ACCA Exams

aaron0121

Good Luck to everyone taking ACCA exams over the next 2 weeks!

Aaron

mini_schnauzer

Yes they have come around quick this year. Good luck to all ACCA people.
I'm taking P5 (hopefully my last ever exam if I pass!)

Rozzi Rainbow

How are everyone's exams going so far?

I sat P6 (Advanced Tax) today and it was the most intense exam I have ever taken! And I actually really enjoyed studying for it and to some degree was quite looking forward to the exam itself. There was just so much to read and take in. I didn't feel as though I had enough time to read through all the scenarios first, so just tried to pick out the bits that were relevant to each part question. But then I kept finding bits that I should have used and had to keep going back and changing things. I hardly had time to check anything I was doing, I could have done with at least another half an hour just to not feel so rushed and as if I could take my time a bit more.

I felt as though I had some idea what I was doing most of the time, so hope I've done enough. Good luck to anyone still to take exams next week :001_smile:

Kirsty813

I took F5 and F4 - I thought F4 was ok but had some problems with F5. Roll on August !

aaron0121

How did everyone get on?

I failed F4 (45%) but I'll probably home study it again for the December sittings. I'm thinking of doing two this time round, as my company are paying for the exams.

Would F4 and F5 be a good combination? Has anyone had any experience sitting both F4 and F5 together

Aaron

Nps

I passed F9 but with my lowest ever mark. From reading the F9 forums it seems most people got 10-20% less than they were expecting - it's odd as it seems to be the overwhelming opinion and I've never seen that after any of the other exams. As for F4 and F5 together, I don't recall there being any connection at all between them so no advantage to taking them together apart from one is numbers based and the other is wordy, so it's a bit of variety. I've started P1 but it's a bit dull at the moment........

Rozzi Rainbow

I passed P6 with a surprisingly high mark, so I only have P5 to take now. Strange about the F9 results, but at least you passed! Yeah, P1 is quite dull. I found the Ethics part the most interesting (or should that be least dull?!). Well done to everyone who passed, and good luck for anyone having to resit.

aaron0121

Congratulations Nps & Rozzi, and everyone else who passed!

I've just been told by ACCA that there will now be an option to sit F4 as an cbe starting from the 19th of November, so we would get our results instantaneously even when there is writing involved. I'm kind of now backtracking and looking to now sit F4 in January 2015 and maybe focus on the other F papers.

Could anyone recommend a F paper that would work nicely along side F5 from personal experience? I've looked through open tuition and F9 seems to be a preferred option but would like your guys viewpoint as well.

Thanks

Aaron

Clintm15

Hi Aaron,

I'm taking F9 alongside F5 in December. I've opted to go all out on the numbers. Can't say if it's a good idea yet but revision is going well.

Clarekaye

Did anyone take any ACCA exams in December?
I took F5 and failed badly!
I am taking F4 on Thursday, If I pass f4 where do I go next do you think retry f5 or jump to f6, its not like I have remembered anything

Nps

Hi Clare, sorry to hear you failed F5.
Hopefully F4 will give you the boost you need. I'd stick with F5 after that to be honest, it will seem much harder if you leave it for a while and you might find that you develop a bit of a psychological block with it if you don't conquer it earlier rather than later. Do you know what tripped you up - timekeeping, general level of difficulty, nerves etc. do you think the jump in level from AAT to ACCA threw you? If you can critically assess why you failed this time, you're half way there to passing next time.
Even though you may not feel like it at the moment, you have a head start for the next sitting as you've already revised F5 once, it seems a waste to forget it all in order to do F6.

In answer to your PM, I self study using BPP text books. I wish I had the secret to passing ACCA exams but the truth is, I just study and study until I know the text books cover to cover. I then do every single past paper (using the BPP revision kit) which I think is essential. It is time consuming but it's worked for me so far. I did P1 this time and used a slightly different method though - I used a site called acowtancy.com as I knew I wouldn't have the time this time to go through the whole text book as normal. I still did every single past exam paper though as I really do think this is the key. I would say covering the syllabus took about a tenth of the time of doing the whole BPP book. I was a little nervous as I knew there were large chunks of the text book which I didn't know, but I think this is more down to the fact that BPP go into far more detail than is needed. I passed comfortably and there was nothing in the exam that I hadn't covered so I'm going to use the same method for P3 this time.

Let us know how F4 goes - good luck.

Rozzi Rainbow

I agree that there is sometimes too much detail to go through in the BPP books - I found this in particular for P3 (but that was probably because P3 was completely new to me as I don't do anything like that at work). Looking back I think it may have been possible to pass without going through the whole textbook, and just using the revision cards and plenty of practise questions, as this exam is more about application to the scenario rather than rote learning the textbook. I wasn't very confident coming out of the exam but still got rid of my textbook straight away as I didn't feel it had prepared me well for the exam at all - if I needed to resit (which luckily I didn't, I just managed to scrape through) I would just have used the revision cards and past papers.

Clarekaye

I just don't understand, I did the same as I did for AAT, go through everything, all the past questions, revised, studied, revised and answered all the questions in the exam. I only got 35! I am dreading F4 in two days I can't fit anymore in so just fingers crossed. I do 3 hours a night it's not like I don't put any effort in :'(

Rozzi Rainbow

Clare, have you looked at the model answers and examiner's report on the ACCA website? It might give you some idea where you went wrong.

Clintm15

@Clarekaye I took F5 also. I managed to get 72 but this was one of my strong subjects. If you need any help or advice just ask. Keep your head up.

Clarekaye

YAY I passed F4 (just) yesterday!
Now my provider (First Intuition) have said its £50 to renew the online resources with no extra support, or go to a classroom- well the classroom is out the window closest is Bristol or London!
My F6 materials are from Kaplan, I think I will aim for F6 in June and then *if* I fail they sound a little more helpful with back up support.

Nps

Well done. Not such a bad week after all!

SandyHood

I will be running a F9 course on Thursdays starting on April 9th 2015. There are details on www.sandyhood.com
If you would like any further (not mentioned on the website) or to express your interest in joining, please email me. I don't check my forum posts very often so I might miss a reply here.
Yours
Sandy Hood
sandy@sandyhood.com

anniebabe

I passed F6.

SandyHood

Well done Anniebabe

anniebabe

Thanks Sandy.

aaron0121

Congrats to all who passed from the December sittings!

So far I've passed F5 and F4, I'm off the starting line

My plan is now to sit F9 in June, then F8 in September and hopefully if everything goes well F7 + F6 in December.

Just to confirm if it's better to firstly sit F7 as opposed to F9, do certain topics collide in both? Or better to stick with solely F9, as it's one of the hardest F papers.

As with F4 I'm looking to home study F8 also, has anyone had any experiences self studying for F8?

Any advice on the above is very much appreciated

And also if anyone has any tips for studying F9 or F8, that would be great too

Thanks,

Aaron