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ACCA P4 I passed 56%
I think the only way to pass this paper is to get a good handle on the pillars of the syllabus. You have to know how to do Interest Rate Hedging and Foreign Currency Hedging. A optional question on this subject is highly probable each exam sitting. That’s 25 marks banked.( ‘Futures’, ‘Options’, ‘Collars’, ‘Swaps’). I found open tuition videos really good in this area.
This time I practised questions. Personally, I have struggled to understand ‘valuations’. It was only by doing a number of questions could I see patterns emerging in the answers.
If you use Google and search pdf ACCA p4 notes you’ll be surprised what’s out there.
Again, read outside of the recommended text book. I joined the library at my local university. I would go there and study in peace and quiet and because I was in the company of other students I knuckled down.
Be disciplined, you need to study each night. I know how hard it is you feel tired. You have to keep going. Study the areas your strong at to reinforce the knowledge and then on the weekends when you maybe have more time conquer those areas that your finding harder. I used to sit in the library on weekends from 10am to 5pm. I would reward myself with a beer later that evening.
Don’t throw in the towel ! Keep going ! Good luck !Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am testament that you can do this !
I passed P5 59% and P4 56%.
I have been going at these my final two papers since 2014. I’ll let you do the numbers on the number of resits !
The June exam sitting was my last eligible sitting as I have been studying since 2007 ! So you can imagine the incredible stress I was under ! Last chance saloon !
So what did I do different this time round to wing two passes..
ACCA P5
I attended a revision course at Reed Business School. Tutor was Gamel Taher, chief paper marker for this paper. Expensive but first class facilities and tuition. Recommended. I did the BPP Mock in exam conditions. I paid fees personally.
I watched webinars on exam technique. How to construct a report to ensure you get the 4 marks for presentation. I learned if a question is say 7 marks I did seven mini paragraphs of writing each time referencing it back to the case scenario or company named in the question. I think in the exam it is so easy to write big paragraphs with many points. As I took this exam, I accepted I was not going to be able to answer each question fully in a style that the marker would do. Instead, I focussed on quality rather than quantity. I put my hat on as though I was the consultant giving advice. For example, I would write “I would suggest doing blah blah because it will give this benefit or remove this potential problem”.
The recommended text books only give you a flavour of a subject not always the meat on the bone. I watched youtube videos. I watched open tuition videos.
I looked at all the exam papers since the new examining team came in. I analysed each question and summarised what it was asking. I then made sure I covered each area in my studies. For example, the Balanced Scorecard. I learned not only what the model is but how do businesses apply it in the real world. I was so hoping this would come up in the June sitting. It has to be a strong contender for the September exam sitting. I accepted I couldn’t learn all of the syllabus and remember it all. So I focussed wholly on those areas that were repeated in exam questions and hadn’t been examined for a while. I made sure I could do the math in this paper. For example, how to analyse business units of a parent company (ROCE, EVA, Residual Income).
In the exam, I read the requirements first. I then said to myself where are the easier marks. What can I do here? Then, I chose my option questions. I did a quick plan. Then, read the scenario highlighting the sentences that would help my answers.
Actually, I thought I had failed this exam. I was so dejected afterwards as I thought I had blown my chances to qualify with ACCA. I was depressed all that Wednesday.
Be disciplined, you need to study each night. I know how hard it is you feel tired. You have to keep going. Study the areas your strong at to reinforce the knowledge and then on the weekends when you maybe have more time conquer those areas that your finding harder. I used to sit in the library on weekends from 10am to 5pm. I would reward myself with a beer later that evening.
If I can do it any one can. I am not clever. Please don’t throw in the towel.
Good luck with your studies.
Paul