Something has gone wrong with the optional papers and the ACCA is looking to provide additional learning support. In the meantime, here’s what the experts suggest you do to help yourself with the dreaded ‘P’ papers.
BPP
Choosing carefully: The first thing to consider is how you choose. This is your opportunity to specialise, with each of the papers focusing on a particular area that feeds up from a related skills paper, specifically F5 to P5; F6 to P6; F8 to P7; and F9 to P4. You should choose to sit the papers you did well in at the skills module – a good understanding of the assumed knowledge (the feeder knowledge leading up to the paper) will put you in a better position. If you really hated audit, and struggled to study and pass F8, then P7 is probably not the best choice for you.
If you are working in a particular area or have experience of it, then you will have been “practising” some of it in a real world environment, which will help you when it comes to learning about the topics.
Getting a head start on study: As mentioned, the papers have ‘assumed knowledge’ from the skills papers, so it is worth spending some time before your course/studies start to review these topics. Having a solid foundation on which to build will result in much stronger higher-level knowledge. You could buy the textbook or other materials to recap, or some learning providers will give you free access to the required knowledge when you buy your options course.
It will also be important to read around the papers in more detail, to see how they work in real life. Your lecturers should give you recommended articles; the ACCA website will include useful resources; and you can look out for articles in the business press or accounting publications. Being able to relate the topics to real life will help to cement ideas in your mind.
Overall, these final level papers require more than just doing the question practice, as it is your opportunity to prove you are ready to join the elite group of professionals that are the ACCA members.
Thanks to Davinia McGann and her team
LSBF
The F4-F9 papers usually average 45% pass rates, and P1-P3 average 50%. But the options average a lot less – only 35%. Given that students reaching the final papers must surely be relatively strong on average, what is going on? Here’s six of the ‘issues’:
1. Very few marks are given for knowledge or calculations, most marks are for analysis and application – and most students rely too much on memorising facts rather than practice of scenario-based questions.
2. Technical knowledge from lower level papers has been lost (or was never there in the first place).
3. There are fewer questions on the paper but they are for a larger numbers of marks and with longer scenarios. This means those with time management problems are more likely to get found out.
4. A lot of marks are available for the quality of explanations, but too few students are willing to write a sentence that includes the word ‘because’.
5. These papers require students to understand what the examiner is looking for – it cannot be learned out of a book. This means distance learning students struggle more than on other papers.
6. Students must understand what the examiner is looking for, yet a worryingly large proportion of PQs don’t read the Examiner Report after each sitting, so are at risk of making all the usual mistakes when attempting the paper.
It must also be noted that students on the final papers will be older, with more responsibilities at work (and at home), and so have less time available to study. Some lower level papers can be covered by last-minute cramming (not advisable, of course), but the options papers need an approach built on studying over a period of time. Time that a lot of students at this level do not seem to have.
Thanks go to Paul Merison, Director of ACCA Courses at the London School of Business & Finance
Becker
At ‘P’ level you are expected to demonstrate the ability to apply your knowledge to life-like problems, which the examiners test using case studies. You need to develop these higher skills of application and analysis by practising past exam questions. Also read widely to improve your knowledge of the real business world – quality newspapers and technical articles are highly recommended.
If possible, only select the paper if your mark in the underlying ‘F’ level paper was good (that is 60%+) and you love the subject.
Understand how the examiner thinks. This means working through all the recent past exam questions under exam conditions and reading the examining teams’ articles and reports.
Clear and structured presentation is vital for answers at the professional level. If you produce an unstructured jungle of calculations and rambling irrelevant discussion then little credit will be given and you will probably lose the four professional marks, too.
In numerical questions, make it easy for the marker of your script – state your approach to requirements and insert a short commentary between your steps.
It is crucial to understand the meaning of the verb in the requirement (assess, discuss, etc) and to ensure your answer follows the requirements faithfully.
After attempting a past exam question, analyse your answer; compare it with the suggested answer, consider if your answer is well planned, and whether or not it adds value. Does it make reference to the scenario? And read the examiner’s report relating to that question.
Do not leave your studies to the last minute – being properly prepared means at least six weeks (evenings and weekends) of solid work, perhaps eight. Finally, attempt two mock exams under exam conditions; and get them marked by a tutor who can give you feedback. Then you can learn from your mistakes.
