*** P4 June 2013 Exam was.. Post your comments ***

I don’t agree with the comments of the other candidates . The paper was a very fair paper for well prepared students.

<cite>@prakasam said:</cite>
I don’t agree with the comments of the other candidates . The paper was a very fair paper for well prepared students.

funny enough, you said exactly the same thing about 2011 P4 paper.. obviously you haven’t done it..

I rarely comment on sites like this, but given some of the comments I have read re ACCA P4 I feel compelled to do so.

I accept that I am a very very experienced tutor and a member of the marking team for P4 but leave that to one side. I work the paper like a student and here is what I think:

Attack Order

My order of attack was Q3,Q4 then Q1. I did Q2 as a separate exercise.

The reading time was sufficient (starting from Q4 and going backwards) to get through the requirements to each question and identify the topics being tested. I recommended to ALL my students to do Section B before Section A. On this paper, I feel that was really essential.

Q3

A really straight forward FX hedging questions. I managed to finish it in 35 minutes.

References to past questions :

Part (a) Q2 June 2011, Q2 December 2012, Scott’s questions Lammer, MJY plc
Part (b) Bob Ryan question Multidrop June 2010
Part (c) No past questions but was in both BPP and Kaplan Texts.

Q4

Very fair question, predominantly covering dividend policy, It had a large proportion of written/theory which I believe many students will find to their liking. It was key to do some analysis on the data before answering part (b). I hope the students tabulated their answers and did not do too much.

Part (c) will only be tricky for those who did not attempt past exam questions.

Part (d) was an easy three marks.

References to key past questions

Q4 December 2010, Scott’s Questions TYR and Forthmate inc

Q2

I chose to do this as my spare question. I just felt it was a little time pressured but it covered the core area of business valuations. It was nice to CIV being tested as I have taught it so many times in class.

Students may have been put off by having to write so much about “synergies”. However, it was not that difficult and with hindsight, quite straightforward.

Past questions and knowledge was key.

References to key past questions

Part (a) My Class Notes , Kaplan and BPP Texts
Part (b) CIV was in My Class Notes, Kaplan Text, Q1 June 2012
Part (c) Q3 December 2012

Q1

I got on to this question with 1.5 hours to go and as planned. It was a long read but was easy to separate the detail out. It needed clarity of thought and it was clear what students had to do:

1) Compute Kei
2) Find Ve discounting FCFe at Kei
3) APV – simple one.
4) Bond Valuation – easy one

It was important to work on each part systematically and stick to the time allocated.

I went with four appendices and my report addressed all the issues raised but succinctly.

Easy marks for S+P and the part (b) ethical issues.

It was time pressured but very doable.

I hope students did not attempt this first – they would certainly not finish it and lose confidence.

References to key past questions

Part (i) Q2 December 2010 Fubuki
Part (ii) Q1 June 2011 Pursuit, Q2 December 2010 Fubuki
Part (iii) Q3 December 2012, Q3 June 2011
Part (iv) N/A – Comment on the analysis
Part (b) Q5 December 2010, Q5 June 2011

Overall, I would expect students who did not question spot and were properly prepared to pass.

<cite>@AJADI_ADEDEJI said:</cite>
Thanks Sunilthetutor. I appreciate your candid analysis. However you admitted you are a very experienced tutor. You have used and applied these concepts over and over again for years. You cannot be in the same class with an average candidate.

Lets look at statistics from Open Tuition. I doesn’t just add up . About 50% DISASTER , another 30% HARD. ….. …………….. And these are not just freshers. Most are writing their last ACCA paper(s).

I feel the comment that it should be easy for WELL PREPARED candidates is simply unrealistic. Are you saying these category of candidates with their experience and track records would not be prepared for P4 – WHICH THEY KNOW IS PERHAPS THE TOUGHEST in the qualification scheme?

Lets get REAL…. that paper, within the context of the time allotted, was NOT A FAIR PAPER. ACCA may take it or leave it !

Well I can see what you are saying, but I don’t agree neither to the over 100 students I prepared for this sitting.

Most students are as you say “average” – your words not mine.

Thats the problem. To pass a paper set at “masters level” one must be better than average. Not to question spot and but to know the syllabus really well and work past exam questions under pressure.

Don’t blame ACCA for not being prepared properly. Look at your own preparation.

If you invest the time and resources you PASS. Its that simple.

This paper I think was fair. Time is the biggest issue. If you actually took your time and thought about the question then you should have passed. But unfortunately you don’t have time to think so as soon as you read the question you should just know what to do. I may have failed this paper not because I didn’t prepare well or because it was a hard paper, but because I didn’t think about what i was doing. Next time

hi
messed up the exam. started with q 1 which was a big mistake as it was too long and confusing so half way through you are stuck and lose all hope, then demotivation and frustrations set in which had bad affect on the option papers….will have to do it again in december…..meanwhile open tuition is simply great….have found this if any help for further reference for p4 preparation…
good luck

This paper was way too long to complete in 3 hours and very confusing! The case study was a total disaster to figure out! I felt I was 95% prepared and this examiner just depressed me!! Hope he have a heart and mark the paper easy!!!!

I had 2 weeks off work before the exam, went on a study course and revision course. did my mock exams to get my pass assurance with BPP, and I still found this paper (my last one) very very tough. Yes it was time pressured as most are but this paper is beyond a joke. I did Qs3 first and I feel I did well with this one as it was on hedging which is a big area of the syllabus so coincided with my study. However where do you go from there I went to Q2 as remembered doing something on P/E Ratio to value a company etc. and talked around Synergy, although didn’t understand the 2 different types I assumed it meant one to add value to the company and the other cost savings and cheaper financing etc, as they had surplus cash, whilst the other company had the expertise, also mentioned about breaking down barriers to entry etc. and easier access to markets, but who knows if that is what they were after. Q1 I only had an hour left so only answered parts a I and a ii and then the ethics part in b, did not get on to parts iii and iv so now I need 50 out of about 75 as I did not get the gamma part in the hedging question either. I understood how to calculate KEu and got 11% and I discounted using APV and FCFE. I also assumed no debt for the first part as paying of loans not sure if that is correct.,

My problem with this paper is:

– Too time pressured
– some big questions in part B focusing on smaller areas of the Syllabus, where was Black Scholes and options, where was Interest Rates hedging (Ok we had currency instead)
– all questions in the P&R Kit had more work to do on putting together the cashflows such as PPP to calculate exchange rates etc. Capital Allowances, Tax calculations, converting from one currency to another.
– where were the easy marks, learnt all the assumptions of the models as most past questions ask you to state these only to be not asked about even one.

Very disappointed I just hope I get 50.

I have to comment on this….

For the record, Sunil was my tutor for this exam. By far the best tutor ive had for any exam to date. He gives 200%, you give 100%, you pass, i think that was the deal….

Having said that, i refused to except doing part b first was the best option, i went against his advise and went straight into a rather long winded, confusing question with too much minor fiddle bits to deal with in the time and a couple of red herrings thrown in there too.

I answered all the questions, got all the fundamentals correct but my execution was very poor, far too many minor errors, i dont know how thats marked?

The first exam ive finished questioning my pass mark.

Very frustrating as im convinced q1 was based on man utd 10% public offering and facebook floatation, out the exam i could talk you to death about, but it never registered in the exam, missed out on so many marks.

An exam i should of passed, easy looking at it now but, under exam conditions very tricky indeed.

<cite> @carl29 said:</cite>
I think i might have passed that………

…..had i been given another 2 hours to complete it. I dont think it was a hard paper, just far too much to do

Anyway, i only managed to answer about 65% of the marks, i know what ill be doing in december

May i know that how much the below area hits in the paper?
P4
* International investment appraisal techniques focusing on risk management tools such as value at risk.
* Impact on WACC following hedging of interest rate risk.
* Company valuation based scenario, possible MBO finance to structure.
* Adjusted present value with link to real options and Black Scholes option pricing model.

It took me 35 minutes to figure out how to use mm preposition formula still base on my stupid assumption and when I finish with qus no 1 two hrs were already gone and I ve to rush to the remaining questions completely messing up everything with 20 marks portion un attended don’t know what to say and seriously thinking for opting p6 instead for december : (

Guys everyone on Open tuition………Can we shoot an individual mail to ACCA about P4 paper..It was really horrible paper I have ever seen in ACCA till now.

I think we should definitely give feedback to ACCA shooting mail to them….