ACCA exams: P5 the problem paper, yet again - PQ P5 was the paper picked out by students as being the least pleasant, writes LCA’s Tony Mock This is consistent with examiners recent views, since P5 has been fairly consistent in producing the worst pass rate of all the Options subjects. Furthermore, this paper was probably less pleasant than recent papers. The compulsory question for 50 marks had those marks broken down into five separate sections to make life easier for students. The first requirement, while unusual, was a standard P5 question, but it all went downhill from there. Students were asked to assess the balance between fixed and variable costs but told that detailed calculations were not required. The topics of economic value added and value-based management were tested for a total of 19 marks, which some would suggest gives them undeserved respectability. The first optional question asked for the financial ‘impact’ of changing a goods inwards system (dressed up in the usual unnecessary jargon) without giving clear guidance of what was actually happening and little clue as to how the financial impact should be determined. Students were also asked for an effect on culture, despite it not being clear that any change in culture had happened – just a change in an accounting system. A question on projects subject to risk might have worried students, who may have thought that there was not much to say for a large number of discussion marks, although the calculations were perfectly reasonable. The context of the final question would have fooled students who would not have expected to talk about planning and operational variances in P5. Tutors and students alike have problems in establishing what topics from earlier papers are likely to be examined in P5. There is no mention of any variances in the ACCA’s P5 ‘Detailed Syllabus’ (that contains no detail) nor any mention of variances in the Study Guide (which does contain some detail). The ACCA needs to work out why the pass rates for the options papers (particularly P5) are so low. As a tutor, I have seen the work of students who have failed marginally in the past, and their attempts at questions indicate that the results were probably a correct assessment of their performance. This then begs the question of why were such students allowed to get to this stage of their exam careers. They have been enticed into a system by results that suggested that they did have what it takes to be a qualified accountant, only to be disabused of this idea when they reach their final set of exams. It is difficult to sum up the paper in a single sentence, but I would probably settle for: slightly nastier than recent P5 exams, with one or two matters that should be looked into by the ACCA’s Exam Review Board.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 17:39:36 +0000
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