Exam sitting advice

Understanding the exam types

On-demand exams

These computer-based exams can be taken at any time throughout the year, providing you with more flexibility. They are usually for Foundations and Applied Knowledge level papers, and results are often available immediately or within a few days.

Session exams

Scheduled four times per year and cover the more advanced Applied Skills and Strategic Professional levels. These exams are also computer-based, but results are released several weeks after the exam date following a marking process.

Book session exams with ACCA

Sitting options

ACCA run four exam sittings a year in March, June, September, and December. Which exam to sit when can be confusing, so here are some of your options. It’s entirely up to you how you approach your studies, so this is just a guide.

ACCA allow you to sit up to four subjects in one exam sitting up to a maximum of eight per year. When planning your studies, it’s important to consider factors such as:

• your workload - do any of the exam sittings clash with busy periods at work?
• your personal life - will there be any holidays or important events that will make studying to a particular sitting difficult?
• and what best suits your approach to learning.

Depending on when you want to study, these are some of the most common choices:

Traditional format

Two exams per sitting, twice a year

Studying two subjects in two core sittings (either June and December, or March and September) will give you 12 to 16 weeks to prepare for your exams and still allow you to know the results from your previous exam sitting before moving on to the next.

You can really focus on your new subjects without having to worry about waiting for exam results. Plus, you can still use the other two sittings to resit any papers and keep your studies on track.

Example of the traditional ACCA exam sitting format.

Phased format

One exam per sitting, four times a year

Studying one paper every three months allows you to focus on one subject at a time, which you may find beneficial as you progress to the higher level papers. This is because some of the subjects in the higher level are harder, or have a larger syllabus to cover.

However, this will most likely mean that you have to start studying for your next paper before you have the results of your most recent exam if you want to have the optimum amount of time to prepare.

Example of the phased ACCA exam sitting format.

Mixed format

Using a mix of exam sittings for more flexibility

This approach is ideal if you want to have more flexibility throughout the year and vary the number of papers you take at each sitting, to allow for peak times in work or important events in your personal life. For example, you could sit one subject in March, two in June, and another in December. This would mean you are still sitting four exams in a year, but you have time for a summer holiday.

Example of the mixed ACCA exam sitting format.

Order of exams

With the ACCA qualification you can choose to sit your exams in any order. However, there are some important connections between subjects you should consider to give yourself the best chances of passing:

• You need a solid understanding of financial reporting rules before learning how to audit accounts. Therefore, you should take Financial Reporting (FR) before Audit and Assurance (AA), or you can take both at the same time.
• Before taking the Strategic Professional exams, we recommend studying the Ethics and Professional Skills module, available in your MyACCA portal. It takes about 20 hours and can be done between finishing an Applied Skills exam and starting the Strategic Professional level. ACCA reports that completing this module at this point indicates you will be 25% more successful in your Strategic Professional exams.
• We recommend taking Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) before the optional exams, especially if you are choosing Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) as an option. Completing SBR before or alongside AAA will significantly enhance your chances of success in AAA.

• If you’re a Level 7 apprentice, it is compulsory to do Strategic Business Leader (SBL) as your last exam, as this is your End Point Assessment for your Apprenticeship.The apprenticeship must be completed within 36 months, so it’s important to stay on track and do not delay exam sittings.

  For other learners (non-apprentices) it’s up to you whether you sit the Strategic Business Leader (SBL) exam last or not, but keep in mind it requires different skills to other more technical exams. Some students prefer to tackle this exam after building confidence and ability through other Strategic Professional exams.

Job role considerations

When deciding which exams to take next, it's important to consider your job role. For instance, if you work in an accountancy practice, it would be beneficial to pass Financial Reporting (FR) and either Taxation (TX) or Audit and Assurance (AA) first, depending on your department, before taking Performance Management (PM). These subjects will likely help with your daily tasks and your work experience can aid your exam preparation, building your confidence.

If you work in industry, Performance Management (PM) may be more relevant to your job, so it would be beneficial to study it earlier at this level.

Optional subjects

Your current job or future career goals will influence your choice of options at the Strategic Professional level. Also, consider how much you enjoy and excel in the subject. For example, if you scored well in Financial Management (FM), you would be well-suited to take Advanced Financial Management (AFM).

In the study support resources section on the ACCA global website you will find a page for each of the options subjects. The Introduction to each subject at the top of the page provides detailed information about the subject and the knowledge you will gain, building on what you learned at the Applied Skills level.