Change P5 to P7?

I also tried P5 several times unsuccessfully but never gave up and I would advise you to do the same. I have just cleared P5 now in June. In my case I had several issues in my personal life but understood that if I were to stop exams, it would have been difficult to get back to studying.

To pass P5, in my case, I realised that the technique for writing P5 is also important; it’s not just about the knowledge.

I also found that reading the scenarios was becoming difficult and the examiner was using scenarios which were rather diffucult to absorb. In this regard, try to understand how different sector of the economy work, as well as the specific industries, e.g. in the last sitting, it was a retail business and I had read enough about FMCG companies from financial publications. This helps you to extract the strategic issues quickly and to use the right jargon for the industry, e.g. for a chain of retail supermarkets,which was in the last exam, the issues are: positioning, market segmentation, income levels in chosen areas, logistics and value chain, staff issues, customer service, differentiation or focus, etc. So it was easy for me to grasp the case study quickly.

Public transport is another popular industry for the examiner, and a favourite topic because the industry is well developed in London and Europe. And you have to know the main issues in public transport and apply topical matters to the scenario. Don’t limit yourself to the data given in the scenario, be as broad as possible.

Application is more important but raw knowledge is still critical.

Don’t give up, you can also qualify, just like me. Learn how to write a P5 exam.

I don’t know your personal circumstance but in my case, I really wanted to qualify and I understood what it would mean to me to write ACCA after my name…that kept me going regardless.

For me to pass, I used two stopwatches in the exam. And this I practiced over and over in my exam preparations. If I did not use this technique, I would n’t have passed. I identified time management as a problem in my specific case, and I don’t know your style of writing. But let me assure you. If you get 49%, as you say you have, the problem is presentation and not knowledge.

So you are there already, don’t lose hope. Make an analysis of what you are doing wrong. In my case I realised that I always write out 75% and I managed to pass all the papers. But when I got to optional papers, I needed to write more than 75% of the paper to secure a pass. And it took me a while to identify my own problem.

One more thing…when it gets to optional papers, you must pass all the questions. If you score 67% in your paper but you did not attempt all 4 questions, I think your final mark will be less than 50%; but that is just my subjective view. However, when I aimed to attempt all three questions and target a minimum of 55% in all questions, I passed.

The paper has a 50 mark question and two 25 mark questions. You must get at least 25 marks from question 1, and score at least 13 marks from each of the choice questions.

It is easier to score marks from the 25 mark questions. So aim for 30 marks from section B. Then you need 25 from question 1.

Start by reading the requirements before reading the case study. Read the case study and make notes on the question paper. Then read the requirements again. Plan your answer before you start to write. Don’t rush to start writing. Plan the two small questions first. Don’t plan and write one question. Plan at least two question before you start writing. And reflect on your plan before you start writing.

My private email is LLMAQE@GMAIL.COM