OBU RAP material for use.

Hello Everyone, After failing the OBU RAP on my first attempt due to the misguidance of my mentor (Sir XXXXXX)*, I had to work very hard on my own to pass it the second time. I was still able to only score a C as that is the maximum you can get if you have failed once. Luckily, because of my grades, my degree was still first class. However, I am aware that not everyone is so lucky. My mentor for the second time was Sir. Abid from Abeel School of Accountancy, Karachi. He guided me via email and gave a timely response although I was not paying him. Anyway, to stop future students from failing, I am willing to give away all my material and the OBU samples I have. just leave your email address here and I will send them to you. I chose topic 8 and my RAP was related to Pakistan Pharmaceutical Industry. I do not reside in PAkistan therefore, I was unable to get a hold of the statistics published by the government ( you can only get it if you work in the medical industry). However, I wrote that in my limitations of information gathering and analysis. It would be helpful if you could get a hold of it if you do the same topic on the same industry. Here are a few tips anyway, (Please note these are my own notes, so they are not neat and are pasted from various relevant articles/forums)

a Referencing is of utmost importance. Aim to have about 45 sources. reference every single fact you give! to the point that it seems ridiculous. even accounting concepts. reference them to study texts. and please don’t reference wikipedia. it is highly unprofessional and gives a terrible impression. do not skip referencing wikipedia if you need to (or else they will fail you for plagiarism) but go to the references section at the bottom of the page and go to the original page and reference that.

b if analysing a financial statement, they don’t just want this increased by a % or a reduction… they want u to investigate why such occurred… they also do not want maybes, probably and could be….. they want u to give definitive reasons referencing ur conclusions THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.

c use of IT skills must be demonstrated. Dont panic. it just means use tables, graphs for whatever you can. I made about 12.

d.Students just describe the changes in ratios, rather than do research to find out the reasons for changes. eg. why profit dropped despite the sales increasing?
e.Using out of date information.
f. Insufficent referencing; this includes all graphs/charts/business models/ratio analysis, general information, comparator company information. for referencing format, i followed https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm. they have broken it down and made it very easy.
g.Not reading the information pack thoroughly.
h.Not applying models/theories to analysis, particularly when doing topics 6, 17, 18.

John Woodley, ACCA undergraduate programme director at Oxford Brookes Business School, discusses some of the important skills that a student has to demonstrate to pass the Research and Analysis Project.

A key aspect of both the Research and Analysis Project (RAP) and the Key Skills Statement (KSS) is self-reflection. Although this is not explicitly assessed in the RAP, it is important for you to recognise that there may be constraints that affect your choice of project and how you undertake it. ( do not pretend that you are chuck norris and so you made the best RAP in the world without any problems.)

You need to ask yourself some questions: Which project is most suitable for me? Where will I get my information? Who will be a good project mentor? Thinking about your own strengths and weaknesses will help you approach the RAP in the most appropriate way.

Project guidance
An appropriate choice of project is critical to passing the RAP. If you choose a project that is too wide ranging, too specialist, or too general, then you may be throwing away your chances of passing. My advice is to first build on your learning from the ACCA exams and then choose a single organisation to focus on. Remember, you have a maximum of 5,000 words available for the RAP.

VERY IMPORTANT!Keep a diary to record important events that happen during your time working on your RAP. In particular, record what happens at the meetings with your project mentor and how these meetings support the skills development you need to show in the KSS. even the minutest obstacles, note them down so you have material to write in your KSS.

The assessment criteria for the RAP are published in the Project Guidelines and you should read these before starting your RAP. Two essential academic and professional skills are those of communication and analysis. In your RAP, your communication skills are partly demonstrated by producing ‘a coherent and structured report focused on the stated objectives and written in a lucid style’ – this includes four important requirements. The RAP must have ‘objectives’ – what the RAP is about and what you hope to learn from undertaking the RAP. The objectives must be the ‘focus’ for the RAP, in that all the work you undertake must address these objectives. Although this sounds obvious, many RAPs state objectives for the project work, and then ignore them throughout the rest of the report. Such projects do not pass. (I made this mistake the first time. The tone of your objective should be like a question. For instance an objective may be “Evaluate non financial aspects of ABC by analyzing its strengths, weaknesses as an organization as well as opportunities and threats it faces from external factors.” Remember to ponder over your objectives in your conclusion kind of answer your objectives’ questions.)

If you do not focus on the objectives, it is likely that you will not produce a ‘coherent’ report – one that is logical and orderly. You will also not produce a ‘structured’ report since there will be no relationship between the different parts of the project report. You should read the Project Guidelines to understand the Oxford Brookes recommended format for your project report. This will help you produce a RAP that is focused, coherent, and structured.

Many students find it useful to think of undertaking the project as telling a story. What do I want to find out? (introduction). What information will I need to find? (information gathering). How will I evaluate this information? (analysis). And what will my analysis tell me about my objectives? (conclusions). In your RAP, you need to clearly link these different components together.

Academic skills
You must demonstrate certain academic skills in your RAP. In particular, you must reference properly any sources of information that you have taken from other authors. This has two purposes – so that it can be easily established what is your own work, and so the quality of the other sources of information used to prepare the project can be evaluated. You must use the Harvard Referencing System, which is explained in the Project Guidelines.

In addition to good communication skills, you must also demonstrate first-rate analytical skills in order to pass the RAP. For example, a popular RAP topic is ‘An analysis of the financial situation of xxx organisation’. Most students include the calculation of some financial ratios in such a project. However, the calculation of financial ratios and identifying the numerical changes in financial ratios is only the starting point for analysis. Calculations of financial ratios, by themselves, are not sufficient to pass the project.

A company’s financial statements do not exist in isolation; they represent the company’s business activity for a certain period. To understand any changes in, or derived from, the financial statements you need to understand any changes in business activity. Therefore you must look outside the financial statements, and the annual report, to the company’s marketplace and perhaps to wider economic factors.

There are many possible factors that may have an impact on a company’s business activity. These include the company’s own strategy and investment activity, the actions of competitors, changes in oil prices and/or interest rates, levels of company or personal taxation, and so on. You have to demonstrate that you have identified some possible reasons which explain why your chosen financial ratios have changed over time.

Calculation is not sufficient. You must explain any changes you observe, and to explain you must explore the company’s wider business environment. A good RAP puts the findings of your analysis in a broader organisational context, which makes it more valuable to a reader.

Consider this article carefully when thinking about your RAP so that you fully demonstrate your graduate-level skills and pass your RAP first time. Then celebrate becoming a graduate of this important learning partnership between ACCA and Oxford Brookes University

Hope this helps you and you achieve an A!

*This name was removed for legal reasons – Trephena – Forum Moderator