Elements to buckle up if you fail to crack ACCA Exams

ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is a well-renowned global accounting qualification that provides a comprehensive education in the fields of accounting, finance, and business. Despite its popularity and the vast array of opportunities it offers, many students still fail to pass ACCA exams. With its popularity and reputation, it’s no surprise that many students aspire to pursue ACCA. However, passing ACCA exams is not easy and many students struggle to clear them. The reasons for this failure could vary from lack of preparation to poor exam techniques.

The purpose of this blog is to shed light on the common challenges faced by ACCA students and provide practical solutions to overcome them. By identifying the reasons why students fail, we aim to provide students with a roadmap to success and help them pass the ACCA exams. Whether you’re just starting out on your ACCA journey or you’ve been struggling for a while, this blog will provide you with valuable insights and practical tips to help you achieve your goals.

In this blog, we will discuss the reasons why students fail ACCA exams, including lack of preparation, insufficient study materials, poor exam technique, lack of focus, and exam anxiety. We will also provide solutions to overcome these challenges, such as preparing adequately, improving exam technique, and managing exam anxiety. This blog is designed to help ACCA students take control of their studies and achieve the success they deserve.

Reasons Why Students Fail ACCA Exams:

1. Lack of Preparation and Planning: 

The ACCA exams are notoriously challenging, and many students simply don’t put in the right kind of effort required to prepare for them. This could be due to a lack of motivation, poor time management, or an underestimation of the difficulty of the exams. To overcome this challenge, students need to make a detailed study plan, allocate sufficient time to studying, and stick to their plan. 

Before embarking on your ACCA exam journey, it’s essential to carefully devise a study plan. In doing so, it’s crucial to consider various aspects such as your work schedule, time constraints, the number of papers you’ll be taking, and any personal responsibilities such as familial duties.

Crafting a detailed study schedule and outlining your approach is crucial. However, it’s important to make sure your plan is attainable and adaptable. Avoid setting overly ambitious goals as this could lead to disappointment and demotivation. Instead, break down your plan into smaller, achievable objectives and strive to meet them on a daily or weekly basis. This will help you stay on track and maintain motivation throughout your studies.

2. Neglecting to understand the syllabus and exam structure:
   
   Many students overlook the importance of familiarizing themselves with the ACCA exam syllabus and format. This lack of familiarity can result in two critical mistakes. Firstly, students may spend valuable time studying topics that are not examinable. Secondly, they may overlook crucial examinable topics. It’s crucial to keep in mind that the ACCA examiners have specific depths of knowledge they expect students to have for each topic.

It’s crucial to thoroughly familiarize yourself with the syllabus and the depth to which each topic is expected to be known. Make sure to thoroughly read and understand the syllabus for the exam you plan to take.

To ensure the best possible preparation, it’s recommended to utilize ACCA’s approved study materials. These materials have been thoroughly reviewed and approved by the ACCA, ensuring that they cover the full syllabus, consider the required depth of knowledge, and incorporate any changes or updates to the syllabus.

3. Inadequate Conceptual Understanding

One of the key reasons for failure in ACCA exams is the lack of understanding of fundamental concepts. Many students place too much emphasis on memorization and neglect to grasp the underlying principles.

Memorization may earn a few marks, but it is not enough to secure a passing grade. A thorough understanding of the concepts is crucial. ACCA exams, especially at the advanced level, assess your ability to apply the concepts in real-world scenarios. Without a solid understanding of the concepts, you will struggle to apply them effectively in the exam.

4. Insufficient Practice

Many students focus solely on reading notes, study materials, and textbooks, neglecting the importance of practice. This is a common mistake that often leads to failure, despite having a solid understanding of the coursework.

Lack of practice creates three major challenges: difficulty in managing exam stress, difficulty in time management, and difficulty in applying concepts in real-world scenarios. Those who practice under exam conditions are better equipped to handle these obstacles and increase their chances of success in ACCA exams.

It’s crucial to practice extensively under simulated exam conditions. The ACCA website provides a vast array of past exam papers to use for practice. Make use of them, and practice under strict exam conditions. Evaluate your answers against the model answers provided by the examiner, identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Continuously improve your performance by studying and preparing more effectively, then repeating the cycle with another past paper.

5. Skipping questions

One common misstep that results in failure on ACCA exams is not addressing all of the questions. This error often occurs for two reasons. Firstly, students may overlook parts of the prompt or even an entire question due to negligence or stress during the exam. Secondly, inadequate time management can lead to running out of time.

It’s crucial to maintain a vigilant focus throughout the exam. Avoid succumbing to panic and strive to stay composed. Keeping a clear mind will prevent careless oversights such as skipping parts of the questions.

How to cope with failure

Embrace Your Emotions

Being human includes experiencing a range of emotions, including sadness, envy, depression, and frustration, especially during moments of disappointment. Suppressing these emotions may hinder future performance, according to research.

Studies conducted by Noelle Nelson and her team at the University of Kansas showed that when students failed in a competition, those who focused on their thoughts rather than their emotions performed worse on subsequent tasks compared to those who wrote about their emotions. This may seem surprising, but it’s important to understand why emotions are more beneficial than analysis.

The research found that failure often triggers irrational thoughts that protect self-esteem, such as making excuses or blaming others, rather than objectively learning from the situation. It’s natural to feel emotional after a failure, so instead of immediately analyzing the situation, take time to allow your emotions to subside before making decisions on how to improve. Embracing your emotions can lead to better outcomes.

Reframing the Outcome

A psychological strategy known as positive reframing can help us recover from failure. A study by educational psychologist Adam Hanley at Florida State University found a strong connection between positive reframing and the subsequent self-confidence of university students after poor academic results. Positive reframing entails intentionally viewing negative events from a positive perspective. To use positive reframing, consider questions like:

• What lessons can I gain from this experience?
• How can this make me a better person?
• What positive outcomes could result from this situation?

Reframing does not mean you must convince yourself of the answers to these questions. Rather, it involves allowing your logical mind to take control of your emotional mind, enabling you to move on from the setback.

Take a step back from the situation

Evaluating failures and mistakes is crucial to identify the areas for improvement. However, research led by Ethan Kross of Columbia University reveals a simple mental approach that can enhance the effectiveness of reviewing experiences. The researchers asked undergraduate students to recall a situation that elicited intense anger and resentment and then reflect on the reasons for their emotions.

Half of the students were asked to reflect from a self-immersed viewpoint, where they had to “relive the situation as if it were happening to you again.” The other half were instructed to adopt a self-distanced perspective, where they had to “watch the conflict unfold as if it were happening to a distant you.”

The results showed that the students who reflected from the self-distanced viewpoint experienced significantly less anger and distress. Hence, while reflecting on a painful event, it’s important to take a step back and view the situation as a bystander rather than reliving it. This detachment allows for a clearer analysis of the events, rather than getting bogged down by emotions.

Emphasize Progressing Ahead

When it comes to rejection or a failed relationship, the actions and thoughts of others can greatly contribute to our stress. It can be all too easy to start asking why things didn’t work out. However, a study conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London showed that excessive reflection on why things went wrong may not always have positive effects on our mental health.

Psychologists Ed Watkins and Simona Baracaia conducted an experiment where they asked some participants to focus on finding solutions to their problems, while others were asked to ponder the reason for their problems. The results showed that those who focused on finding solutions had better outcomes.

It’s important to understand that the root cause of certain events may not always be clear. We may not be privy to others’ true intentions or have all the relevant information at our disposal. Instead of getting bogged down by the whys, it’s more productive to concentrate on how to move forward. Given that a situation has arisen, the next step is to determine the best course of action. How can we respond and make progress today, tomorrow, and in the future?