Admin Reviews
Glynis
Registered Posts: 488 Dedicated contributor 🦉
I am still far from happy about my exam results and whilst I might admit that I didn't answer some questions correctly I am shocked at my mark and feel sure there is mistake somehow. I will not let this go but ACCa say they offer this admin review service which I have asked about before. Is anyone else doing this? I cannot believe my results were lower than last time. I just feel I need a double check on the marks 
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I looked into this after failing P1. From what I could tell, all they do is add up the marks written on the sheet by the marker.
So it seemed a waste of money unless they made a big mistake adding the marks up. Not sure how this is effected by the new electronic marking system though?
Its obviously a different service to AAT's appeals process where the script is re-marked.0 -
Hi Glynis,
I'm not sure if this is possible, but if at all possible, it might be worth a try to ask for a copy of your marked paper or some form of feedback, rather than asking ACCA to review your paper.
As the admin review (if I remember correct) only deals with adding up the marks again, this is not something that seems to be worth the money, while if you would be able to pay for a copy of the paper or some proper feedback, this might help you way more. It usually does mean someone digs out your paper and has a look over it or if not, if you check it and come to a different conclusion, you could decide whether or not to ask for a review at that point.
Now, I'm very sorry, as I don't do ACCA, I don't know if this is possible, so it might just not be possible, but if they do offer the service, this might give you a better option, than having the marks recounted.
Good luck with your decision!
Rinske0 -
Thankyou PGM. The man at ACCA gave me a link to a page which explained about these admin reviews and it doesn't look like your papers are remarked but you get a report back or something. I asked if the ridiculously hard to understand questions were taken into account when marking but as usual he said they can't comment on marking procedure and any student feedback should have been sent immediately after the exam.
My husband says it's a waste of money but i can't rest knowing I could have got a higher mark.0 -
Rinske I asked for my paper back but they said under no circumstances can they do this! It's just daft0
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Glynis, have you read the examiner feedback report on the F8 paper? If not it might be worth a read, s/he says what s/he was looking for in the exam and where people didn't pick up many marks. This may help you decide if your paper should have scored more marks.0
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Rozzi Rainbow wrote: »Glynis, have you read the examiner feedback report on the F8 paper? If not it might be worth a read, s/he says what s/he was looking for in the exam and where people didn't pick up many marks. This may help you decide if your paper should have scored more marks.
And also going through the F8 paper alongside the answer paper.0 -
I wouldn't bother with an administrative review, even if they have been added up incorrectly then are they going to find enough marks for you to pass.
What you would be better doing is a course exam through a learning provider, I believe BPP offers course exams on their own rather than going on a course where you would complete a mock exam and get detailed feedback from the marker, that would be a better use of your money.
I know when I took the audit paper I thought I had got the same answers but my scores weren't that high, what you think you have put compared to what a marker can give you credit for is a very different thing.0 -
The following is a quote from the examiners report for the F8 exam.
"Candidates performed particularly well on questions 1b, 2c, 3ci and 4bi. The questions candidates found most challenging were questions 1a, 2b, 3a, 3cii and 5b. This was mainly due to a combination of failing to read the question requirement carefully and insufficient knowledge."
http://www.accaglobal.com/pubs/students/acca/exams/f8/reports/1210_f8.pdf
The general opinion amongst ACCA students is that the admin reviews aren't worth it. You would be better using the money to get some up-to-date materials and focus on passing the exam in June 2011, if you decide to re-take the paper.
I've said before that I believe one of your weaknesses is lack of exam technique, which is as important at this level as the knowledge to pass the exam. ie are you sticking to 1.8mins per mark, and moving on to the next question once your time is up; answering the questions in the order you are most confident in; tailoring your answer to marks allocation, etc.
The key is also to practice as many past questions as possible, but take the time to review your answer fully and look at points you missed in your answer that would know to use in a future question.
These are all simple, easy techniques that will help you pick up those vital marks that mean the difference between a pass and fail.0 -
Hi Gylnis,
Im with richard on this one its probably not down to your knowledge base, but down to exam technique, if at all possible get yourself booked on a BPP/KAPLAN/FIRST INTUITION revision course, from my experience (CIMA) they don't focus on the KB but on the way the examiner wants the questions answered, and how to pick up the easy marks.
At the end of the day i susect the situation is the same with CIMA and ACCA the tutors at BPP/KAPLAN etc are the people who write the questions, and all that happens is these are put into a "question bank" and the examineer picks the questions that he/she feels cover the syllabus.
An example of exam technique the CIMA financials paper has a group consolidation question worth 25 marks, we were show how you could get between 13-16 marks (a Pass) with out doing any complex stock PUP's or Tax Calcs just from pulling information from the question.
Again agreeing with richard you have to stick to the 1.8M per Mark, if you havn't finished it, move on, and start with the questions that you find easier.0 -
Good advice Richard, exam technique is key. You need to look at the marks given before reading the question; it then puts the question into perseptive, you know how indepth to go, how many points to find etc.
Also keeping the answer structured, but a good course will healp teach this.0 -
During all my years of studing ACCA I only heard of 2 people who had their marks changed from an admin review, one was last Junes session where the mark went from 30's to 60's.0
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Well a lady I went to college with to do AAT asked her tutor as she goes to BPP and this electronic marking they do is supposed to be fool proof so called. I rung the ACCA again today about it before I send the review form telling them what my friends tutor said and all they say is that they can't discuss marking procedure with students. I guess I will put a request for a review in and hope my mark changes.0
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Good luck Glynis. I hope you get something positive out of this. Even if it's just making you feel better that you did try if they don't change the marks!
And that's not to say that you shouldn't have done it or that they won't change it, but just me hoping you didn't put all your hopes up on it and it will feel like a huge disappointment if they don't change it.0 -
Glynis, I think you need to be realistic about the situation. You have been given some good advice, with the majority of posters telling you that a review would not be worth it. You will be paying out £50(ish) for a review in the hope that they will find an extra 29 marks!
All of the posts you have made since the exam in December have been about how "stupidily horrendous" the exam was, therefore, surely you have got the fail that you expected to get?
If you had left the exam hall feeling confident that you had answered all of the questions to the very best of your ability, I could understand why you would want your paper to be reviewed, but you have complained endlessly about the paper, and how unfair it was. I sat the same F8 exam as you did in December, but managed to pass it first time (63%) - I'm a distance learner, I didn't do the Audit paper at AAT, and have no experience of working in audit.
Concentrate your efforts on passing in June, you need to move on and use the £50 on something more productive.0 -
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I have decided against the review now as I am going to try to go to college to get through F8. The problem is throwing money at a paper that Was not easy to understand at all. I still stand by the belief that home students are disadvantaged in this paper probably to generate more income for colleges and ACCA:(0
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I agree Glynis that home students are probably less likely to pass than class based students on the basis that someone teaching you can have distinct advantages over you reading a text book. They can talk you through things and do it together with you.
Yes it costs more for you bust it costs more for the colleges as well as they then have a tutors wages.
It works on the same basis as those who are in suitable work gaining practical experience also have a slight advantage as they can see how the theory actually works.Regards,
Burg0 -
I still stand by the belief that home students are disadvantaged in this paper probably to generate more income for colleges and ACCA:(
What a ridiculous statement, how can any accountancy body write exams to disadvantage home study students, perhaps you can elaborate and tell us how they would do so????0 -
I don't think the exam boards write papers that will disadvantage homestudy students, but have heard it said from a official publishers tutor that the books are written in a way that homestudy students will give up by themselves and then take a class, this will generate more money for the class provider.0
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Bluewednesday wrote: »What a ridiculous statement, how can any accountancy body write exams to disadvantage home study students, perhaps you can elaborate and tell us how they would do so????
Totally agree!
I have studied AAT and ACCA as a home study student and have passed all exams to date first time. The only face-to-face tuition I received was a 3 day revision course for the F4 Law paper. Distance learning allows you to work at your own pace, so you won't get left behind if you are finding a particular area difficult, plus most providers give you access to a dedicated tutor that you can phone or email for help and advice if needed.0 -
I don't think the exam boards write papers that will disadvantage homestudy students, but have heard it said from a official publishers tutor that the books are written in a way that homestudy students will give up by themselves and then take a class, this will generate more money for the class provider.
I think the text books are written as a support to the classroom teaching, and provide details on every little bit of the syllabus, whereas if you take tuition, the tutors tend to cherrypick the core areas of the syllabus and teach you that as it will gain you the most marks in the exam. There is no way a student would be able to learn the entire contents of the text books.0 -
I think the text books are written as a support to the classroom teaching, and provide details on every little bit of the syllabus, whereas if you take tuition, the tutors tend to cherrypick the core areas of the syllabus and teach you that as it will gain you the most marks in the exam. There is no way a student would be able to learn the entire contents of the text books.
Thats very try, I said similar recently, our tutor would tell us to skip bits which were "rubbish" or leave other chapters to be read over at home.
But the text book is written to cover the syllabus! What would be handy would be a summary of how often things have come up in the exam, to give you an idea of importance.
Home study is cheaper, but you lose out on so much, your choice
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But the text book is written to cover the syllabus! What would be handy would be a summary of how often things have come up in the exam, to give you an idea of importance.
Can't comment on ACCA, but my ATT book seems very comprehensive on this front, it has a study plan worked into it as well as exam commentary and notes on which parts of the law texts we need to read.0 -
BPP did that in the Revision guides as far as I remember0
