HOW TO PASS F8 – 2014 onward

Clearly this is irrelevant for F8 in 2013 but for upcoming exams from 2014 onward.

Brilliant tips have been shared by posters for various papers and for paper F8, being a good but tricky paper – one which had bitten me in the past – I thought I’d share a few lines just as I’d done before in a forum. I particularly noted a poster’s frustration in one of the forum topics, that he/she has attempted F8 5 times and still yet to pass, I thought i should post one or two things that helped me pass the second time.

*** PS: Before reading further, please note that these points below are not general exam tips albeit some points may apply to other papers, but it is a specific line of tips issued mainly for the purpose of passing F8 ****

1. QUESTION PRACTICE

I know this may sound like a cliche or an obvious point but it is a no-brainer.

Personally, I didn’t practice as many past questions as I would have liked on my second but final attempt at F8, however i do agree with anyone who reckons that one of the key ways to pass F8 is through question practice, as the questions seem to carry similar themes year on year.

2. READ AND RE-READ THE REQUIREMENT FOR EACH QUESTION

One hard lesson I learnt after I failed F8 at my first attempt (which by the way dazed me as I never anticipated a fail), was to read the questions CAREFULLY during the second sitting.

It is very easy to write a good answer to a different question in this paper. And what could be more frustrating than failing not because you weren’t prepared, but because you didn’t correctly or adequately read the requirement?

3. GET VERYYYYYY FAMILIAR WITH TOPICS SUCH AS AUDIT RISK vs BUSINESS RISK, and GIVING AUDIT OPINION (QUALIF UNQUALIF etc)

Just like one poster had mentioned regarding the above, knowing Audit Risk vs business Risk is crucial. As this is a vital topic within the F8 syllabus, it is more than likely to be repeated in the questions that carry huge marks.. get this concept wrong and you may be emptying your waters in a perforated barrel. The mistake of not being very clear on the concept of AR vs BR stung me in my first F8 attempt but prior to my second attempt, i’d learned thru a fabulous 57 minute kaplan video on youtube about audit risk in clear detail..check it out on youtube, it will help you.

4. READ WIDE… no cherry-picking or second-guessing!

This final bit I’m throwing in for now RE passing F8 is that you should ensure to cover the entire syllabus so as to gain sufficient knowledge in whatever areas will come out. this is primarily to ensure that you answer every question of the paper as opposed to getting to one or two questions and getting completely blank.. trust me, a mark can be the difference between a fail and a pass with F8.

Although i passed mine the second time, i am sure glad i did ‘cos F8 is somewhat easy theoretically speaking but technically speaking, F8 has got to be one of the trickiest papers at skills level ‘cos you will think you’ve written well enough for a pass only to be shocked with a FAIL on the morning of the much anticipated but dreaded day of result.

You have my best wishes for F8 and other papers… don’t worry, we are all sailing together in the ACCA exam-SHIP and none of us will drown or jump overboard 😀