How to Prepare for ACCA Exams
Once you have made the decision to get your ACCA certification, it is now time to create the perfect plan to achieve what you wish for. ACCA offers a lot of flexibility to students as to when and where they can take exams. After selecting your exam schedule and registering for it, it is time to put your planning into action. To start on this new pathway, we recommend that you make a dedicated study plan for yourself to ensure that you thoroughly prepare for it. If you are currently lost and looking for the next step to take after registration, we can help you get organised with your preparation strategy.
Tips to Prepare for the ACCA Exam
How to prepare for ACCA exams
Plan Ahead
Benjamin Franklin once said, “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail.” It is especially true when preparing for competitive exams such as the ACCA. To chart out your schedule, you should assess how much time you have from the time of registration to the week of the exam. Make sure that the tasks you add for yourself and the deadlines you assign are realistic. It is important to remember that every student has a different pace and method of learning concepts. Instead of following the study pattern of someone you know, it is important to be aware of your attention span and learning speed.
Make Running Notes and Recaps
Instead of spending hours behind curating elaborate notes, try making one-page summaries or running notes of topics that you think are important or that you might forget easily. These recaps will be handy when revising before your exams and will enable you to go through the important points quickly and efficiently. If you are attending online coaching, try noting down pointers that seem important during the lecture. These pointers will help you revise topics effectively as opposed to just relying on your text and spending hours on one subject.
Make use of ACCA Approved Content
When looking for study material and learning resources, it is important to mainly rely on ACCA-approved content. This kind of content is carefully assessed by ACCA’s examining team and contains only the most important and relevant information. This is especially crucial when you are planning to study on your own, without the help of any coaching institute. If you wish to buy insightful guides or books, you should get them from ACCA-approved content providers like BPP Learning Media and Kaplan Publishing. When buying these books, make sure you buy the latest versions of them. You can also go through the ACCA Global website to find some helpful exam resources.
Mock Exams
We’re sure you’ve heard about this study tip from multiple people several times, but trust us, it is incredibly useful! One of the biggest struggles students face when giving such exams is the inability to work under the pressure of an examination setting. Taking mock tests a few times before taking the actual exam can be extremely helpful in getting you in the right mindset for it. It also prepares you for the kind of questions that you should expect from such papers. Another helpful trick to get comfortable with multiple-choice questions is solving chapter-wise sets of questions as soon as you are done studying a particular topic.
Solve past years’ papers
You can find a lot of past exam questions and papers on ACCA’s official website. Past exam papers, when used with specimen exams, can help you prepare for the style of questions that can be expected from ACCA. Initially, you may feel stuck and unprepared for the first few questions you come across, but with enough practice, you’ll be able to solve them comfortably. If you can make the time for it, try solving these past papers or specimen papers in record time so that you can improve your time management skills as well.
Sign Up for Coaching
Studying through an Approved Learning Partner (ALP) will definitely be very helpful in preparing for the ACCA examination. These learning partners may have different levels of approval from the ACCA. Platinum ALPs are institutions that have the highest level of approval from the ACCA and are required to meet all the global benchmarks for the course management and teaching standards. Gold ALPs are learning providers that coach students planning for the ACCA Qualification or the Foundations in Accountancy suite of qualifications. Silver ALPs are institutions that have newly ventured into ACCA coaching. These tuitions could either be online learning institutions or face-to-face learning institutions. If you are on the lookout for a good coaching class for ACCA preparation, you can reach out to Zell Education to learn more about their courses. It is a Platinum Approved Learning Partner which features its own LMS platform and ACCA Qualified Faculty.
Additional Tips
If you want to enhance your understanding of concepts, you can try going through some of the technical articles available on the ACCA website. These can help you with the subjects more effectively and will also give you insights on how to apply these concepts in real cases. You will also find some really good tips and tricks for clearing the ACCA exams on YouTube. Zell Education has created several such guides to help students prepare for these examinations. Check out this playlist for tips regarding ACCA.
The ACCA qualification is recognized in over 180 countries including Canada, Singapore, and Australia. If you’ve made the decision to become a global CA and are contemplating your next move, we can help you take a step forward. Check out our Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) course to learn more. To advance your portfolio and build professional skills, try Zell Education’s interactive courses that offer flexible training timings. Get in touch at +91 7208885600 or email us at [email protected].
FAQs
What is better for ACCA? Self-study or Coaching?
While it is possible to prepare for the ACCA exams by studying on your own, we recommend connecting with one of the Approved Learning Partners of ACCA to get the most benefits. Zell Education is also a Platinum Approved Learning Partner.
What are the Career Options after ACCA?
The ACCA certification can help students secure jobs for profiles like Accounting Advisory, Risk Advisory, Mergers & Acquisitions, and many more. You can also check out our blog for more information about the ACCA course.
What is the exam structure of ACCA?
There are three levels of exams that are required for the ACCA Course i.e. Knowledge, Skill and Professional. There are four papers for the Knowledge level exams and five papers for the Skills level exams. For the Professional level exam, students are required to attempt two mandatory papers from the Essentials Module and any two Optional papers (out of four).
