*** ACCA P5 June 2018 Exam Results ***

Thanks to Almighty that I passed both P2 and P5 this sitting with 50 marks each. I was really unsure of P5 pass as I had no clue over that 12 marker variance question (4th Q-Part B) and left it completely. Q1 was also bit ambiguous with questions ranging from different topics from a relatively small scenerio. The only question that I attempted with full confidence was Q3 Corporate failure and I think that saved me big time to get that magical figure of 50. Should have scored something in the range of 18-20s in that Q I believe. Thank God.

Coming to the point, I don’t want to emphasize the cliches like time management for each part of the questions, answer planning and practicing exam style questions before exams. They are very important. Period. I had slacked in a few and that burned me right from the exam hall to the result declaration. You can imagine how a 50 scorer will feel.

What I believe most people ignore but is very important to P5’s success is writing style. Though bullet points are not preferred, it’s important that you MUST leave a line space for each relevant point you make. This surely enhance your chances of getting reward for each of your relevant points. The answer script will look legible, the marker can spot your point easily and you get a tick and a mark for each points. Don’t cram in more than 5 sentences in a para. If you believe that you got different points to make and are sure that you will get a mark for each of them, you MUST separate those points with a blank line. Trust me guys, it’s very important.

Next important stuff that’s very relevant to P5 is not to question spot. Alex has openly challenged that he will catch those people out. For example, as corporate failure has already come this sitting, don’t assume that it’s not going to come in next sitting and ignore that topic altogether. I know my friends who did that and left dejected.

The best approach is to cover up the whole portion and attempt few questions from the exam kit. The next approach which is not recommended is that, If you don’t have time to attempt those questions, understand the questions from each topic and read through the answers at the back and memorize some basic stuffs like I did.

The last but not the least is Love the P5 topics. Though I was not a good learner which is evident with my 50 marks, I loved P5 topics as it’s closely linked to real professional/business life. My tutor always said most of the times there are no right or wrong answer in P5 unless you justify your answer sensibly.

I think I have gone overboard being a 50 marker. Just shared my experience of how did I get that magic figure without being too nerdy. Exam writing technique is vital. Thanks to my tutor for all such tips and always thank to Almighty.

Congrats to all the achievers. To the repeaters, Chill! Almighty will surely give you the best result. Work ‘Smarter’ ?

@mbangweta said:
66% passed finally. from 43, 39,39, 40 and now affiliate

Congratulations Mbangweta! Well deserved.

How long does it take ACCA to send out certificate.

@kolobingo said:
I didn’t do anything differently.

I think ACCA uses certain papers such as P5 to meet their budget numbers.

I passed by the grace of God that’s all !!!

I find it hard to believe I failed 3 times and each time I failed with the exact same percentage: 34%. Twice I would say it is a co-incidence but how would it be a co-incidence 3times in a row? 34% in Dec 2017, 34% in Mar 2018, 34% in June 2018. It’s not even funny. 🙁

Do we get certificate?
Is that once PER are done?

I passed at my 5th attempt having got 45, 41, 35, 34 in previous attempts.

For this attempt I changed my technique. Instead of trying to apply text book jargon to the questions I applied common sense.

The exam is very time constrained and whilst I did past questions, I didn’t do them to time which is why I ran out of time and couldn’t complete two parts of questions which equalled 20%. I’d recommend practising questions to time to improve your technique.

I’d also recommend leaving at least two lines between each paragraph – lots of white space so it’s easy to mark.

I don’t want to repeat the cliches like question practice, time management in exam etc. to pass this exam. They are important. Period! I want to speak about little details that most people tend to ignore but is very important in passing this exam. P5 compared to other papers is a light subject with less content to study. The main challenge in passing this exam is not the lack of knowledge but the lack of good exam writing techniques. So this focuses only on exam writing.

1. You should break up the requirements in a single question and thats the way Alex writes. “Explain and analyze the problems of………” (10 mks). You should explain the problems and analyze the problems as well. Too much of either explanation or analyzation will not fetch you more marks. Get a balance.

2. Alex writes question in such a way that the requirement part seems generic or straight forward but the actual question lies in the scenario.
For example: The requirement is “ Explain the drawbacks of using incremental budgeting in XYZ Co.” But in the scenario you will see a line like this “As a performance mgt. accountant, your CEO has asked you to prepare a report highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of using incremental budgeting”.
Even though the requirement asks us to explain the drawbacks, the scenario asked us to explain the benefits as well and you must write down the benefits to fetch more marks.

3. A very simple and mostly ignored tip. Leaving a blank line space between each point you make. Trust me guys, it’s very simple and mighty effective to get the full reward for our points. As dumbing our knowledge is of no use in this paper and points related to scenario is of utmost important, it’s key to separate out each points. Don’t use highlighter or bullet points but leave a blank line space between each points you make rather than cramming in 3-4 points in big big paragraphs. It’s proven that people who leave space between each valid points score more than the people cramming everything in big paragraphs.

Best of luck.

Very welldone. Any tips as I am going to be sitting for the September session on this paper.

@ds3ce said:
I find it hard to believe I failed 3 times and each time I failed with the exact same percentage: 34%. Twice I would say it is a co-incidence but how would it be a co-incidence 3times in a row? 34% in Dec 2017, 34% in Mar 2018, 34% in June 2018. It’s not even funny. 🙁

I had the same issue with p7 but I changed my exam technique and eventually passed the paper. Maybe try something different, different tutor, study material, exam technique etc, it might help. I honestly feel your pain, been there before

Passed Final paper. The torture comes to an end!

ACCA Uk saying they are having problems with MyACCA which they are trying to resolve.

My ACCA is still showing student and I can access my temporal professional certificate and I am not on affiliates list.

What is the alternative because I have suffered to complete ACCA for a long time.

I want to view my temporal certificate and see my name as affiliate.

Passed P5, finally an affiliate thanks to Opentuition!
I have had the same issue with my acca not updating properly..
Would anyone be knowing how they calculate the top national affiliates? Is it an average of all papers?