, bad customer service etc… So far, my “end date” of ACCA has been pushed back by 9 months – and today, I can’t book an exam due to IT issues, so it will now be pushed back by a year. I’ve encountered many issues with ACCA in the past (had to drive to Cardiff, Wales from Kent for exams in the past due to them messing things up).
Also, I have a friend who has gone from AAT Level 3 to ACCA and she’s seriously struggling. So far, she’s failed exams 3 times, and has said it’s completely different to AAT (I’m not sure why as I never did AAT), so I think from Level 2 will be extra hard.
I have heard great things about CIMA – they may be a better option but would recommend staying on AAT. They’re much more supportive (especially in these times) and I think it will be an “easier” journey for yourself – you could then go over to ACCA if you wish, but having that extra part of AAT I think would hugely benefit.Good Luck
Passed first time with 64% – a score that I’m very very happy with!!
Despite breaking down (car) on the way to the exam centre, starting a new job in mid November right in the middle of a £150m budget! I felt like I crammed everything into the final weeks so didn’t feel overly confident – but I felt the exam wasn’t too bad.I have 2 papers left (SBR and AAA), so fingers crossed for those.
Tips:
Obviously, I am no expert but things I found helped were…
– I did every past paper on ACCA website for APM – which I think helped exam technique and also answers. I actually did my answers as bullet points (not in the exam!!) so that I could easily revise from these – which I always find the best help. I kept the answers brief, and for questions I struggled with, I copied out the answers – again, in bullet point format, to then be able to revise this question incase it appeared in the real thing.
– I started papers around 2 weeks before. I always find if I start too early, I forget. I’ve often gone into exams thinking “oh this question is similar to a practice one I did last week” and then can remember some points.
– Any areas I struggled with I watched the lectures on opentuition to help.
– I made “revision cards” with key theories etc on – these were very useful… Ideal for handbag or having a quick look at to refresh your memory!
– Study the WHOLE syllabus. The exam this time was exceptionally varied – with JIT, Benchmarking, Kaizen Costing, 6 Sigma Approach, etc… know the theories but I wouldn’t get too obsessed with them.
– This exam, for the first time, I actually wrote down the topics in every past paper. I then highlighted any areas that haven’t been examined for a while… In this case, I highlighted benchmarking, kaizen costing, 6 sigma, corporate failure, target costing, business process re-engineering, and VBM… of which a couple did appear in the exam! This isn’t particularly accurate – and ACCA are known to not particularly have a “routine” of questions, but I found it did help me revise for areas that I haven’t practised so much in the past papers, meaning I wouldn’t panic if they did appear.As others have said, computer based exams are good for typing up answers (I’m a quick typer but a slow writer so suits me better) but the “sources/appendixes” for information are a nightmare with having to click back and forth etc… I think it would have saved time, and been easier if ACCA supplied these appendixes etc by paper so we can highlight/obtain information more easily.
Well done to all those that passed, and good luck for those taking resits – don’t lose hope 🙂
If you failed by 1-2%, personally wouldn’t bother with contacting ACCA – they aren’t that helpful, and I’ve never known an admin review to come back with extra marks – just wasted money for nothing.
I’ve had a 49% fail before and it was so frustrating!First time pass with 58%.
Honestly thought I’d failed – had 2 hour delay, the sun in my eyes (and a massive headache) for the whole exam, invigilator knocked all of my computer on the floor at the start meaning the screen cut out half way through – plus the exam question based around a charity which I found very limiting as to what to write.
A bit shocked but relieved nonetheless. 3 to go until I’m a member.
Don’t ever give up. I was so close to giving up after failing the F6 (Tax) exam nearly 2 years ago, as I hated the paper and couldn’t face studying it again. But we all have different strengths and weaknesses… one person’s weak paper, may be your strong paper!
Plenty of practice papers certainly are my recommendation – well done to all those who passed, and keep going to all those who this time didn’t!Talent management I actually felt quite ok on as I had completed a few test papers with this – not overly confident but felt I had quite a bit to write – I didn’t plan the answer and was running out of time so I think I’ve let myself down there.
Also risk question I’m sure I’ve messed up – I didn’t write too much about risk – didn’t read the question properly and was running out of time!I don’t see why not if you’ve put some logic behind it! I think it’s very broad – I’ve tried to research a bit this evening (mistake there!) but still can’t seem to see much on collabs.
I agree. The first few questions I was quite happy with (would have much preferred a private/public business question though as opposed to a charity!).
I did expand on the collabs – but just felt like I constantly repeated myself and was just waffling in the end!
Fingers crossed!I had:
1) Agency, Two Tier Board
– Financial & Non-Finance analysis2) Competitive forces
3) Collabs – hardly had anything to write here – I’ve looked all through my notes and there’s not much on it!
4) Risks – Strategic/Op
Talent ManagementQuestion 3 threw me. I just didn’t know what to write.
Charity also seemed to limit what I could write and felt like I kept repeating myself!
Really gutted as was achieving high marks in the mocks, and after starting the exam late and really hot (they couldn’t undo windows), with the sun in my eyes the whole time – I was hoping for better. Really gutted.Passed first time with 58%!
Absolutely relieved as I genuinely thought it would be a fail as I had really tough longer mark questions, that weren’t my strongest areas! And I struggled with the short mark questions too!
– I did 6 weeks of studying (from receiving my March results for F7)… spending a lot of time on past papers. I feel past papers help me much more than lectures/notes as you get to see exactly what the examiner expects and how to answer questions!
Now onto FM to finish my fundamentals!Passed first time – 54% with 6 weeks to learn and revise… I didn’t feel 100% prepared! I found this module fairly difficult… and didn’t enjoy it either, but this may have been a little easier if I’d spent more than 6 weeks learning.
Found the actual exam very hard, and was expecting a fail – but am so relieved I passed! Onto A&A!
(I used opentuition, Kaplan text book)I felt exactly the same… I failed F3 twice and was doubting if I even wanted to do my ACCA! I’ve just passed F3 and finding F4 easier.
I found that I was doing mocks over and over again, getting great results when in reality, some of the answers I remembered from last time! I would recommend doing mocks again and again, but purchasing maybe 3 more on the ACCA website as this will broaden it… Meaning you can see more areas that might need more looking at etc.
Make sure you have consolidation and the statements understood fully, as these are work 15 marks each… If you understand these, it’s 30% of your exam that you should be confident in.
Good luck, don’t give up… You will succeed!
