Tips for ACCA exam preparation:-

Today we are going to talk about how to prepare for an ACCA exam. There is a typical approach which we can apply in all the exams. There are two approaches we can use. One is self study and another one is to take classes from an ACCA approved tuition provider and then do self study. We will talk about one by one for both.

ACCA APPROVED TUITION PROVIDER:-

First we will talk about the other approach; Coaching from an ACCA approved tuition provider and self study.

To pass any exam, we require patience, practice, hard work and time management. Firstly decide a subject and find an ACCA approved tuition provider, then they will teach you the topics of the subject. On the day the topic is done, read that and make notes throughout the session. ACCA approved tuition provider will assign you the homework; do that on a regular basis. When you reach in the middle of the subject, means to say you get to know the subject and half of the syllabus has been completed then start the revision by yourself. There is a thing, whether you take a coaching or not, self study is necessary. Lots of practice is required.

For example, there are 7 sections in a subject. In a week if Section A is completed, then start doing the questions of that section. Don’t wait for the completion of syllabus. Start practicing on the very first day of the start of the subject.

Assign yourself a target of doing the practice of questions of at least 2 to 3 times. In the first time, we understand the overview of the subject, what the subject is all about. In second revision, we understand how to tackle the questions with the techniques and start highlighting the weak points. Do work on them in the third revision.

There’s a phrase, do not do 100 books 1 time, do 1 book for 100 times to get perfection, because every time you read a topic, you will always find something different.

Do the past papers to get familiar with the exam questions. Past papers have some interesting and useful questions. Make notes and revise them as much as you can.

If you are weak in a topic and you are struggling with it, just leave it for the day and next day read it with the beginning and repeat the sentences in your mind and try to think what the writer wants to say.

Focus more on the basic rather than on difficult areas, having knowledge of basic will simplify the difficult topic.

There are so many ACCA approved tuition providers like VGLD, Finaco Pro, Zell education etc. I took class for FM. I qualified that exam in One go. My experience with VGLD was good. You get the study text in the form of PPTs which are easy to read. Tutor support is also good and they respond very quickly for your doubts/queries. Their student support is also good, they actually take care of their students so that the students don’t get distract from other ACCA functions and can focus on their studies.

The main point is that, STAY CONSISENT AND DO THE HOMEWORK REGULARLY, YOU WILL DEFINITELY PASS THE EXAM. Whether it is self study or coaching, practice, hard work and consistency is required to achieve a goal.

SELF STUDY:-

Now we talk about self study. Without a mentor it is difficult to do something, as you are the mentor and you are the student. So only you can find your weakness and only you can work on them.

First of all self study is time consuming and you will face many difficulties in doing that. But if you are consistent and you have persistence then you can clear the exam with self study as well. It depends from subject to subject. If you want to clear a P level exam with self study then it will be most difficult thing in the world to do. Firstly, decide the subject you want to prepare and then choose wisely whether to take tuitions or self study.

The question is how to work on them. First of all, read the book, either BPP or KAPLAN, that’s your choice. Make notes to simplify the long topics. Just read the book for the very first time to get the overview of the subject and finish this reading as soon as possible, like within a week or two weeks (vary with the subject).

Then re read the book, now with the motive of understanding the topics and tries to do the practice of questions. Start with the MCQs as these are short and these take less time.

Start doing long questions, for the first time just try to understand the format and how to do a long question. At this step don’t focus on the speed. Try to understand how the concepts have been applied in the answer and search for the easy points.

During self study we feel like to give up because it is hard to do questions and find mistakes by you and assess yourself. But this hard work turns in to good marks (of course passing marks).

Read the study text 2-3 times and do the revision kit 2-3 times to get fluency. First of all evaluate how much left to the date of the exam. Then divide the first revision including kit in that time period. During first revision, do the study text first then pick the kit after reading. Do the study text for the second time and then try to solve questions from the kit section by section. Read a section, and then do the questions of that kit.

By the time you complete two revisions of study text and one time revision kit and by this time you may not feel confident (again vary with the subject). When you do the kit, make the favorite questions which you feel difficult in solving. Try to work on weak topics by reading the concepts again.

Third revision.

You are just 7-14 days away from the exam. During this time, focus more on concepts and do the past papers in this phase. The past papers help in doing only important questions rather than wasting time on less important topics. Go through the concepts again and again and try to remember them.

For subjects like AA, learn the knowledge base areas by revising them again and again.

For subjects like taxation, learn the dates and provisions, exemptions, deductions.

One day before the exam, read the theoretical parts and weak topics in theory so that you can remember them till the exam date.

Don’t study on exam day as if you study on that day, you will feel like you know nothing and will panic at that time. It’s better to leave the books on the night before the exam (depends upon the exam time).

It’s the exam day and you are going to apply all the knowledge you have gained so far during that time.

ALL THE BEST!

Name: Harigovind Pandey

(ACCA student)

VG Learning Destination