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Which has more value, a 1st/2nd time pass or a 3rd time pass with high marks?

Forums › ACCA Forums › General ACCA Forums › Which has more value, a 1st/2nd time pass or a 3rd time pass with high marks?

  • This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by vjm6789.
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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  • October 19, 2021 at 6:28 am #638401
    vjm6789
    Participant
    • Topics: 19
    • Replies: 7
    • ☆

    Greetings,

    Is it better to marginally pass on the first or second attempt or to pass with high marks (let’s say 70-80 plus) on your 3rd attempt?

    Regards

    Vivek

    October 19, 2021 at 9:11 am #638432
    Spango
    Participant
    • Topics: 3
    • Replies: 19
    • ☆

    In my mind a pass is a pass. It doesn’t matter how you got there so long as you did.

    Sure, some employers/interviewers want first time passes but generally so long as you pass that’s all that matters.

    October 19, 2021 at 11:31 am #638456
    Kim Smith
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 133
    • Replies: 8299
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    Regardless of how many times – a high mark in an applied skills exams suggests a better foundation for the strategic professional exams that necessarily build on it. I wouldn’t particularly recommend candidates choose an option like AAA if they only scraped passes of 50% in AA and SBR.

    October 19, 2021 at 3:56 pm #638503
    f6ali
    Member
    • Topics: 10
    • Replies: 342
    • ☆☆☆

    By the time you achieve the desired high mark, you would have already paid the exam fees thrice and spent 9 months (minimum) repeating the same syllabus. Would the desired result compensate for this input? Maybe, maybe not. Its all subjective.

    From employer’s perspective and the way ACCA exams are structured, a pass is all that matters. It means you have obtained sufficient knowledge in a specific area and were able to execute that in a skillful manner under time-pressured exam conditions.

    Personally, i have always preferred gaining clear understanding of the knowledge, so that i am able to demonstrate the same knowledge when required (whether in exams or otherwise). It is good to achieve a high mark, but it is even better to be good at understanding the concepts and having the ability to explain them in a simple way.
    Furthermore, if you are good at basics of a subject, then it helps a lot when the syllabus advances in later exams.

    Hope this answers your question.

    October 20, 2021 at 4:53 pm #638629
    vjm6789
    Participant
    • Topics: 19
    • Replies: 7
    • ☆

    Okay…

    Thank you everyone for their answers.
    Why do I see some employers taking only ACCAs or CAs who have passed exams in their first or second or even third attempt, then? Surely, they must have given it a thought, prioritising your foundations over passing sooner.

    Also, I have seen some people saying that marks in papers F7-F9 do count when you are doing the BSC in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes. Can someone comment on this? Personally speaking, I haven’t seen any mention of this on any official sources. If someone can clarify this for me, then it would be great.

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