Low pass rates – Audit & Assurance

Ah how gutting being so close. I used kaplan text, free kaplan mock, free bpp mock, kaplan exam kit and worked through all the acca study resources. Definitely difficult exam, I did it in Dec

Hi @dublinacca,

Getting 48% would mean that concepts may not be the issue. Instead from what I think solving answers must be the actual problem.

AA seems like a relatively easy subject to study but it becomes challenging when you start solving pass exam questions. So even if one memorise the study text but doesn’t solve exam type questions… He is unlikely to have a successful attempt.

There are some common blunders that student end up making in terms of exam techniques which you surely would want to avoid.

Key points in regards to the long questions (section B)

– read the requirement first then begin with the answer.
Many at times students write what is not even asked by the examiner and end up losing marks or gaining no scores at all.
For instance if the question requires you to “Describe Audit Risks” and if you write about Business Risks you will not gain any scores… Even if the business risks are correct but that is not what the examiner has asked!

-make a plan:
Believe it or not but spending 5 to 7 mins to make a rough plan of your answers saves you about 15 mins to write the answer. How? Well, you get a direction.

-Link your answer to the scenario:
If you simply give generic points and nothing specific to the scenario you are unlikely to be awarded any marks. The examiner wants you to be specific to the scenario. Students don’t realise the answer and points are within the scenario they just need to find it and explain it!

-Time management :
Well, i guess time is the main issue of AA candidates and why may that be? (Yes there are 3 long questions to answer but there are other factors)
1) Writing irrelevant details : students end up writing what’s not necessary. Solution to this… Read the requirements.
2) Writing more points than required : Even if you write paragraphs and paragraphs you can’t be awarded more what the scoring. Even if you right 12 points for a 2 mark question, the examiner will give you 2 and not more. He won’t give you 6 out of 2! Solution : take a note of the scores and use them as a guide to write the answer.
3) Not enough question practise : Solving 1 or 2 questions won’t help. You need to practice as much questions you can from an exam Kit by an ACCA Approved Content Provider…. a lot of questions!

If you have completed the kit then repeat the questions.
Yes, repeat question practice!
You see and learn stuff which went unnoticed in the first time
Doing them over again will make you realise that there were things that went off your eyes and unnoticed when you did them for the first time.

But remember though it is about Practising a lot of questions… You need to do that in the right way… *Quality over quantity…*
And what do I mean by that?

Well,

-you do a set of questions(without peeking at the answers!) …

-preferably under timed conditions…

-Then check your answers…

-Analyse your mistakes (as in why did you get the answers wrong, what did they do in the solution etc)

-Make note of your mistakes in the sense which topic area you are making more mistakes (you may would want to mark yourself to know that) so that you can go back to the topic and revise it then go back to solving questions under that topic.

-Also make note of questions you may find extremely challenging and different as compared to others and look at their solutions carefully.

-Moreover, complete the question then come back go to the solution… Complete it even if you don’t know how to do it… Make a guess and then see whether you go it right or wrong…
If you got it right, why?
If you got it wrong, why?

So the idea of doing all this is *Learning from your mistakes*

Ideally you would like to take the same approach to practise MCQs (section A). It is important that you read the given scenario properly and don’t rush in making a choice. Something what may seem an obvious answer… May not be so.
Read. Think. Choose.

Moreover when it comes to preparing for AA it is vital to use the resources provided by ACCA on their website (technical articles, examiner’s reports, past papers, the constructive response workspace, Free CBE mocks and many more).

The exam kits like by Kaplan have past paper questions and alongside their solutions the examiner’s comments also for that particular question. This is a great way to learn from the common pitfalls and avoid them. So make sure to take advantage of this when analysing your mistakes.

Remember not to cherry pick the topics…
Like leaving one topic just because you don’t like it or it is too difficult…
No, don’t do that! Prepare all the topics.

Finally, do read the examiner’s report of your sittings to get an idea of where you may have gone wrong.

@dublinacca said:

The pass rates in both of my sittings overall were in the 30s which is among the lowest of all the exams.

Where are you finding sample answers to previous exam questions to see what exactly they are looking for as I’m at a loss what they realistically want in the time given.
.

Look dont worry about the pass rates… Just learn from yours and others mistakes.
If someone found a subject difficult it is not necessary that you will find it too. Just oay attention to exam techniques.

About the previous exam questions..

Check this link and go under the heading Past Exams
https://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8.html

Ideally the Practise Kit by ACCA Approved Content Providers also have sample answers to the past questions.

Here are some otherink that you can look into :
https://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/retake-guides.html

@dublinacca said:
Follow up:

Can I get more information about where I went wrong? E.g. the correction of my exam.

In order to know where you went wrong check your answers to the past questions by yourself alongside the Mark Scheme and Solutions provided in the Practise Kits. They are very comprehensive and as I said earlier above… Don’t leave out the examiner’s reports and comments for that paper or question.

AA may be a paper where words dominant and numbers are barely found but it is a very practical paper. You will have to think like an auditor and outside your bookish knowledge when attempting questions.

Hope that helps.

All the best!