ACCA - December registration

arbitrage

I am self employed however I am looking to do 4 ACCA exams in December for my own personal benefit and experience. It is 5 years since I completed a Commerce degree (Accountancy specialisation). From that I have 6 exemptions.

I have been checking the pass rates for the professional papers:

Exam session P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7
Dec 2011  51 48 51 34 29 39 31 39 31



These pass rates are quite low generally speaking (compared to final year university exams).

Can you shed a bit of light on these examinations for my benefit from difficulty level to general time required spent studying.

I intend to do these exams by self learning (no official classes bar possibly ACCA study forums such as OpenTuition.com) and I have accountant mates who can help me out with some of the more difficult parts.

I study better with self directed learning in my own schedule than a set study class curriculum. Would this be achievable in your experience?

thefa

Doing 4 professional level exams at the same time would be quite a feat. I am working full time while studying for two exams (P2 & P3) at the moment and can't imagine doubling my study workload. I am open to correction, but you need to complete the F levels (or be in the process of completing them) before you can start on the P level papers.

Some of the F papers are the foundation for a P paper and especially with an absence from study, it can make for increased difficulty in getting back into the swing of things. I was exempt from F7 and it has been 2 years since I done the college exam that helped towards that exemption and is not that easy too start back at P2 having been exempted from F7.

As for the failure rates, you're not comparing like with like. The P levels of ACCA are a rank above final year undergrad exams. If they weren't then they would surely be exemptions from them. The increased difficulty impacts on pass rates. Also, the pass mark is 50% in ACCA exams as opposed to 40% for the ungergrad exams.

SBWife

I passed P1, P3, P4 and P5 in December, it's doable but not fun. I also passed four exams the previous June. I studied solo using the Kaplan manuals with an occasional look at Open Tuition.

The optional P papers are difficult, the others both F and P are pretty manageable, bulky rather than exceptionally challenging IMO.

arbitrage

My exemptions are:

F1, F2, F4, F5, F7, F9.

On further consideration as it has been a while since I have been studying I will limit it to the 3 remaining foundation papers.

Is it even possible to add P1 as a fourth exam?

It has been 5 years since college so I wouldn't have retained the majority of the knowledge from the exempted papers.

As has been mentioned the professional papers build on the material in the foundation papers.

As a reference what standard would the foundation papers be in relation to an undergrad accountancy degree - All final year standard or a mixture of the final two years?

Basically I am going into this blind and want to hit the ground running as early as possible so I'm looking for suggestions for learning resources such as the Open Tuition website.

I have all my undergrad notes so the initial plan is to go back over these for the next two months and then start into F3, F6 and F8.

SBWife

Are you sure that those are your exemptions? According to the above you're not excempt from the foundation level financial reporting paper F3 but are exempt from the next financial reporting paper F7?

In terms of difficulty F1,F2 and F3 are below undergraduate final level, and the remainder are similar to the level of final in programmes such as the DIT MSc in Accounting. There's a big step up from the first 3 papers to F4, 5 and 6, a further increase in difficulty to F7, 8 and 9, P1, 2 and 3 are harder still. And as I mentioned above the professional options papers really are difficult.

The other big difference between ACCA papers and their Uni equivalent is the grading scheme at ACCA is more difficult, not only is the passing mark higher but the grading is more strenuous IMO an answer which would get 70% of the marks in a college paper might get 55% on the ACCA exam.

As I mentioned previously I passed all exams first time (came 2nd in Ireland in one of them) with the Kaplan books as my primary resource. Open Tuition is great but I think you need the additional detail in the learning provider books to ensure a pass, that is OT will teach you the fundamentals for each paper but the nuances of theory that are often the difference between scoring in the 40s and getting above 50% aren't covered. Technical articles from ACCA are also a vital resource.

F6 and F8 are stand alone subjects ( no prior knowledge of tax or audit is assumed) and F3 is foundation level for these spending weeks reviewing your college notes will be a waste of time your better off just getting the material and diving straight in.

arbitrage

I submitted my transcript to the ACCA a couple of years back and recently confirmed by email what exemptions I have.

I will double check to make sure no mistake was made.

keano2012

hey! thinking of doing f4, f7 and p1 in december. Is this realistic? I hear f7 is quite tough. Also is f4 possible at home study or is there a college someone can recommend for these?

SBWife

keano2012 wrote: »

hey! thinking of doing f4, f7 and p1 in december. Is this realistic? I hear f7 is quite tough. Also is f4 possible at home study or is there a college someone can recommend for these?

I'd say it's doable. F7 is a step up from the earlier F exams but the material isn't crazy hard you just have to be sure to get plenty of exam practice in. f4 can be done at home BPP publish a IRE variation text.

Are F4 and F7 the only fundamental level papers you have left to complete? Otherwise you'll run into difficulty with the ACCA progression rules.

keano2012

well im hoping so after the june exams!! what do you mean by difficulty with the ACCA progression rules. do you mean like having all the the f papers done before moving on to the P papers?? So there isnt anything too challenging in f4...nothing that will need a lecturer to explain? what about p1 then....is this a big syllabus also??

SBWife

Progression rules state that you must have completed or be sitting all of the f papers before you can sit any of the P papers.

F4 is law, read the book and do past questions and you'll pass. It's a little different in that it's 10 10 point questions and all essay.

P1 follows on F1 and F8 as well as the ethics module, it's bulky and heavy on the theory but with nothing too intellectually challenging.

lynnfitz89

arbitrage - as mentioned already its strange that you are not exempt from f3, I would check that out save yourself doing it.

Try this also to see if it shows your exemptions

https://portal.accaglobal.com/accrweb/faces/page/public/accreditations/enquiry/main/EnqInstitutionsTable.jspx

also home study is doable in my opinion - look at youtube and opentuition and http://www.mapitaccountancy.com/

thefa

SBWife wrote: »

I passed P1, P3, P4 and P5 in December, it's doable but not fun. I also passed four exams the previous June. I studied solo using the Kaplan manuals with an occasional look at Open Tuition.

The optional P papers are difficult, the others both F and P are pretty manageable, bulky rather than exceptionally challenging IMO.

Any tips or pitfalls to dodge for the last couple of weeks study for P3 (and P2 if you've done it)?

Thanks

SBWife

P2 practice the consolidations it's at least 35 points on the paper and mandatory. Plus doing a reasonable job on Q1 right off the bat will help your confidence on part B of the paper. For part B don't try and second guess the examiner and prepare for all 3 questions but once you read the paper and make your decision don't look back. Answer the 2 questions you choose as if they're mandatory.

P3 know all the frameworks and be confident applying them, often the answer will include the use of multiple frameworks DON'T use SWOT to answer everything. Use common sense as you write your answers your solving issues and putting together information which is designed to help the firm in the question succeed so don't throw in irrelevant stuff just because you remember it from your reading.

arbitrage

lynnfitz89 wrote: »

arbitrage - as mentioned already its strange that you are not exempt from f3, I would check that out save yourself doing it.

Try this also to see if it shows your exemptions

https://portal.accaglobal.com/accrweb/faces/page/public/accreditations/enquiry/main/EnqInstitutionsTable.jspx

also home study is doable in my opinion - look at youtube and opentuition and http://www.mapitaccountancy.com/

I checked this out today and I did not receive this exemption as I didn't do the optional undergrad module Financial Accounting I.

I have to learn that material anyway so I don't mind having to do that exam and it would be better to do the 3 foundation papers in the December sitting and get back into the habit of studying before tackling the professional papers the following June.

SBWife

arbitrage wrote: »

I checked this out today and I did not receive this exemption as I didn't do the optional undergrad module Financial Accounting I.

I have to learn that material anyway so I don't mind having to do that exam and it would be better to do the 3 foundation papers in the December sitting and get back into the habit of studying before tackling the professional papers the following June.

Only F3 is foundation the others are fundamental you'll notice f3 is easier than the others and just a 2hr exam as well.

keano2012

SBWife wrote: »

Progression rules state that you must have completed or be sitting all of the f papers before you can sit any of the P papers.

F4 is law, read the book and do past questions and you'll pass. It's a little different in that it's 10 10 point questions and all essay.

P1 follows on F1 and F8 as well as the ethics module, it's bulky and heavy on the theory but with nothing too intellectually challenging.

Thanks again SBWife Just another quick question for you.....which in your opinion is easier p1 or p3?

thefa

In my opinion, P1 would be slightly the easier of the two. I'm revising P3 at the moment and it would be the broader syllabus by a distance. It is straight-forward stuff for the most part and more easily understood than some of the P1 course but the size of it that you are expected to have a knowledge of to apply to exam questions makes P3 slightly more difficult. Obscure parts of the course can appear on exams but there are frequent appearances too by certain parts.

Both are Professional Level papers where application is key but I feel P3 has a higher emphasis on application than P1 which can be a positive or negative depending on the students preference.