*** ACCA P5 March 2018 Exam Results ***

I feel your pain but don’t give up

they do, showing all the professional papers passed.

I have had many attempts and finally passed with 54%!

For those who wants to change the paper, please DON’T DO IT!!

You have already spent so much time getting ready for this paper and all P’s are similar complexity. There is no easy paper at professional level.
Firstly, you have chosen this paper for the reason and secondly, it would take you long time again to learn new paper.

Instead I changed the strategy, I would fully write my answers to questions and would submit them to Mr Mustafa Muchhala for reviewing. It is very very important that somebody knowledgeable checks your writing and directs you. You can write a lot in the exam but completely irrelevant points which would not score you anything.
It is just eye opener when you actually get feedback and start working on it long before the exam.

First mock, takes you ages to write (forget about 3 hours) but as you practice you would write quicker and quicker because you would understand what you have to cut and where to concentrate.
Even if you don’t have time to write fully answers, you must always plan what points you would cover and compare with answers. Not always your answers should be the same as in the book. As long as it fits with question asked you get score!

Please try what I did and keep practicing questions with feedbacks , don’t change the paper! All the best for those who retaking again in July!!!

I completely understand you.I have a one year old and I work from 8 to 5pm each day.I had to do self study for p5 and I passed with 53 for the first time.Studying was not easy especially combining it with my baby and work but during lunch breaks I try to watch lecture notes on opentuition and I write salient points in my pocket notebook which I glance through from time to time at work and during the weekends I study too.

@essem said:
Passed first time with 70% despite messing up the eva calculation. Spent around 40 hours working for this exam.

Hi Essem,

Congratulation passing P5. Will you be kind enough to share your study methods and any study materials you have used.
Greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks for this wise and well laid out thought process in approaching P5 … one question tho what is the minimum time spent in revising this topic.also is there any special article outside of ACCA that can be used/read to gain a better understanding in approaching this exam.

@samie said:
Hi Essem,

Congratulation passing P5. Will you be kind enough to share your study methods and any study materials you have used.
Greatly appreciated!!!

For March 2018 exams I took P4 and P5. Early on I decided that most of time should be directed towards P4 given the amount of knowledge\calculations. From January 2018 to the date of exam my time was split 75% P4 and 25% P5

My approach to P5

1. Throw away your study text.

2. Read opentuition notes, I didn’t bother with the videos. I would dedicate 10-15 hours to this in total. Do not try to understand everything as I would recommend reviewing notes after attempting questions.

3. Most of your time, around 70% of it should be spent attempting questions. Personally I would practice questions taken from past papers on the acca website. I would also read the relevant examiners report for each exam, before and after attempting the paper. Ask yourself have you taken on board the guidance in the report.

4. When attempting the question, before reading the scenarios, read all the requirements first. Key to passing the exam is understanding what the examiner is asking for.An example, taken from the examiners report for the last exam March 2018:

“Part (ii) required an evaluation of the current performance dashboard in measuring the
achievement of the local government’s and waste management department’s aims. This was a
basic test of the candidates’ ability to interpret a dashboard and link it to the strategy of an
organisation and was generally done well. There were a number of candidates who did not
respond to the question asked and instead, evaluated the performance of the company (rather
than the dashboard) or else failed to link the dashboard to the aims.”

The examiner asked for an evaluation of the current performance dashboard.
Most people that failed would have evaluated the current performance and would have scored 0 marks.

Also, carefully read the question as all questions contain more than 1 requirement and will carry equal marks. Ignoring part of requirement will reduce the marks available to you by 2 or 3 times.

5. When reviewing your answers to past papers, check the examiners answers and try to see how he has applied the scenario to his answer. Using the scenario in the your answer is essential. Everything in the scenario has been included for a reason and using this in your answer is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced during your question practice.

6. Basic structure of an answer should be
“relevant information to question from scenario” + “this is what the information means” + “justification” of why it is important. This should be around 2 or 3 sentences.

7. Do not write big paragraphs. As per point 6. each point should be 2 or 3 sentences long and should be its own individual paragraph. Have a new point to make? Start a new paragraph.

8. Time pressure in the exam is an illusion. We are aiming 50% and therefore should be aiming to make 60 points in the exam. As per point 6. each point should be 2 or 3 sentences long which should take 2 minutes to write. 2 min per point * 60 points = 120 minutes. Spend about 20-25 minutes reading the scenario. The remaining time should be spent carefully thinking about what you are going to write and whether it is relevant/answering the question.

9. Do not obsess over the calculations in this module. Spend 10-15 hours going over these during revision to understand how to do them. More important is understanding what they mean and interpreting the results. This also applies during the exam, do not spend time trying to get the calculations perfect, allocate time and move on. In the March 2018 exam I messed up the EVA calculation yet still managed to score 70% in the exam overall

how come ?,
its so happy to hear that you have passed it and also with a wonderful marks,

i have flunked it at 41,
please would you be able to guide me please?

i have failed it at 41,
first attempt and self study,
even though i have done everything to pass the paper,
covering the book, reading and understanding technical articles and practicing questions,
i just don’t know where i went wrong ,
please if anyone could guide me on this it will be really motivating to sit on June please

if anyone interested as study buddy or a guider to teach me on my doubts please just let me know
thanks in advance

what else did you take in the options? I skipped last March failed several times

@essem said:
For March 2018 exams I took P4 and P5. Early on I decided that most of time should be directed towards P4 given the amount of knowledge\calculations. From January 2018 to the date of exam my time was split 75% P4 and 25% P5

My approach to P5

1. Throw away your study text.

2. Read opentuition notes, I didn’t bother with the videos. I would dedicate 10-15 hours to this in total. Do not try to understand everything as I would recommend reviewing notes after attempting questions.

3. Most of your time, around 70% of it should be spent attempting questions. Personally I would practice questions taken from past papers on the acca website. I would also read the relevant examiners report for each exam, before and after attempting the paper. Ask yourself have you taken on board the guidance in the report.

4. When attempting the question, before reading the scenarios, read all the requirements first. Key to passing the exam is understanding what the examiner is asking for.An example, taken from the examiners report for the last exam March 2018:

“Part (ii) required an evaluation of the current performance dashboard in measuring the
achievement of the local government’s and waste management department’s aims. This was a
basic test of the candidates’ ability to interpret a dashboard and link it to the strategy of an
organisation and was generally done well. There were a number of candidates who did not
respond to the question asked and instead, evaluated the performance of the company (rather
than the dashboard) or else failed to link the dashboard to the aims.”

The examiner asked for an evaluation of the current performance dashboard.
Most people that failed would have evaluated the current performance and would have scored 0 marks.

Also, carefully read the question as all questions contain more than 1 requirement and will carry equal marks. Ignoring part of requirement will reduce the marks available to you by 2 or 3 times.

5. When reviewing your answers to past papers, check the examiners answers and try to see how he has applied the scenario to his answer. Using the scenario in the your answer is essential. Everything in the scenario has been included for a reason and using this in your answer is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced during your question practice.

6. Basic structure of an answer should be
“relevant information to question from scenario” + “this is what the information means” + “justification” of why it is important. This should be around 2 or 3 sentences.

7. Do not write big paragraphs. As per point 6. each point should be 2 or 3 sentences long and should be its own individual paragraph. Have a new point to make? Start a new paragraph.

8. Time pressure in the exam is an illusion. We are aiming 50% and therefore should be aiming to make 60 points in the exam. As per point 6. each point should be 2 or 3 sentences long which should take 2 minutes to write. 2 min per point * 60 points = 120 minutes. Spend about 20-25 minutes reading the scenario. The remaining time should be spent carefully thinking about what you are going to write and whether it is relevant/answering the question.

9. Do not obsess over the calculations in this module. Spend 10-15 hours going over these during revision to understand how to do them. More important is understanding what they mean and interpreting the results. This also applies during the exam, do not spend time trying to get the calculations perfect, allocate time and move on. In the March 2018 exam I messed up the EVA calculation yet still managed to score 70% in the exam overall

Hi Essem,

Many thanks for the tips and advise. Greatly appreciated.

All the very best…!!!

@khalilm Thank you very much for kindly responding. Congratulations on becoming a member/affiliate. 🙂 I will ensure I follow your advice and essem’s tips as well. This is going to be my 3rd attempt. I will keep trying, keep going until I pass. 🙂 I feel more positive and more confident after reading all this. Thank you. 🙂