APM*** P5 December 2011 Exam was: Post your comments and vote in Instant Poll ***

@jensealey said:
It is more about what you decide from the numbers rather than if they are right anyway. I am worried hardly wrote anything other than a short paragraph on maximax and maximin and a bit more indepth about expected value. Totally stressed at time, don't think I even recommended a method. Annoyed with self as now it seems so obvious. Oh well need to just move on.

@darthvader001 said:
Bloody hell, they were published indeed! And looking at the requirements, it is a clear fail now for me. It looks like every requirement has embedded another two or three in the question... No way I can pass this... You just have to bee really lucky to catch exactly what the examiner wants. I bet that everyone now at home, calm, can do this paper, however under exam condition, there is not enough time to read... look at Q3;Q4;Q5. How you can do this in less than 30 min?? Reading time it takes 7-8...

@wickla said:
@ anhu:

I just sat P5 and P6 (Irish variant) and found both of them very tough exams but in my opinion P6 is definitely tougher. Everyone warned me against P6 and i really wish i'd listened to them now.

Just hope i pass at least one of them :)

Best of luck to everyone with the results!!!

@slimboy72 said:
This was another tough paper - attempt number 2 for me.

I met 4 students from the last sitting - one I was sure would pass got the same result as me - and so out of the 6 in the class 2 had got through as expected (1 in 3 pass at the moment).

Alex Watt is clearly a very bright man. However, like many involved in the development of the ACCA still has some way to go to catch up with the modern world. It’s been a long time since he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (according to LinkedIn) and has forgotten how tough exams are. No doubt he could dispute this but the fact is students are exactly that, students. They will not have been exposed to many of the things they are examined on and are unable to relate life experiences to the scenarios on the paper. He also assumes everyone sitting this paper is or wants to be a Management Accountant. As he might say himself, assume nothing of the sort. For some this is the only option left open to them. If I wanted to be a MA I would have sat CIMA or an alternative qualification.

I probably have more accounting experience than Mr Watt – I started within a financial environment in 1986 – and I have struggled with both his papers so far. I disagree that the scenarios set are ‘real world’. This is a claim many examiners make which are simply not true and do not reflect what really happens. If my manager were to either ask me do to specific tasks with such vague and complex wording or to provide information in such a mixed format I would be asking him to clarify what he wants very quickly. Unfortunately we do not have that luxury in the exam hall. Seriously, who uses the log button or power to button on a calculator anymore?

I do not believe for one second those sitting this paper have suddenly become stupid. If, like me, this is your final exam and you are questioning yourself about your performance during the exam, don’t. I have wondered why this one is so hard and why the pass rate is very low – I would expect at least 50% global rates as a minimum. I would also expect a decent increase year on year – this should be a stretch target in line with continuous improvement (no sniggering at the P5 lingo please lol), something else the ACCA is currently failing at. I know the exams are not supposed to be easy but nor are they supposed to be life-sucking experiences. Students should be encouraged to try and enjoy them as they are intended to support their work and career paths.

To put my performance in context I have passed 4 out of 5 professional papers. I passed 3 in the December 2010 sitting. I passed 10 papers doing home study only, working full time with a young family in tow. I have been on the taught, revision and question days at BPP twice now. I passed both question day mocks with 57 and 64 respectively. I felt confident I had covered the syllabus end to end and would perform well in the exam hall. I therefore question the disparity between my classroom success and exam failure and lack of confidence in believing I have passed once I leave the hall. I know there is a distinct shortage of decent examples to practice as this is only Mr Watt’s 3rd full paper but are we really not learning the correct methods of application? And why such a disconnect?

Alas it wasn’t to be. I suspect I will be resitting in June 2012, like many others. I also suspect the pass rate to remain around the same as last time.

My difficulty – like many others – is the options left open to me as to which exam to sit. Tax is wholly and exclusively irrelevant to my current role or any future roles I will look for and so was rejected quickly. AFM looks to be even tougher than APM based on pass rates – it also suffers from a lack of real world scenarios. Unless you are intending to be involved somewhere around the banking or investment sectors I am unsure how anyone will use what they have learnt. For me APM has the closest bits and pieces within its syllabus in relation to the type of role I am doing and plan to do in the future. None of the current options papers help me so it’s the best of a bad bunch really.

Options seem to naturally sit together - Audit/Tax and APM/AFM. I chose Audit because I am good at it and knew would pass with relative ease. What to do then? APM by default. Then again I looked at the recent AFM paper and it’s beginning to look appealing. My issue is that I will never use the knowledge, so find it hard to want to spend time studying it. I do want to at least apply some of what I have learnt.

P5 still needs addressing. Either simplify the way the requirements are written e.g. Suggest FOUR reasons etc., have 5 compulsory questions for 20 marks, or 1 50 mark and 2 25 mark questions. The Plain English Campaign organisation would have a field day with some of the wording. And what about the modern world – how many people work in manufacturing? It appears the ACCA continues to want to train their accountants to learn about techniques most students rarely use – surely not the best way to enhance its reputation as a world leader? The change from too many numbers to more written answers is sensible but at present it’s GIGO – if the questions feel like garbage that’s all the markers are going to be able to mark.

Mr Watt has not impressed me as yet - much in the same way as I probably haven't impressed him. In the event I unfortunately fail again I shall allow him one more sitting to prove he is worthy of my valuable study time.

After that I shall most probably admit defeat in that not only is he smarter than me but a whole lot less popular as well. I know which one I'd rather be.

Give the students a break and allow them to show you what fantastic accountants they are.

Also, as part of continuous improvement try and get the exams marked quicker. You are probably the most qualified to make the ACCA more efficient. 10 weeks is way too long to wait and we are in the 21st century - we should have 3 sittings a year by now.

@bvp123 said:
It's all very well everyone complaining here, but do make sure that you complain to ACCA and report it to PQ magazine as it matters.

@bethwest said:
How do you report it to PQ Magazine I have complained to ACCA

Write to PQ Magazine so that they can report it in the next issue or when they will report on exam feedback.