The ACCA March sitting

Sitters explain how the March sitting wasn’t all a piece of cake!

PM

Not too bad, was the general feedback here. Some 13% found it a disaster and another 31% hard, according to the Open Tuition Instant Poll.

FM

General felt to be an OK paper from the feedback we received.

There was a question on NPV without inflation, capital allowances and working capital. There was also an Islamic finance discussion question in section C for many, and something on fintech.

Some sitters admitted they were thrown by the examiner asking about floor value of bonds. “I’ve never seen it mentioned like this before,” said one sitter.

TX

While some found the December TX exam easier (and still failed), others felt it was hard to call it a difficult exam – just strange. The Open Tuition Instant Poll shows it was an easy exam for 9% and OK for just over 50%. Just 7% of March sitters said it was a disaster.

FR

The Open Tuition Instant Poll saw 23% of sitters calling this sitting a disaster and another 42% felt it was hard, when we looked.

Some felt the MCQs were a lot harder this time around. Section B was deemed much harder than the mocks, too. As one student said: “I am worried I may need to resit so might try to keep my memory fresh!”

Another sitter said it was a ‘brutal’ exam and others called it ‘horrendous’ and ‘dreadful’.

AA

The MCQs seemed harder than usual, when looking back at past papers. One PQ explained: “Section A was a bit complex”, and another said it was harder because there were a lot of questions that required two or more responses as the answer.

Sitters liked the ratio question and felt there was a lot on substantive procedures. The controls on corporate governance and reliance for auditor questions were deemed a bit harder.

One sitter admitted they should have practised the copy-and-paste function more as they ended up having to type stuff out. It meant they didn’t finish the exam and lost at least 14 marks!

SBR

‘Very challenging’ is how many described the March sitting.

Another exam where 50% of sitters felt the exam was either hard or a disaster, according to the Open Tuition Instant Poll.

Segmental disclosure was a surprise for Q4, too.

SBL

Students positively loved this exam, if the Open Tuition Instant Poll is to be believed! Some 9% of sitters said the exam was easy and a whopping 69% said the March exam was OK!

As one student said: “I have a strange feeling that this was too easy and I wrote too little.” Another explained: “It seemed too easy but I think I waffled a lot.”

But students really did say they liked this exam! Others were pleasantly surprised. That said, time pressure still played a part for many.

Apm

One in five sitters said this March’s sitting was a disaster for them. The Open Tuition Instant Poll also had another third (34%) calling it hard! As one PQ said: “Hated it – 50% balanced scorecard, 25% performance pyramid and 25% EMA.”

Another sitter said the exam wasn’t hard but there was so much to answer in such a short time.

There were some technical issues too for some. A PQ explained: “I had an issue for just over 15 mins and then it started to work. I have put in mit circumstances.”

Atx

‘Tricky’ and ‘time-pressured’ is how many described the March sitting.

The Open Tuition Instant Poll put the exam as hard for 41% of sitters and a disaster for another 17%.

For many the first two questions were generally

OK, the second two were pretty difficult. People seemed to like the ethical question.

One sitter said: “Hardest exam I have sat so far, praying for a scrape.”

Afm

Described as ‘tricky’ but better than December –if that makes it any easier!

In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 18% of sitters said the March sitting was a disaster for them and another 38% found it hard.

Time was a big enemy for many. As one sitter explains: “I love AFM and quite comfortable in all areas, it’s just the time that messes me up. I start rushing and missing out on reading things properly and then cannot attempt it all. It was my second time today – last time I got 49%.”

Aaa

The Open Tuition poll shows this March’s exam was felt to be a disaster for 21% of sitters and hard for another 40%. As one sitter put it: “Not sure how it went but it was the toughest I have seen for AAA to be honest.” Another sitter simply said: “Another fail, I am booking a resit for June.”

Yet another explained: “One of the toughest AAA papers I have seen, it was like the examiner was given the task to come up with the most difficult paper possible.”

A big worry for many sitters was the paper was nothing like they had seen before in the mocks or past papers.