ACCA Exam Tips

With your exams just around the corner, we've put together some top ACCA Exam tips to ensure the work you've put in throughout your course really pays off in the exam hall.

Our tutors and students have identified the areas they think are key to focus on, as well as other tips to help you prepare.

Before the exam

Start studying well before the exam date, don’t leave it to the last minute.
Take a revision course so you feel fully prepared on the exam day.
Make sure you are familiar with the exam structure, syllabus, regulations, etc.
Plan your preparation - set achievable targets for each day.
Make sure you understand the key points, concepts and models.
Look at the questions from the previous exams.
Pay extra attention to the recommended topics.
Review the ACCA Examiner Reports and Examiner Analysis Interviews on the ACCA website.
Ask for help if you’re struggling.
Visit the exam centre so you know how to get there and give yourself plenty of time on the day.
Get a good night’s sleep before your exam.
Don’t panic!

During the exam

Take time to read through all questions (15 min).
Divide exam time equally between all answers, let’s say 30 minutes. After a half-hour start answering the next question. It’s better to come back and add something at the end of the exam, rather than waste an hour answering one question with no time left to answer the rest of them.
Make sure you understand the question, its requirements and what the examiner is asking for before answering.
Start from the questions you know and are confident about.
Try to answer all questions. If you don’t have time left to answer the question properly, write down the key points, so the examiner sees that you understand this topic. It might help to earn an extra mark.
Don’t spend too much time on the introduction as every second counts. Instead, get straight to the point and make it clear for the examiner.
Focus on the main points when answering the questions. Don’t repeat the same things and don’t waste your time filling in the pages with unnecessary information. Pay attention to the quality of your answers, rather than the quantity.
Make sure your answer is related to the question.
Plan your answer. Spend one minute deciding what you want to write, create a short plan for your answer (1,2,3) and follow it. Keep it simple, but organized and structured.
Don’t spend too much time on the details.
Leave space after each answer in case you have some time at the end of the exam to add something.

After the exam

If you have time, review your answer for mistakes and try to improve your answers.
If you have another exam, get some rest and prepare for the next one.
Relax! The exam is over. What you do next is up to you.

What's your next step?

You can top up your ACCA qualification with a postgraduate degree (Global MBA or Master in Finance and Investments) with us. You'll get the advanced leadership and analytical skills you need to progress in your career.

Let our outstanding teaching and resources release your true potential and get the perfect blend of knowledge and practical skills.

For information on our upcoming intakes, contact one of our advisors by filling in the form or call us on +44 (0) 20 3005 6336.

Minimum entry requirements:

Two A Levels and three GCSEs or equivalent in five separate subjects, including English and Mathematics
Good English level is required

Foundations in Accountancy route (FIA)

Must be 18 or over
Students who successfully complete the Diploma in Accounting and Business via Foundations in Accountancy can transfer to the ACCA Qualification and commence their studies from LW onwards
Gain exemptions from ACCA exams BT, MA and FA

Graduate entry route

Relevant degree holders from ACCA-accredited institutions may be exempt* from up to nine exams within the Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills levels and register directly at the Professional level
Holders of recognised business and/or accounting degrees may also qualify for exemptions*

*We advise you to check your starting point with ACCA before you enrol on the course.

*Please see full Terms and Conditions for more information.

*Please see full Privacy Policy for more information.

Information about technical requirements

Our platform does not require any additional software. However, it is advisable that students have Microsoft Office installed on their computers as tutors may provide additional downloadable notes in Doc, Xlsx, PPT, and PDF formats.

Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari (Macintosh only) are all supported by Canvas.

Canvas has been carefully crafted to accommodate low-bandwidth environments. A minimum internet speed of 512kbps is recommended.

Information about when access to materials opens and closes

Access to all learning materials and live sessions opens in the month of intake and closes three months later. For example, if teaching starts in mid-June, access will stop in mid-September after the exams finish. Students taking Computer Based Assessments (CBE) have access for 6 months.

Learning materials consist of the following:

Live tuition and revision sessions
Recorded live tuition and revision sessions
Study manuals, question banks, class, and revision notes
Other relevant materials tutors may provide

Available resources for enrolled students before live tuition begins:

Access to recorded live tuition and revision for the session that is currently running
Access to study manuals, question banks, class, and revision notes

Students who have purchased a course but have not yet enrolled can request access to a study manuals and or question bank.

Timetable

All courses are taught in the evening (BST), Monday through Thursday. Classes typically start at 6:30 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m., and revision ends at 9 p.m.

We also provide a mentoring hour in the evenings for all students. During mentoring hours, students can have their homework marked and speak to their tutors directly with any concerns.

Normally, there are eight weeks of live online tuition (Some courses have up to 2 extra sessions) and four weeks of live online revision.

For Computer Based Examinations (CBE):

Business Technology – 8 weeks
Corporate and Business Law – 10 weeks
Management Accounting – 11 weeks
Financial Accounting – 12 weeks

Face-to-face revision is offered on two weekends in London. If you cannot attend, you can either join the session live online or watch the recording.

Indicative Timetable

Learning Expectations

We advise that you allocate nine hours of self-study per week in addition to your live classes. For the Strategic Professional exam, we advise 12 hours of self-study.

You will be asked to complete homework in every tuition and revision session, which will be marked with feedback provided during your mentoring hour. You will also be asked to complete a time-limited exam that will also be marked with feedback.

We expect you to attend all live sessions, but if that is not possible (e.g., time zone constraints), we ask that you study using the recorded sessions provided. If you do not attend any sessions, live or recorded, then you may be removed from the course and deferred to the next session.

Information about Practical Experience Requirement (PER)

Studying for your ACCA exams requires you to pass them and gain practical experience that is essential to becoming a fully qualified accountant.

You must take the Ethical and Professional Skills module and gain professional experience by spending 36 months in an accounting or finance-related role.

Exam success, practical experience, and knowledge of ethics will enable you to become a successful accountant.

More detailed information can be found at PER-trainee-guide.pdf (accaglobal.com)

Topics that you will cover in your course

S.No.	ACCA Paper	Topics	Tutor
1	Corporate & Business Law	Unit 1 --The English Legal System Unit 2 -- Contract – formation Unit 3 -- Contract – terms, breach Unit 4 -- Tort, Employment, Introduction to Agency & Partnership. Unit 5 -- Partnership Unit 6 -- Company Law (legal personality & company formation, Share capital, Loan capital, Meetings & resolution) Unit 7 -- Company Law (Directors, Meetings & resolutions, other officers, Insolvency) Unit 8 -- Fraudulent behaviour	Debbie Crossman
2	Business & Technology	Unit 1 -- Training and development Unit 2 -- Personal effectiveness. Performance appraisal Unit 3 -- Leading People. Individuals and teams Unit 4 -- Motivation. The role of accounting. Micro-economics. Unit 5 -- Macro-economics. Business environment. Business organisation. Unit 6 -- Organisational culture. Corporate governance. Ethics. Unit 7 -- Information systems. Control and security. Fraud. Unit 8 -- Revision (working through BT CBE)
3	Financial Accounting	Unit 1 --Introduction to Accounting and Double Entry Unit 2 -- Adjustments to Financial Statements Unit 3 --Non-current Assets Unit 4-- Accurals and Prepayments Unit 5 -- Maintaining records for Customers and Suppliers Unit 6 -- The Correction of Errors and Bank Reconciliation Statements Unit 7 -- Process of Accounting for Limited Companies Unit 8 -- Accounting Standards Unit 9 -- Cash Flow Statements Unit 10 -- Interpretation of Accounts Unit 11 -- Introduction to Group Accounting
4	Performance Management	Unit 1 -- Overview of information systems. Costing methods. Unit 2 -- Costing methods. Unit 3 -- Short-term decision making (many topics fall under this heading: relevant costing, further processing, make or buy decision, limiting factor analysis, linear programming) Unit 4 -- Short-term decision making (CVP analysis). Pricing. Unit 5 -- Decisions under uncertainty. Budgeting. Unit 6 -- Budgeting (learning curves). Advanced variances Unit 7 -- Financial and non-financial performance evaluation. Unit 8 -- Divisional performance and transfer pricing.
5	Taxation	Unit 1 -- Fundamentals of taxation and the basics of corporation tax Unit 2 -- Corporation tax, treatment of a company's loss and Groups Unit 3 -- Personal tax computation, Employment Income and NICs Unit 4 -- Trading profits, the basis of assessment and Partnerships Unit 5 -- Fundamental of chargeable gains Unit 6 -- Chargeable gains: partial disposals, reliefs and exemptions Unit 7 -- Fundamental of inheritance tax and lifetime transfers Unit 8 -- Inheritance tax: death estate and VAT	Barbara Begio
6	Financial Reporting	Unit 1 -- Consolidated Statement of Financial Position Unit 2 -- Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss, and Associates Unit 3 -- Practice Questions Unit 4 -- Published Accounts – Introduction, and Non-current Assets Unit 5 --Impairment of assets and Leasing Unit 6 -- Revenue, Contracts and Assets held for sale Unit 7 -- Taxation adjustments and Provisions & Contingencies Unit 8 -- Financial Instruments Unit 9 -- Earnings Per Share; Analysis and Interpretation
7	Audit & Assurance	Unit 1 -- Essential Exam Technique for the AA paper Unit 2 -- Key Audit Concepts Including Ethics Unit 3 -- Audit Planning including Risk Unit 4 -- Internal Controls in Audit Unit 5 -- Audit Evidence Principles Unit 6 -- Substantive Procedures Unit 7 -- Finalisation of the Audit and Audit Report Unit 8 -- Internal Audit
8	Financial Management	Unit 1 -- Introduction to Financial Management & Investment Appraisal Techniques Unit 2 -- Advanced Investment Appraisal Unit 3 -- Advanced Investment Appraisal Unit 4 -- Sources of Finance and Cost of Capital Unit 5 -- Unit Structure and Financial Performance Unit 6 -- Raising Equity Finance and Financial Performance Measures Unit 7 -- Risk Unit 8 -- Working Capital Management
9	Strategic Business Leader	Unit 1 -- Strategic Analysis Unit 2 -- Strategic Choice Unit 3 -- Values, Ethics and Professional Skills Unit 4-- Corporate Governance and Stakeholders Unit 5 -- Risk Unit 6 -- Using Numbers – investment appraisal, Ratio Analysis, Decision making and Forecasting Unit 7 -- Operational Improvement Unit 8 -- Project Management	David Laws
10	Strategic Business Reporting	Unit 1 -- Basic Groups Unit 2 -- Changes In Group Ownership Unit 3 -- Foreign Currency Translation and Group Cash Flow Statements Unit 4-- Performance Reporting Unit 5 -- Provisions and Non-Current Assets Unit 6 -- Leases and Employee Benefits and Share-Based Payments Unit 7 -- Financial Instruments Unit 8 -- Tax and Other Corporate Reporting
11	Advanced Financial Management	Unit 1 -- Senior Financial Manager & Advanced Investment Appraisal Unit 2 -- Advanced Investment Appraisal & Introduction to Options Unit 3 -- Real Options, Project Specific & Combined Asset Beta WACC’s Unit 4 -- Adjusted Present Value & International Investment Appraisal Unit 5 -- Mergers & Acquisitions and Valuation Techniques Unit 6 -- Framework for M&A / Reconstructions Unit 7 -- Hedging Foreign Exchange Risk Unit 8 -- Hedging Interest Rate Risk	David Laws
12	Advanced Performance Management	Unit 1 -- What is Strategic Control? Unit 2 -- Management Control Unit 3 -- Organisation Structure Unit 4-- Financial Performance Unit 5 -- Divisionalisation Unit 6 -- Non Financial Performance Evaluation Unit 7 -- Issues with Performance Systems Unit 8 -- Employability and Technology Skills	Jean-Paul
13	Advanced Taxation	Unit 1 -- Introduction to Corporation Tax Unit 2 -- Corporation Tax groups & Losses Unit 3 -- Fundamentals of Inheritance Tax Unit 4-- Valuation rules for Inheritance tax & the Death Estate Unit 5 -- Fundamentals of Taxing Capital Gains Unit 6 -- Capital Gains Reliefs and Exemptions Unit 7 -- Personal Tax Computations and Investment Advice Unit 8 -- Income from Employment and Self-employment Unit 9 -- Trading Losses and Partnership	Zahid Ahmed
14	Advanced Audit & Assurance	Unit 1 -- Essential Exam Technique for the AAA paper Unit 2 -- Ethics and Professional Issues Unit 3 -- Practice Management including Quality Management of audit work Unit 4 -- Audit Planning, including Risk Unit 5 -- Audit Procedures and Evidence Unit 6 -- Finalisation of an audit plus Group Audit Considerations Unit 7 -- Audit Reports Unit 8 -- Other Assignments and Current Audit Issues
15	Management Accounting	Unit 1 -- Introduction to Cost Accounting; Cost Classification and Behaviour Unit 2 – Materials, labour and Overheads Unit 3 -- Overheads and Absorption Costing and Cost bookkeeping Unit 4-- Absorption vs Marginal Costing. Job Costing Unit 5 -- Job, Batch and Service Costing (continued). Process Costing Unit 6 -- Budgeting and Introduction to Statistical Techniques Unit 7 -- Advanced Statistical Techniques Unit 8 -- Investment Appraisal Unit 9 -- Standard Costing and Variance Analysis Unit 10 --Performance Measurement (Financial Performance) Unit 11 -- Revision