AFM*** ACCA AFM September 2018 Exam Results ***

@accastudent1986 said: Passed with 50% it seems that a lot of people also got 50% so wonder if acca bumped a few peoples marks up to ensure pass rate is around the 40% mark

I can't remember if it was on here or on one of the webinars, but I saw or read something written by an ex ACCA marker. They said that the marker will mark your paper and add up the marks. If you got over 50, it's a pass and not too much more time will be spent. It will be quickly checked and your mark recorded. But if you get between 40 and 50, the marker will check again, looking for any opportunities to give you extra marks which could bump you up to 50. The paper will also be checked by another marker and maybe even the chief examiner for the paper. Multiple people will check the paper making sure you get credit for everything possible. This means more people get 50 than 47,48,49 etc. If you end up with a mark between 45 and 49 then they really have made every effort to get you to a pass mark, but they weren't able to find enough in your paper to do so. If you got 50, there's a good chance that when your paper was first marked you got between 40 and 50 but your paper has been reviewed multiple times and you were given enough credits to pass. Hence quite a few people here got exactly 50.

I suspect that the examiner considers the numbers of people who have already been awarded pass marks before taking this approach (e.g. if 40% of students score more than 50 marks then not too many of the remaining 60% of students would have their scores inflated to reach the pass mark as the pass rate for all ACCA exams across all sittings seems to be around the 40% mark).

passed on second attempt...many thanks openTuition.com

1st attempt, did really poor for my standard got 32, I touch on about 68% of the paper. I wasted time in the exam and lack enough prior practice, that was my downfall.

@cr333 said: Passed first time with 81%, my best mark in a P paper so far. Just P5 APM to go.

Hi, Congratulations. How did you study? Can you share me.

61% !! Almost a member too :) To those who didn't pass, hang in there... I promise with sincere efforts, it will happen to you too eventually. Thank you so much to John Moffat for your brilliant lectures. I can confidently say that I couldn't have done it without you!

congratulation for all you passed! Would you mind to share skills how to pass this subject?

@cr333 said: Passed first time with 81%, my best mark in a P paper so far. Just P5 APM to go.

Congratulations. How did you study? Would you mind share with us? Frankly,BBP book and opentuition' notes more useful then taking course (took a course) coz this subject is not popular in my country. So good quality material and channel for asking question is limited. some topic i still have difficulties on understanding.

Congratulations...what resources and exam technique did you use??.

@kikee said: Hi, Congratulations. How did you study? Can you share me.

@baoo said: Congratulations. How did you study? Would you mind share with us? Frankly,BBP book and opentuition' notes more useful then taking course (took a course) coz this subject is not popular in my country. So good quality material and channel for asking question is limited. some topic i still have difficulties on understanding.

I used a Kaplan textbook and revision kit - I looked at the OT notes a little as well but as my employer pays for my study materials I mostly used the Kaplan materials. I did not attend any courses either in person or online - I had access to the online Kaplan materials and could have emailed tutors if I needed to but I didn't need these. I prefer to study when I want to and at my own pace. I started studying as soon as the June exams were over. I read through the textbook systematically. For previous exams I have made my own notes as I go through, but I found this was quite time consuming and I don't tend to actually end up reading them when revising. So this time I just worked through each chapter, trying some of the questions (but not all of them) as I went through and moving on to the next chapter once I felt I understood it. Once I have gone through the textbook I start practicing questions from the exam kit. Initially this can be quite daunting, as you can open a question and find you don't have a clue how to answer it. I'll try to calculate answers to calculation questions, but for written questions I won't write out full answers at this stage - just scribble down a few words for the points I would make. If I really don't know how to answer a question, I'll go back to the textbook and look at that section again. Once I have an answer I'll check that against the suggested solution and see how I did. This continues throughout the revision phase and my answers will improve and get closer to the suggested answers (though not nearly as lengthy). If I find there are areas I am consistently making mistakes in or not understanding properly I will revisit those areas of the textbook. I will also read each technical article a couple of times. I don't actually spend huge amounts of time studying initially - as I am working full time I tend to study for half an hour on the train into work, 45 minutes in my lunch break, an hour after work, things like that. As the exam gets closer I ramp this up and spend more time in the evenings studying and time at weekends too. At this stage I start to say no to my friends a little more! I am lucky that my employer gives me a week of study time per exam - some of my colleagues use this to go on courses but I prefer to take this all in one go in the week leading up to the exam. In this week I do my final revision and will aim to get as many questions practiced as possible.I will save some mock exams so I can do them under timed conditions. I won't study for 16 hours a day though - you need some time for your brain to absorb all the information so I will also run errands, clean my house, do a little gardening, things like that. It's important to have a break. I also make sure I get plenty of sleep as that is important for learning and memory performance. By the end of the week I aim to have completed each question in the exam kit. For those I didn't complete I will at least look at the answer. For this exam I made sure I could tackled questions on complex NPVs, FX/interest rate hedging and business valuation. I didn't focus on ratios much, which was ironic as there was a 20-mark question for these, but I was confident enough in these from other exams.

45% first time, Passed with 55% at the second attempt. Thank you open tuition; only resources used were OT nothing else. Ever so grateful....

Congrats. Can you please advise how you manage to get that excellent mark. Thanks

Failed 1st time got 46 :(

I am sorry to hear that Melissa. I am on the same boat with you. I failed on my second attempt and this is my final paper. I failed an exam twice, the first time in my life. Got 41, in June 2018 and 34 this time. I applied for an administrative review as I was expecting a marginal pass or a marginal fail. I was shocked that I got 34. My strategy for December will be: - Excel on theory and get all the easy marks - Improve my answer presentation techniques. Prepare an easy to read, easy to mark template for Question 1 appendix and report, learn it by heart and apply it in the exam. - Learn presentation templates and techniques for different types of questions including investment appraisal, performance analysis, business valuation and interest risk/forex risk management. -In the last 4 weeks prior to the exam, do at least 2 past exam questions a day in timed exam conditions, and try to improve my pace and accuracy. Good Luck.

Thank God. I passed at 50% and am now ACCA affiliate. The open tuition videos were of great help. Thanks to John.

That's a great achievement Chris. Hats off to you. Can you please send me your whats app number. Need to chat

I don't give out my phone number to strangers on the Internet. I'm sure you can understand why. If you have questions, start a thread.

Wow 81% congrats! Are you working in a related field? If possible to share what resources you used and your study method please?

I was working in a financial accounting role so not exactly a related field. I am interested in financial markets and investing though so that helps with this one. For my study method please see much post at the top of page 3 of this topic.