AAA Retake

guide
n Plan  n Prepare  n Pass

Advanced Audit and Assurance

(AAA)
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n
Plan n
Prepare n
Pass

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Welcome to your guide helping Sections
you to retake your Advanced Audit

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and Assurance exam Reflect 03

Stages to
success
Plan 08
Why use this guide? Question practice 13
✓✓ A structured approach to help you succeed in your retake
Final tips 19
✓✓ Signposted resources and how to use them

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Appendix – Links21
✓✓ Tips for success to help you pass this time
✓✓ Interactive clickable checklists to keep you on track

This guide applies to exams for September and December 2018

and March and June 2019.

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Understand where
you went wrong

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Students usually fail an exam
because they do not have the
necessary knowledge OR they
have poor exam technique OR
a combination of both – the first
step to success in studying for

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your retake is to understand the
reason you failed.

In this section we will help you

to understand where you went
wrong and then in the next two
sections we will take you through

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what you should do to ensure you
pass your retake exam.

Reflect

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Reflect – Resources to help you understand where you went wrong

New exam format Student quote

from September 2018 Conquer the fear of failure

PLAN
Was your previous attempt at Advanced “During my break at work I make sure I read a chapter
Audit and Assurance in the June 2018 or solve exercises in my book. All in all, you know
session or earlier? If so, review the current yourself - you know your limits and capabilities, but
syllabus and specimen exam so that you are you need to conquer the fear of failure and note
aware of the new exam format that applies something down somewhere that will give you that
from September 2018. motivation and determination that will keep you
going. For me, it was my family’s sacrifice in helping

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to fund my studies.”
Audit and Assurance retake student, UAE

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Review the last four available ➤ These provide you with feedback on students’ performance in each exam, highlighting problem areas that students need to
improve on and telling you what the examining teams are looking for – work through the reports carefully, trying to identify
examiner’s reports for Advanced whether the issues highlighted were issues for you in your exam

Audit and Assurance in detail  emember that students often make the same mistakes exam sitting after exam sitting and you will see that the examining teams
R
talk about the same key knowledge areas and the same issues around exam technique time and time again. Really think about
whether you have made these mistakes as, once you know what caused you to fail, you can work on improving that area.
We will show you how in the next two sections


Listen to five minutes with ➤ Inshould
this short recording the examining team talks about areas where students commonly make mistakes and what their approach
be. Again, try to determine whether the issues the examining team talks about are issues that applied to you when

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the examining team you took this exam

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Reflect – Resources to help you understand where you went wrong

§
Extract from Tips for success
five minutes with the examining team

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…You must appreciate that at this level the examining team are looking for more than ✓✓ Don’t give up. Use this guide to
simply a demonstration of knowledge over a certain topic area. You must be able help you achieve success in your
to demonstrate how that knowledge is relevant to the circumstances you have been retake. Start by thinking positively
presented with. Remember that what we are testing is your ability to provide appropriate and believing you will pass
professional advice and much of that can be an ability to filter out what is not relevant as this time.
well as covering the pertinent points.
You must make sure that your Audit and Assurance (AA) knowledge is up to date. An

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understanding of the core syllabus areas from AA, including but not limited to audit risks,
substantive procedures, reporting and controls will make the step up to Advanced Audit
and Assurance much easier. Do not assume that what you learned at AA is no longer
relevant or cannot be examined.
IT IS ESSENTIAL that you take the time to plan your answers for Advanced Audit and
Assurance. You will be presented with a lot of information to assimilate and to produce
a well thought out, thorough answer you must take a step back and think about what
you are going to cover.

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§
Extract from
the December 2017 examiner’s report

There was some evidence of candidates treating a given area as a repeat of a previous
exam question and giving rote learnt answers on that topic rather than answering
the requirement as set. This is particularly noticeable on group audit risks and other

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assurance assignments.

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Reflect – Other hints to help you understand where you went wrong

Tips for success Why did you fail?

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Join events in the ACCA Learning Community Marginal fail?
✓✓ ACCA regularly hosts events in the Learning  If you scored a marginal fail (between 45%
Room which you can access via the Learning and 49%) last time it is likely that you failed
Community. These are planned around your because of poor exam technique.
exams and cover technical topics as well as
more general exam technique. Very low mark?
 If you scored a very low mark (perhaps under

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Take advantage of any new resources 25%) last time then it is more likely that your
provided specifically for you, to help you with mark is due to lack of knowledge.
your retake
Did you struggle to come
✓✓ ACCA is continually producing new resources
up with answers?
developed specifically to help you pass
your exam whether it be the first time or a  It’s more likely to be a lack of knowledge if you
retake, so keep an eye on the study support felt that you were either guessing answers
resource finder, and the technical articles or had struggled to come up with ideas.

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on the website (where you will find not only
specific syllabus areas covered but also exam Did you run out of time?
technique articles and study support videos).  It’s more likely to be poor exam technique
if you ran out of time, perhaps missing out
✓✓ If you haven’t done so already make sure
whole questions or parts of questions
you have personalised your edition of
or not finishing the exam.
Student Accountant to ensure you receive
advice specific to your exam.

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Reflect – Before you leave this section...

Have you identified where you went

wrong last time? Tips for success

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Lack of knowledge ✓✓ Discuss your thoughts with colleagues,
Poor exam technique tutors or your peers to see if they
agree with your conclusions.
A combination of the two
✓✓ Don’t feel alone or fed up because
you failed last time... join the ACCA
If you really are not sure, then Learning Community and find other
students in a similar position to you.

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assume it was a combination of

PRACTICE
Share ideas and thoughts, or perhaps
the two, and move on to the next find a study buddy to help keep you
section where we will help you to motivated.
plan the time between now and ✓✓ Don’t dwell on this stage too long.
your retake. The more time you spend dwelling
on your last attempt, the less time
you will have to improve ready
for your retake!

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Your checklist
Now that you have a better idea

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of where you went wrong last
time, it’s time to draw up a plan
to help you manage your time
between now and your
retake exam

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Consider taking retake

PRACTICE
tuition with an Approved
Learning Partner
Draw up your
retake study plan
Obtain an Approved
Content Provider question

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and answer bank
Review the syllabus and study
guide for your retake sitting

Plan

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Plan – Draw up your study plan

Study plan checklist

Enter for your retake as soon

PLAN
as possible using the exam
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
planner

Calculate the number of weeks
Week 1 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
from now until your exam
Week 2 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
date and draw up a plan – see
the example to the left and a

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Week 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday possible proforma for you to
use on the next page
Week 4 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
You may need to add or take
away weeks depending on
Week 5 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
which sitting you have
Week 6 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
chosen for your retake

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Block out days/half days/
evenings already committed
to family/social events
Plan study periods – evenings/
half days/full days

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Evening study period Daytime study period Other commitments

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Plan – Your study plan Print out and fill in when you will study for your retake

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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Week 1

Week 2

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Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

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Week 6

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Evening study period Daytime study period Other commitments Colour boxes in your preferred highlighter colours.

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Plan – Populate your plan with questions to practise

Now that you have worked out when you will study for
your retake, you need to think about which questions v
Tips for success
you are going to practise. Although you won’t be able
to plan every question in advance it is a good idea to If you failed because of a lack of knowledge

PLAN
decide on some key questions as well as scheduling ✓✓ Look through your notes, study text and the syllabus
in some time to attempt at least one full mock exam. and study guide, and try to identify which areas you
feel weakest in.

Ensure you have the latest edition of the Advanced ✓✓ The Approved Content Provider question and answer
Audit and Assurance Approved Content Provider banks provide a list of questions by topic area.
question and answer bank as this contains past Use these to help you plan the questions you need to

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attempt and add them to your plan. If there has been

PRACTICE
exam questions updated for changes to the syllabus, a change to the syllabus make sure you include
question style and exam format* as well as practice questions which test any new topics.
questions and answers and full mock exams to ensure
✓✓ Look for any technical articles which relate to the area of
you are fully prepared for your retake. knowledge you need to focus on and add these to your
plan. Remember the examining teams often write articles

Note that the question and answer bank you used to cover the areas that students find challenging as well
for your last attempt may not be up to date. as areas that are new to the syllabus.

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Check your version and if it is out of date we strongly
If you failed because of poor exam technique
recommend you buy the latest edition.
✓✓ Make sure you include questions in your plan from

Remember syllabuses and study guides are updated across the whole syllabus.
on a regular basis, so review the syllabus and study ✓✓ Schedule in time to watch the study support videos and
guide for your retake sitting and familiarise yourself review the exam technique articles which can be found
under technical articles on the website. These will give you
with any changes to the content of the syllabus or
some pointers on how you can improve your technique.

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the exam format since your last attempt.

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* Note: the exam format is changing from September 2018

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Plan – Tips for success

Student quote Tips for success

Read the technical articles

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✓✓ If you are able to, consider including time to attend a retake
“After failing with 40% the first time, for my retake or revision course with an Approved Learning Partner.
I made sure I read the technical articles carefully. These will give you the chance to really understand what
I can’t stress more about the importance of these you need to know for your retake.
technical papers. Examples illustrated in these
articles are so clear that it’s very hard to not ✓✓ Again, if you are able to, schedule in time to attend a
understand them.” mock exam day offered by one of our Approved Learning
Partners or do a mock exam online. These will provide you

QUESTION
Advanced Financial Management retake student,

PRACTICE
with feedback and help you to focus your last few days of
China revision time.
✓✓ Whatever the reason you failed last time you sat this
exam, make sure you include a range of different styles of
questions in your plan. Also specify which questions you will
do in full to time and which ones you will write plans for.
✓✓ Don’t forget to include time to practise at least one
mock exam in full to time. This could be a mock from the

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Approved Content Provider question bank, the Advanced
Audit and Assurance specimen exam or (if you are sitting
your retake after the September 2018 session) the last
available past exam.
✓✓ ACCA has some great resources to help you around exam
technique. Make sure you build some time in to review all
the exam technique and technical articles as well as the
study support videos.

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Your checklist
Before you start

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RAPT
Key skills

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Question Practice

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Question practice – Before you start


If you haven’t already, make sure
you check the latest syllabus and Tips for success
study guide to ensure you are aware

PLAN
of any changes to the content of the ✓✓ Remember to think positively
and don’t give up on a question
syllabus, the style of exam questions before you start. Every question
or exam format* for your retake you practise properly will bring you
closer to a pass in your retake.
R
 eview again the examiner’s reports
and listen to five minutes with the
examining team so that you have all

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of the examining team’s comments
in mind when you start working
through questions

Make sure you understand what
knowledge is assumed from Audit
and Assurance. This is set out in the

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article Underpinning Knowledge for
the Audit Exams

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* Note: the exam format is changing from September 2018

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Question practice – Reading and planning time (RAPT)

The Advanced Audit and

Assurance exam includes Tips for success
15 minutes of reading and

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planning time. There is no First of all consider how you are going to use this time
restriction as to how, and at ✓✓ Determine whether you prefer to use the full 15 minutes at the start of your exam
what point during your exam, to plan the whole exam or whether you find it better to allocate the time across
the exam, either by section or by question.
you use this time but we
encourage you to use it Use this time wisely:
to carefully read through

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the questions and plan Annotate the question paper with the time you need to spend on each question and
your answers. on each part of the requirements
✓✓ Consider writing the actual time you will start and finish each question.
Read the article reading and ✓✓ Do the same for the individual parts of each requirement if there are a lot of sub-parts.
planning time for further
advice.  ook at the questions and start to annotate the requirements (see key skills on
L
pages 16 and 17), making notes of any models, formulae or proformas you want
Before you retake your to use

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exam make sure you have ✓✓ Use this time to really think about what the question is asking you to do.
practised using this time when ✓✓ Note down any immediate thoughts as to key knowledge areas you will want to include.
attempting your mock exams. ✓✓ Consider what format your answer should take, who your audience is and how you
will structure your answer so you will gain your professional marks.
✓✓ Decide on the order in which you will attempt the questions.

 aving understood the requirements and what you need to do for each question,
H
start to scan the scenarios given, highlighting key points that might be relevant

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for your answer

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Question practice – Key skills you need to master

Key Skills Student quote

Find a new approach

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Reading the requirements
“I had the knowledge but I did not
This will help to ensure you are answering the question that has been set and not attempt enough questions to learn
wasting time including irrelevant information. the examiner’s style so I could better
understand what he was asking in
✓✓ Identify how many parts there are to the requirement and allocate your time
each question. The key to retaking
across all of the parts according to the marks being awarded.
this exam for me was to find a new
✓✓ Think about how many points you need to make in your answer to pass. approach, do as many questions as

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PRACTICE
Generally one mark will be awarded for each point made that is well explained possible and ensure that I understood
and, where relevant, related to the scenario in the question. what I was being asked.”
✓✓ Identify the verb and understand what is required of you. Carefully analysing Advanced Performance Management
the answers provided in the question and answer banks once you have retake student, Grand Cayman
attempted a question will help you to understand what the different verbs
mean. You can also take a look at the article What is the examiner asking? for
further guidance.

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Time management
You need to make sure you gain maximum marks through answering all of the
questions set, as well as all of the parts of each requirement.
✓✓ Remember in the exam you should always allocate 1.8 minutes per mark.
You should do this when practising questions and mock exams too.
✓✓ Once you have decided how long you are going to spend on a question you
need to stick to it as you can always come back to it if you have time at

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the end of the exam.

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Question practice – Key skills you need to master

Key Skills Tips for success

PLAN
Application of knowledge ✓✓ Make sure you are answering the
question set and not the question
ACCA exams are designed to test not only your knowledge, you wish you had been set!
but also your application of that knowledge.
✓✓ Make sure you use the scenario you have been given in
the question, refer to the organisation, the industry or
the people mentioned in your answer.

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PRACTICE
✓✓ Do not just regurgitate everything you know about a
particular topic area; your answer needs to be tailored
to the question. Student quote
Professional marks Learn from your mistakes

Four professional marks are awarded in the Advanced Audit

“The only way to pass an exam is to learn from your
and Assurance exam.
mistakes. On my fourth attempt at AA I realised
✓✓ Make sure you watch the study support video, that I was failing because of my lack of knowledge

FINAL TIPS
Professional marks – the difference between a pass and around audit procedures. Finally I was able
a fail for some practical pointers on gaining these marks. to succeed in passing.”

✓✓ Remember it is not just about the format of your answer Audit and Assurance retake student, Pakistan
but also things like using the appropriate language and
tone, logical flow, persuasiveness and the structure of
your answer.
✓✓ Use some of your RAPT to ensure you maximise

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these marks.

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Question practice – Tips for success

§
Tips for success Extract from
the September 2017
examiner’s report

PLAN
Learn from every question you do
Maximise your time by reviewing what you have learnt from each question you practise. For candidates preparing for this
Spend time working through the answer for every question you attempt and ask yourself exam, it is especially important to
the following questions. Did you: focus on tailoring the number of
points written to the mark available
✓✓ Finish your answer in the allocated time? and to take note of areas that the
✓✓ Include sufficient points in your answer given the marks available? requirement flags as not required. In

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PRACTICE
the past several sessions candidates
✓✓ Cover the correct areas of the syllabus? have been told areas that need not be
✓✓ Ensure your points were properly explained? addressed and many went on to cover
those areas regardless, losing time
✓✓ Present your answer in the right format? that could be spent earning marks
on another requirement.
✓✓ Write full sentences and short paragraphs?
✓✓ Show and reference all of your workings?

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Additional tips:
✓✓ Do not try to question spot.
✓✓ Focus on doing less questions really well rather than lots of questions badly.
✓✓ Think about obtaining feedback on the questions you practise – either from a tutor,
colleague or even a fellow student. This should give you an indication of how you are
progressing both in terms of content and presentation.
✓✓ If you find you are still struggling with the technical knowledge you need to answer the

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question, refer back to your notes or study text and remind yourself of the key points.

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Your checklist
Make sure you are ready to

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walk into your retake exam

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Final Tips

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Final Tips – Tips for success

Tips for success

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Very few students enjoy the exam (black pens, ✓✓ Try not to get into
taking exams but there calculator etc). discussions with fellow
are things you can do students just before the
✓✓ Don’t forget to take exam about what might
to make the experience your exam docket with come up. Again this will
less stressful! you as well as your only cause you stress.
student identification.
✓✓ Identify where the

QUESTION
exam hall is.

PRACTICE
✓✓ Eat properly before you
leave for the exam.
✓✓ Plan your route to the
exam hall, considering ✓✓ Sleep properly! Don’t
the time of day you will spend the last night
be travelling and any before your exam doing
potential issues. last minute revision,
Once the exam is over:
as you will perform so
✓✓ Have in place a back-up
much better if you are ✓✓ Relax.
plan in case of traffic

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alert and well rested
problems or public ✓✓ Don’t over
(and in any case, last
transport delays. analyse – you
minute revision will only
✓✓ Ensure you have all the cause you to panic!). cannot change
equipment you need for anything now!

Good

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Luck!

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PRACTICE – LINKS
Appendix – Links
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Appendix – Links

Page No. Link URL

04 Syllabus [Link]

04, 12 Specimen exam [Link]

PLAN
04, 14 Examiner’s reports [Link]
Five minutes with the
04, 14 [Link]
examining team
06, 07 ACCA Learning Community [Link]

06 Study support resource finder [Link]

06 Student Accountant [Link]

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06, 11 Technical articles [Link]

09 Exam planner [Link]

11, 12 Approved Content Provider [Link]

11, 14 Syllabus and study guide [Link]

12 Approved Learning Partner [Link]

[Link]
12 Past exam
[Link]

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Exam technique and technical
12 [Link]
articles
12 Study support videos [Link]
Underpinning Knowledge for the
14 [Link]
Audit Exams
15 Reading and planning time [Link]

16 What is the examiner asking? [Link]

Professional marks – the difference
17 [Link]
between a pass and a fail

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AAA – September 2018 update
© ACCA [Link]