Want to give up ACCA

I am in the same stage as you and reading your story breaks my heart. Try having a break and take some rest to gain energy and get back your motivation.

I have mentioned this before, CPA Ireland does have an open-book policy in its final exams. You get paper by paper exemptions to all your ACCA exams. They’re not easier cause you still have to prepare, but it takes away the pressure of trying to memorise too much. It is purely application. You do need to know where to find the relevant topics in the book as flicking through books too much is time consuming.

Might be worth considering. Best of luck.

@ds3ce said:
Dave and Chris,

Thank you very much for your kind words. It means a lot to me. I sat P2 today and will retake P5 tomorrow, hopefully I will get a pass next month for at last one of them, that would be very inspiring.

It is very easy to feel down when for a number of years you are working hard, studying hard and still are a single parent but I know other people are in worse situations but when you are exhausted constantly it is very easy to feel depressed. Seeing the diverse age of ACCA students gives me hope that one day soon I will be a member. I am done with my PER, my last objectives were signed off in April this year. I am literally done with everything apart from P2, P5 and P4. I am planning to give myself a break once I pass P2 and P5 but now that I have knowledge in my head, it is better I think if I keep trying until I pass because it is easier to revise more, practise more than give up, have a break and forget everything only to learn the standards and everything almost from scratch again.

It can be very upsetting when I try hard to be good in every area of life and get a fail mark after an exam but I think I just need to remind myself of the fact that I got 8 exemptions out of 14 exams as I did accounting and finance at university and I have already passed 3 more papers and currently working on 2 more and then just one left to become a member. If I look back, I don’t even remember anymore the struggles of passing P1, F6 and P3. I guess I need to stop being hard on myself and stop expecting too much from myself and just be realistic that with everything else on the side I progress slower than if I had less responsibilities outside of working hours.

Hi,

I can understand how tough it must be to have a child and study ACCA whilst working. It was tough to find the quality time to study without distractions but with a child, I can see how difficult that must be. However, you are very close to finishing and I hope that you can continue and finish the remaining three papers. I hope that P5 went well today and P2 went well yesterday and you will get closer to reaching your goal.
How is your PER going? Maybe, give yourself a break or concentrate solely on one paper at a time, so you are more likely to pass but will still have time to enjoy yourself with your child. I hope all the best for you and good luck on the exams you have just sat.

Many Regards.

@ds3ce said:
Hi @samirrules ,

Thank you very much for your response. P5 section A was a bit of a disaster as my mind went blank, I was panicking and I only did half of Section A, however, I completed all of Q2 and half of Q4. I tried my best to write right logical, straight to the point paragraphs in an as analytical way as possible, etc having all exam tips in my mind with regards to where students tend to go wrong and what to look out for. I have never been great at essay like exams especially with long case studies though I did practise a lot. Hopefully I will still pass, I definitely did my best and although I overrun in Section A a bit, I did realise this and I made sure I moved on to Section B to maximise my chances. If however I end up having to do a resit, I will definitely start with the Section B questions as it’s easier for me to focus on shorter scenarios, quicker to get my head around them and how to structure my answer and just then I will do Q1 ensuring I stick to a strict time management.

My PER is 100% done, my mentor signed off my last 2 out of 9 objectives in April, just before our financial year end so that’s all done and dusted. I am done with everything for membership, apart from passing P2, P5 and P4 (I may do P6 or P7 instead of P4).

Hi,

It seems like you have given it a really good go and hopefully you will pass the ones you have sat.
P5 is very much more written based, if you prefer more numerical or analytical modules p4 or p6 does make a lot of sense. I did both p4 and p6, I found that relatively the syllabus for P4 was small about the same size as p5 however, the underlying knowledge is only f9 not two modules as is p5.
I would say that look at the modules you think you would do best at in the f stage I.e. F9 for P4 or f6 for P6, as all of that is now assumed knowledge so that can be now tested. If you prefer an area pick that option as you are more likely to be motivated.
Also, I found p6 was very much rules based, that is even though there are a lot of rules once you knew the rules, it was same application for Any question. It was more methodical but there was a lot to learn, which may be difficult with a child. P4 on the other hand was a smaller syllabus and more based on understanding the application as the same area can be tested in many different ways. For this module, I would recommend more practice as once you understood npv and wacc and business valuations etc…. The application approach was very useful.

Anyway, if you are better at application and like npv calculations, I think p4 might be more suitable as it is less to learn than p6 and may suit your skillset and time commitments with a child. I guess it depends on which modules you are more familiar with and confident on as the fundamental knowledge is often tested on the professional papers.

Anyway good luck on your exam you have just sat and I wish you all the best.

Many regards,

Samir.