I have seen on the AAT website Acca results are out from December exams, did you pass yours Shaun? I have been looking at past papers, would really like to do this as my next qualification, I see there is an FIA qualfication would it be best to do this one first. Kind Regards. Sue
I would say that whilst the FIA is a sound stand alone qualification if your intention is to gain the full ACCA qualification then don't bother with it and instead go straight for papers F1, F2 and F3.
P2 remains my Nemesis!
I've now saught professional help with this one from a chartered freind which involved taking the exam under timed conditions as with the real thing followed by doing another exam under exam conditions that was not timed. The analysis that I got back was that I know the stuff inside out and upside down but my exam technique for this paper stinks.
I write too much, too quickly and I can't spell.
I use too much time on the first question and rush the other three.
For the exam where it was not timed it took a little over four and a quarter hours and my score went through the roof proving that it's not that I don't know it, I just can't do it in the allocated time.
So, for June I need to learn to stop writing all of the stuff that I know and just restrict it to sufficient to get through the exam. That should give me more time to do a better job of the other three questions.
The annoying thing is that the exams are supposed to be about finding out what you know, not speed writing. The way that they are it seems that they actually favour people who know less. Grrrr....
kind regards,
Shaun.
P.S. ACCA sites and absolute nightmare to access at the moment as they've been improving it.... For improving I'm reading that they've replaced the server with a ZX Spectrum!
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Are you marked on spelling for ACCA? i understand the importance at that level but i was under the impression that the content was more important than spelling. The AAT exams tell you not to worry about spelling, concentrate instead on explaining what you mean or simply make it understandable for the reader. But, mate, don't worry about your spelling, worry about your meandering lol. I'd love to be there with an assesor going over one of your pieces of artwork, it's like a ride on the magic bus.
Thanks for your reply, no what you mean trying to get on Acca's website, gave up in the end. My mind is made up now to start on papers F1 F2 F3. Now for another question, which are the best study books to use Kaplan or BPP, also are these exams paper based or computer based. Kind Regards Sue
my preference is definitely for the Kaplan study texts over the BPP versions as I like the regular imbedded testing rather than a lot of reading then test. Also the BPP texts since 2007 have gone down the path of emphasising words or paragraphs which really doesn't work for me when you need to give equal emphasis to the whole page not selected words from it so I just find it a distraction.
However, things are never so simple as to say that Kaplan is better than BPP and what I would buy for each exam would be ....
BPP I-Learn CD which is a course on a CD and you use this as your driver. Do the course before the study text. The courses are quite high level but it means you understand the basics before diving into the books for the detail.
Kaplan Study text
Kaplan AND BPP revision kits (often the same exam questions approached from different angles). My approach with these books is to have a blue sheet of paper and a green sheet of paper. write numbers on the paper corresponding to the questions in the books (blue for Kaplan green for BPP) and then cut them all out and put them in a large beaker. Every day take two or three bits of paper out of the beaker and do those questions putting the used questions into another beaker. When you've finished the first beaker move onto the second and keep repeating the process until the exam.
BPP Success CD (great to play on repeat in the background)
I don't bother with pocket notes but make my own packs using index cards.
Get Through guides are much cheaper than either BPP or Kaplan but after trying them out for a couple of papers I just find the books a bit messy and confussing so I wouldn't bother with those ones.
Buy your materials from Amazon either themselves or the book depository through Amazon resellers as you can drop on some cracking deals.
All in all I think that you should allocate about £125 per paper for study materials (or you could drop the success CD and one of the revision books bringing it down to around £90 per paper) most of which will be good for about of two sittings.
The ACCA is experimenting with computerised exams for the first few papers (F1-F3) with the intention of the entirety of the qualification going over to exams on demand from 2015.
At the moment even for F1 to F3 there is still the option to sit the papers in the more traditional way.
The bulk of the exams though are held in huge exam halls with hundreds at each sitting. Exams are held twice a year and cover eight days in early June and early December with results issued a couple of months later.
HTH,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
it's not that your spelling is marked but the markers are human beings and spelling issues and incomprensible scrawl really doesn't bring out their best side! Actually, spelling is one of the things that Kaplan specifically mention in their exam advice for ACCA so methinks we've got more Draconian markers as well as a more Draconian body. (Havn't used that word in a while so thought I would get two hits out in a single paragraph!).
So, your advice is that next exam I shouldn't cover my last holiday or the price of cheese in the outer hebrides... Darn, if only we'd spoken sooner! lol... And talking of magic buses....
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
