ACCA, being an advanced course looks to offer students benefits of prior knowledge, skills so that they can kickstart their professional journey as early as possible. As a student looking to enter ACCA certification journey, this article will be a one-stop solution for all your queries.
Overview of ACCA Course
ACCA course is divided into below three levels with students required to clear 13 papers, 20 hours of Ethics and Professional Skills Module (EPSM) and 36 months of Practical Experience Requirement (PER) to become a qualified ACCA.
| Applied Knowledge Level | Applied Skills Level | Professional Level |
| Accountant in Business | Corporate & Business Law | Strategic Business Leader |
| Management in Accounting | Performance Management | Strategic Business Reporting |
| Financial Accounting | Taxation | Advanced Financial Management |
| Financial Reporting | Advanced Taxation | |
| Audit and Assurance | Advanced Performance Management | |
| Financial Management | Advanced Audit and Assurance |
ACCA Exam Cycles
ACCA conducts exams four times during a year on a quarterly basis, i.e., March, June, September, and December. This offers students a lot of flexibility, options to choose from and plan their studies. Students can opt to appear for all papers at any time during the year, in the session of their choice, albeit on-demand CBEs.
On-demand CBEs
All papers of Applied Knowledge Level & Corporate and Business Law (F1-F4) are available round the year as part of on-demand CBEs for students to kickstart their ACCA journey.
Thus, students need not wait for specific months like March, September – they can thus appear for these exams in other months of the year as well.
ACCA Exam Dates 2023
March 2023 – ACCA exams (6-10 March)
| 06-03-2023 | 07-03-2023 | 08-03-2023 | 09-03-2023 | 10-03-2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit and Assurance (AA) | Taxation (TX) MYS, UK | Performance Management (PM) | Financial Reporting (FR) | Financial Management (FM) |
| Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) INT, IRL, SGP, UK | Advanced Taxation (ATX) UK | Advanced Performance Management (APM) | Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) INT, IRL, UK | Advanced Financial Management (AFM) |
| Strategic Business Leader (SBL) | Advanced Taxation (ATX) MYS | Corporate and Business Law (LW) MYS |
June 2023 – ACCA exams* (5-9 June)
| 05-06-2023 | 06-06-2023 | 07-06-2023 | 08-06-2023 | 09-06-2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit and Assurance (AA) | Taxation (TX) | Performance Management (PM) | Financial Reporting (FR) | Financial Management (FM) |
| Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) | Advanced Taxation (ATX) UK, ZAF | Advanced Performance Management (APM) | Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) | Advanced Financial Management (AFM) |
| Strategic Business Leader (SBL) | Advanced Taxation (ATX) CYP, HKG, IRL, MLA, MYS, SGP | Corporate and Business Law (LW) | ||
| Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA)INT** | ||||
| Advanced Taxation (ATX) UK*** |
* All ACCA exams and variants are available during this session – apart from BT, MA, FA and LW exams (variants English and Global), which are available as on-demand CBE only.
** Malaysia market only
*** UK Market only
June 2023 – Foundations and niche exams** (5-9 June)
| 05-06-2023 | 06-06-2023 | 07-06-2023 | 08-06-2023 | 09-06-2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations in Taxation (FTX) | Foundations in Financial Management (FFM) | Foundations in Audit (FAU) | Technician Role Simulation (TRS) *Diploma in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR) | Diploma in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR) |
* Selected markets only
** All other Foundation-level exams are available as on-demand CBE only.
Dates to Remember
ACCA exams are held round the corner, in March, June, September and December. Students need to keep this in mind to ensure they do not miss out on catching this bus.
Exam Days – During each session, exams are conducted across five days specified by ACCA before each term.
Paper-level Timelines – Below box provides a clear picture of various exams to be conducted during each window:
| Audit & Assurance | Taxation | Performance Management | Financial Reporting | Financial Management |
| Advanced Audit and Assurance | Advanced Taxation | Advanced Performance Management | Strategic Business Reporting | Advanced Financial Management |
| Strategic Business Leader | Advanced Taxation | Corporate & Business Law |
Exam entry opening date – Typically, registrations for each session begin around four months prior to the end of exams.
ACCA Exam Standard Entry Deadline – Standard registration deadline typically ends around 40 days before the commencement of exams.
Upon successful registration, students would then need to schedule their exams by accessing the exam planner via their myACCA account. Students can save at least 200 pounds by registering within a given deadline. Entry closes at 23:59 GMT.
Late Entry Deadline – Students who miss out to register themselves within the standard entry deadline, have another shot at registration which closes around 30 days prior to commencement of exams.
Students registering via late entry scheme would have to shell out an additional 200 pounds as exam charges.
Exam results – ACCA generally releases its exam results within three weeks of last date of exams.
VGLD Advantage
VGLD always strives to offer its students the best possible prices as we believe in making careers rather than selling education.
- VGLD offers students below exclusive scholarships for up to Rs. 87,600/- to encourage and support needy students in their pursuit of excellence
- End-to-end guidance in claiming exemptions
- VGLD is a Gold Approved ACCA Learning Partner ensuring complete trust and faith
- LIVE online lectures from top-notch ACCA qualified faculty
- Weekend classes only – highly suitable for students already doing jobs
- ACCA pass Guarantee Programme with 100% Placement Assistance
- Numerous mock exams, practical questions training and doubt classes
Given the number of levels and papers involved, it is important to be crystal clear on questions like exam pattern, exam rules and other considerations. A thorough understanding of these can help students better plan their approach and strategy towards achieving their goal of a Global Chartered Accountant – ACCA.
To view the fee structure, please refer to our video on ACCA exam fees
Q. How many exams and times in a year can I appear for ACCA exams?
Ans. Each student can opt to appear for a maximum of 4 exams during each exam cycle (e.g., Jan-Mar) across a maximum of 8 distinct exams over the course of a calendar year.
In simpler words, a student can appear for maximum 8 papers (out of possible 13) with a maximum of 4 papers in each session.
Q. Can I appear for any paper in any order across levels according to my choice?
Ans. Answer to this question is both – a yes and no.
No – a student cannot appear for Applied Knowledge Level & Applied Skills Level papers simultaneously. Students must have cleared all papers of previous level to appear for the next level set of papers.
Yes – within each level, a student can appear for any paper, in any order of their choice.
Q. What is the mode of testing for ACCA exams?
A. ACCA course is available for testing only as a computer-based exams (CBE).
Q. What are the advantages of appearing for exams in CBE mode?
Ans. CBE mode of exams offer students several advantages like flexibility to take exams at any point throughout the year. CBE mode papers offer instant results at the end of each exam so that students need not wait anxiously for their results. Lastly, given the number of CBE centers, students from different parts of the country can appear for exams from the comfort of their city.
Q. What are the different types of question in an on-demand CBE exam?
Ans. CBE exams have below four forms of questions. Each question carries a weightage of two marks.
- Multiple-choice question (MCQ) – choose from a list of options
- Multiple response – select more than one response from the available options, typically two options are correct
- Multiple response matching – match the correct combination of options
- Number entry – answers must be submitted without commas and by using the full stop as a decimal point and/or the minus sign as a negative symbol (e.g., –10530.25)
Q. Are there any negative marks for answering questions incorrectly?
Ans. No, there are no negative marking in ACCA exams. Students are always encouraged to answer all the questions (even a guess answer has a probability of being 25% correct).
Q. Do I need to answer questions in the same order of appearance in question paper?
Ans. No, students are not required to answer questions in any order. All attempted questions will be marked, irrespective of their order of attempt.
Q. Are there any options to amend scheduled exams? (E.g., I schedule paper F4 for next session but I fail in F3 paper in current session and thereby wish to re-appear for F3 in next session)
Ans. Yes, a student has the option to amend their exam entries until the standard entry deadline. Results for previous session are released at least two weeks prior to the standard entry deadline, thereby giving students plenty of time to amend schedule per their requirements.
Q. Can I re-appear for an exam that I have already passed?
Ans. No, students are prohibited from re-appearing for same exam which they have already passed.
Q. Where can I take my ACCA exams?
Ans. Students have the option of over 400 centers around the world to choose from.
Note: VGLD is a Licensed CBE Centre to conduct ACCA examinations in India.
Q. How long does it take to know my ACCA exam results?
Ans. Students can expect their results between 6-7 weeks of their exam dates.
E.g., For exams conducted between 6-10th June, results are declared by 18th July.
Q. How do I receive my exam results?
Ans. Students can access their examination results under section- ‘myACCA’ by logging into their ACCA account.
Alternatively, they can also register to receive their results via a text message on any valid number, at least seven days before results are released.
