January 2025
The December exams are over, but how much of a disaster where they for sitters? Find out here…
AA
“Section A was something else,” according to one AA sitter. Another PQ said it was “a complete disaster with hardly any straightforward questions”. It was the most bizarre set of MTQs some had ever seen!
To counter this, section B was described as “not bad” and “a typical paper”.
In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 10% of sitters said they had a ‘disaster’, another 23% found the paper ‘hard’ and 57% felt it was ‘OK’. That left 10% feeling the exam was ‘easy’.
AAA
Many agreed the question on ROMM was “very difficult” this sitting. Some found the paper very time pressured, and others found it a pain to hunt for the risks in Q1.
Some 16% of those voting in the Open Tuition Instant Poll said they had a ‘disaster’ of an exam. Another 41% found the paper ‘hard’.
TX
Sections A and B got the thumbs-up from sitters, but section C was a bit trickier. But generally not a lot of love or hate around.
Voting in the Open Tuition Instant Poll saw 19% pressing the ‘disaster’ button and 28% opting for ‘hard’. For the rest it was either ‘OK’ or ’easy’.
SBL
The SBL December exam was described as ‘awful’ and ‘very tricky’, ‘horrible’ even.
Those who got the joint venture question did not enjoy it. One PQ felt the exam, like the joint venture question, was all a bit generic.
Many struggled for time too, and struggled to find enough answers for the mark allocation. As one sitter said; “Seemed very woolly compared to practice questions.”
Some also felt the questions were abstract and were unsure of which model to use.
What was generally agreed upon was the fact that the pre-seen was not really needed. The exhibits were also deemed unnecessarily long.
The Open Tuition Instant Poll was pretty evenly split between ‘disaster’ (33%), ‘hard’ (36%) and ‘OK’ (29%).
PM
This paper was described as both ‘brutal’ and ‘hard but fair’!
It seems sections A & C were fine for most, but many found section B too long and ‘tough’.
Some sitters thought their section C budget control question was much harder than the relevant costing and the build block one others got! Not sure how they know, but one sitter felt it “hardly seems fair”.
According to the Open Tuition Instant Poll, one in five sitters (20%) had a ‘disaster’. Another 36% found the December exam ‘hard’.
APM
Sitters didn’t find this exam easy. A third-time sitter felt very dejected after the exam. They had worked very hard, done all the specimen papers, read all the technical articles, but the exam resembled nothing they had seen before.
Some 16% of sitters voted the exam a ‘disaster’ in the Open Tuition Instant Poll. Another third (35%) found the exam ‘hard’. That left 45% thinking it was ‘OK’.
ATX
Quite a few sitters felt this the hardest ACCA exam they had ever sat. Many sitters admitted they struggled to answer the last question properly.
Time management came into play big time, and students struggled to concentrate as the clock ticked away.
Section B was a disaster for some, with many calling it ‘hard’ and ‘not nice’.
In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 43% of sitters said the exam was ‘hard’, and another 20% felt they had had a ‘disaster’. Just 34% felt the exam was ‘OK’.
FR
The exam was ‘actually OK’, with section C the easiest for some. Section A threw a few people, but most hope they did enough in sections B and C to pass.
The heavy amount of calculations in Section A did mean, however, that some sitters ran out of time.
In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 49% of voters ticked the ‘OK’ box, and another 5% thought the exam was ‘easy’. That left 36% saying it was ‘hard’ and another 9% had a ‘disaster’.
SBR
One of the most ‘liked’ papers this time around. Some 65% of voters in the Open
Tuition Instant Poll ticked the ‘OK’ box, and another 5% felt it was ‘easy’.
One sitter even suggested it was easier than the BPP exam practice questions.
FM
A ‘mixed exam’, with an OK section C, is how one sitter described FM this time around.
Sections A and B were deemed difficult with some tricky questions.
In the Open Tuition Instant Poll, 16% voted the exam a ‘disaster’ and another 36% felt the exam was ‘hard’. What is interesting is 13% said the exam was ‘easy’ – easy rarely gets such a high vote.
AFM
This exam was a ‘disaster’ for 19% of sitters, according to the Open Tuition Instant Poll. Another 41% said the exam was ‘hard’.
One student said the exam for them was an ‘unmitigated disaster’, and was expecting single digit/low double-digit marks come January.
Many were not ready for the swaps question.
As one sitter said: “Currency swaps are rarely tested… yeah OK, only in June 2024 exam and this one!”
- The December results will be issued on Friday 17 January 2025.
