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Hello Guys,
I recently applied for ACCA and they gave me 9 exemptions which I am happy about. Honestly I thought they were going to give me 4 or 6 exemptions max. The 9 exemptions means that I only have 4 P papers left to do which now leaves me with a dilemma. I graduated from university 5 years ago and I most likely don’t remember a lot of the things I studied at university. I am aware that 3 of the 4 P papers are advanced of the F papers. and I am scared of just jumping into them after 5 years.
My dilemma now is whether to forfeit 3 of the exempt papers do the exams again so that It can prepare me for the advanced P papers or whether to just accept all the 9 exemptions and just do the P papers with hard revisions. Anyone ever had this issue before or can advice me?
Thank you 🙂
Why would anyone forfeit? You won’t gain anything except extra time needed to complete the qualification.
Just sit the professional papers and study more for longer. That’s obviously the logical choice.
Take as many exemptions as you can cause none of these papers can assure you a pass for P papers. Each ACCA paper is difficult and if you cannot clear any of these 3 papers you want to forfeit quickly enough, the longer you have to wait.
Well done for the many exemptions anyway. It’s a great achievement already.
Hi @aodukoya,
Welcome on board!
Being awarded exemptions does not only fast track one’s ACCA qualification but also saves time and money(in case of preparing from training institutes) .
However, there is a reason ACCA has kept the option to forfeit their exemptions and that I think is primarily, flexibility to choose what one thinks is best suited for his/herself. Hence, there can be many reasons for some to consider forfeiting exemptions.
According to the ACCA website:
Do I have to accept all exemptions I’m entitled to?
It’s up to you to decide if you wish to claim the exemptions you are awarded. You may wish to consider forfeiting exemptions, for instance, if a significant period of time has passed since you gained your previous qualifications, and you have not undertaken any further activity related to your studies in the intervening time.
It is advisable to consult the syllabus and study guides for each ACCA exam that you are eligible to receive exemption from and consider whether you are entirely comfortable with the topics covered before accepting exemption.
If you do accept the exemptions, you may wish to consider whether you need to undertake any additional study or preparation to ensure you are ready to begin the higher-level exams.
If you intend to complete the BSc degree in Applied Accounting, please be aware that Oxford Brookes University gives credit for exemptions awarded to ACCA students for any of the Applied Knowledge exams, but a student must sit and pass the Financial Reporting (FR), Audit and Assurance (AA) and Financial Management (FM) Applied Skills exams to be eligible for the BSc degree. Oxford Brookes is not able to give credit for exemptions based on qualifications gained more than 10 years ago.
Please find what is mentioned above in the following link:
https://www.accaglobal.com/vn/en/help/exemptions.html#Do-I-have-to-accept-all-exemptions-I’m-entitled-to?-The above is a really valuable advise and deeply related for those who are stuck in the same dilemma as you.
The P level papers are a great step up from The Fundamental Level. There is not much new concepts to learn in the P papers as a great amount of knowledge is already gained in the F level.They simply require in-depth analysis of what students have studied in the Applied Skills level(F papers). The Strategic Professional level (i.e P papers) of ACCA is Master’s degree equivalent according to the UK academic system. And for that reason, ACCA students you who study the fundamental level and then move on to the P level generally find P Level papers to be easier than Bachelor degrees graduates.
The graduates find it difficult to cope with the demands of the Advanced Level Papers (it is well known that University is not as challenging as ACCA as ACCA is a professional qualification). I know this since I have come across graduates who have been given 9 paper exemptions, giving their opinion that they are finding the P level papers very difficult while their friends who have been ACCA students from the start can easily manage the same papers. In fact, when talking with a faculty member of a University he had the same opinion as stated by the graduates.
So your concern is absolutely genuine!
Hence, I personally think it would be wise if you forfeit the exemptions of 3 papers Being 2 papers in accordance to which 2 optional papers you wish to take the advance version of and 1 of Financial reporting (prevoiusly F7) is a must then for SBR (the compulsory paper). However, that is for you to decide at the end of the day.
Hope that helps.
All the very best for whatever you choose to decide!
@lastfinanlist and easdledave. Thank you guys for your input on this. I can definitely the see point about doing an exam I have essentially passed 5 years ago again and it might take me longer to finish my acca.
@jetavi. I really appreciate the breakdown and your analysis of the people that found Acca hard after accepting their exemptions. This is something that I have to think really hard about because its not as easy as everyone is making it sound. There are people that did the F papers passed and still failed the P papers a couple of times so I don’t know how I am going to pass the P papers after 5 years. Regardless though thank you for the information.
Hi @aodukoya,
As an ACCA student myself, I will surely advise you to stay motivated and don’t stress thinking about how you are going to pass the P papers after 5 years. Having self confidence is very important when doing ACCA.
The reasons for someone failing a paper may not be the same for everyone else though there are some common pitfalls. Different people find different things difficult or easy.
However, the reason for outlining other’s experience is so we can take lessons from their experience, learn from their mistakes and take that into consideration for our own decision making.
@dollpals I studied accounting and finance at university. I also picked auditing and taxation as one of my options at uni hence why I am exempt from them. Though I am quite surprise they gave me taxation exemption as I am assuming things would have changed a bit in the tax world from 5 years ago.
@jetavi thank you for the motivation. May I ask if you are still studying at the moment/how far you are or if you are done and how long it took you/your own personal experience on the whole thing.
Please accept as many exemptions as you can. The ACCA exams are challenging whether at professional or fundamental level.
I have friends who started from the Fs and they still fail at professional level at times. the Professional levels have an extended and larger syllabus so you do not gain much starting from the beginning
You save money, time and possible unsuccessful attempts on the exams . I would not be too negative about passing exams after 5 years. I have a degree and masters in accounting and just finished in 2017 and a still struggle to pass some papers at firts attempts. so you are not at a disadvantage at all
Wish you the best on your ACCA journey
@aodukoya said:
@jetavi thank you for the motivation. May I ask if you are still studying at the moment/how far you are or if you are done and how long it took you/your own personal experience on the whole thing.I’m still in process of completing the papers. Preparing to give SBR in Sept’19.
Like the rest of ACCA students, this journey has not been an easy one for me and I know the challenges will continue until I become an Affiliate. ACCA being a professional qualification makes it very much obvious that things are not going to be a piece of cake. It is vital that students should be realistic about things, try not to lose self confidence or be demotivated though there will be times when one will think he/she can’t take the pressure anymore.Getting that pass is difficult but not impossible.
However, there are some factors that can lead to a successful attempt. Firstly and most importantly, question practice. Doing as many questions one can while also analysing their mistakes. Then, looking at the practical aspect of the subject. Once the applied knowledge (first 3 papers) level is completed, you can no longer expect to pass with just mere bookish knowledge, you need to think outside the book. Like in the case of Audit and Assurance, one has to think like an auditor. Moreover, using all the resources available on the ACCA website and/or on the OpenTuition website efficiently. Finally, not rushing through this journey. Slow and steady wins the race. Not overcommitting yourself with a lot of papers or going unprepared for the exam just because you want to get done with it and move on. No, that’s not going to help. It’s just going to make things even slower than they already are.
That’s what my own experience has taught me.The P papers do have refresher topics of prerequiste papers also and you can even listen to videos on OpenTuition to refresh your knowledge. Practicing actual exam papers is really important in your journey. Principles don’t change that much unless there is a completely new standard…but learn the new tax rates etc. OT is full of resources – all you need to pass.
I am very traditional in my approach. I like going through theories etc, then I do the practice after. The downside is that I lose a lot of time trying to go through all texts but really not everything is needed. It is better to read a bit and understand the key topics then go straight to question practice, approx. 60-70% should be practicing exam papers.
@Adranjit619 – WELCOME to OpenTuition forums! However, this post is 5 years old and it is unclear what it is that you are looking for an update on. As it is unlikely that any of the original contributors to this post will still be posting, I suggest you make a new post with a specific question.
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