ACCA March Exam Feedback

ACCA March exam feedback

What did those actually sitting the March exams think of them?

Here are some of the comments straight from the horse's mouth.

How did the March sitting go? Here's the day-by-day feedback as it happened…

AA

One sitter wondered why there was so much on substantive procedures. “Feel like I was typing the same thing over and over again,” they said.

Another sitter said the exam wasn’t difficult, but due to time management spent too long on risk assessments and too much on questions in section A.

In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 62% of sitters said the exam was ‘OK’, 22% found it ‘hard’ and just 7% said it was a ‘disaster’.

AAA

For many it felt like the exam wasn’t difficult, one sitter even thought it was “reasonable”. Another said they had “a fair set of questions”. That said, time management was key – let’s hope you didn’t spend too long on the risk question. The lack of sustainability reporting for some (remember, there is more than one paper) was a disappointment, too.

In the Open Tuition Instant Poll some 37% of sitters said the exam was ‘hard’, and 13% had a ‘disaster’.

TX

For one PQ this exam was “just crazy”! How, they asked, can it all be done in three hours?

Another sitter said the exam was “brutal”. They added: “I was prepared but boy was I wrong, especially those last three questions.”

In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 26% said the exam was a ‘disaster’ for them, and another 31% said it was ‘hard’. That left 40% saying it was ‘OK’.

SBL

One sitter suggested the paper was “quite good”, and another said it was “alright”.

Mixed emotions from others, but there were few complaints this time around.

Lots of votes in the Open Tuition Instant Poll – over 400! Some 63% of sitters voted the exam ‘OK’, 21% said it was ‘hard’ and 7% had a ‘disaster’.

PM

For many this exam was between OK and hard, with a lot of calculations and some quite tough questions. The target costing question being one of the tricky ones.

One student said they had been studying PM for a year and if they fail this time they were going to quit. A fellow ‘sufferer’ tried to persuade them not to quit and explained it was their ninth attempt.

‘Hard’ came out top in the Open Tuition Instant Poll with 46% of the votes. Another 14% of sitters had a ‘disaster’ and 38% said the exam was ‘OK’.

APM

“Awful” is all one sitter said about APM this time around. The ABC question threw a few sitters – “I didn’t understand what I was meant to calculate,” said one PQ.

One student explained their computer froze twice during the exam and they had to be relocated both times. There were also a few system issues for other students as well.

In the Open Tuition Instant Poll the exam was deemed ‘OK’ by 47% of sitters. Some 29% found the exam ‘hard’ and another 16% had a ‘disaster’.

ATX

“Quite hard” and “shocked” were two comments post-exam. Many found the exam difficult and left halls disappointed. There was a general feeling that the questions were a little unusual.

One sitter thought there was minimal stuff on IHT, reliefs and share schemes/tax planning.

Another admitted they had mismanaged time badly, which never helps.

Just 29% of sitters in the Open Tuition Instant Poll said this one was ‘OK’, with 44% calling it ‘hard’, and 25% a ‘disaster’.

FR

Sitters thought section A and B were harder than the mocks and past papers. However, section C was the exact opposite and easier than both.

Only 31% of sitters told the Open Tuition Instant Poll that the March exam was ‘OK’. For 45% it was ‘hard’ and for another 17% it was a ‘disaster’.

SBR

People who got the segmental reporting question found it hard.

For one in five sitters (22%) this exam was a ‘disaster’, according to the Open Tuition Instant Poll. For just over a third (36%) it was ‘hard’ and for 39% it was ‘OK’.

FM

We loved the comment from the student who said: “I have no idea what that was.” What that was was lots of theory questions, said another sitter.

The management of receivables and exchange risk hedging in section B also threw some. One PQ said: “I felt prepared but was disappointed the wordy section B question beat me.”

In the Open Tuition Instant Poll some 35% of sitters said the exam was ‘OK’. Another 44% admitted they had found it ‘hard’, and 18% had a ‘disaster’.

AFM

Sitters found the acquisition question hard –one wondered where all the missing pieces of information were. The SWAP question with two counter parties was also deemed tricky.

Voting in the Open Tuition Instant Poll was evenly divided. Some 32% said the exam was ‘OK’, 37% found it ‘hard’ and 25% had a ‘disaster’.