Your Guide to the ACCA
Qualification Changes from 2014
There are a number of changes happening to the
ACCA Qualification from 2014 and at BPP we
want to ensure you are aware of what is changing
and how it will impact your studies.
What has already changed?
New format exams for the Knowledge module papers (F1 – F3) were introduced at the
end of February 2014. All our materials were updated, and they will continue to be valid
until August 2015.
Our course prices also went down to make it easier for you to get started with the
ACCA qualification. You can find out about our dates and prices on our website at
www.bpp.com/ACCA
What is going to change?
There are a number of different things that are going to be happening:
1. A change in the exam year for all papers
2. A change in the exam format of the F4 (Law) exam
3. A change in the exam format of the other Skills module papers
4. An increase in the number of sittings
5. An increase in the use of e-assessment within the qualification
You can find more information on each of these areas below.
A change to the exam year
ACCA are changing the exam year of the papers which means the period of time a syllabus
is valid for will be different. The previous syllabus covered the June 2013, December 2013
and June 2014 exams (excluding Tax) meaning the study materials provided were valid for
18 months.
However changes to the syllabus and legislative updates (excluding Tax) will now be made
for the December 2014 sitting and will remain valid until the June 2015 exams.
Tax papers
Tax paper’s will continue to be updated in line with The Finance Act therefore legislative
updates made for the June 2014 exam will remain valid for the December 2014 exams.
These will be updated for the June 2015 sitting.
Knowledge Module
The Knowledge Module (F1-F3) papers will continue to have the same syllabus content
until August 2015.
F4 (Corporate and
Business Law) changes
Post the June 2014 sitting the F4 (Corporate and Business Law)
exam will be changing. These changes include:
• Different question types
• Length of exam (to a two hour exam)
• On demand Computer Based Exams (CBE) available from
November 2014 (English and Global variants)
The pass mark for the exam will remain at 50%
Exam format
The new exam format will be split into 2 parts, Section A and Section B.
Section A
Section A will comprise of 25 objective test questions worth 1 and 2
marks (totalling 70 marks), and students must select the correct
answer from a list of alternatives:
• 1 mark questions = 3 alternatives to choose from (20 questions)
• 2 mark questions = 4 alternatives to choose from (45 questions)
The Computer Based Exam will also include multiple response and
multiple response matching questions.
Section B
Section B comprises of 5 longer 6 mark questions and the marks
awarded will also reflect the amount of time it takes to complete each
question. The exam format will differ depending on whether you sit a
Paper Based or Computer Based Exam:
• Paper Based = short written answers
• Computer Based Exam = multiple options 1 and 2 mark questions
which will allow students to expand their application and analysis
All variants of F4 will see the change in exam format from the
December 2014 Paper Based Exam sitting.
Availability of Computer Based Exam (CBE)
In addition to the above, the English (Eng) and Global (Glo) variants of
F4 will be available as a CBE from mid-November 2014 and can be sat
on demand at a registered CBE centre. It will continue to be available as
a Paper Based Exam at the December 2014 and June 2015 sittings.
As a result of these changes Taught, Revision and Question Day
Courses will no longer be available as individual programmes but will be
combined into a single integrated course from July 2014 to ensure you
are fully prepared to sit your exam.
Changing exam format
for the Skills module
From December 2014 the exam format for other Skills papers will also be changing. Papers
F5, F7, F8 and F9 will have two sections to the exams, section A and section B. Section A will
include Objective Test (OT) questions, which include Multiple Choice Questions, as well as
different question styles in the second part of the exam. F6 will also change format from June
2015 when the new finance legislation is updated.
The exam formats will change as follows:
Paper
Old Format
New Format
F5
5 x 20 mark questions
Section A has 20 objective test questions worth two marks each.
Section B has three ten mark questions and two fifteen mark questions.
F6
1 x 25 mark question
1 x 30 mark question
3 x 15 mark questions
Section A consisting of 15 multiple-choice questions each worth
two marks.
Section B consists of four 10-mark questions, and two longer
15-mark questions.
F7
3 x 25 mark questions
1 x 15 mark question
1 x 10 mark question
20 multiple choice questions in Section A which carry two marks each.
Section B will have three questions, the first two carry 15 marks each
and then the final question is a long 30 mark question.
F8
1 x 30 mark question
1 x 10 mark question
3 x 20 mark questions
Section A of the exam comprises eight two mark questions and four
one mark multiple choice questions giving a total of 20 marks for
that section.
Section B contains written questions; there are four 10 mark questions
and two longer 20 mark questions.
F9
4 x 25 mark questions
Section A contains 20 multiple-choice questions worth two marks
each, (total of 40 marks).
Section B contains five questions: three questions worth 10 marks
each and two questions worth 15 marks each, (total of 60 marks).
There will be no change in the length of the F5-F9 exams and they will continue to be 3 hours long with 15 minutes of reading time.
Increase in exam sittings
To increase flexibility for both students and employers, ACCA will be introducing 4 sittings
per year (September, December, March and June).
There will be a pilot in September 2015 in some markets (yet to be confirmed) and then the
first worldwide additional sitting will be from March 2016. There will still be limits on the
number of papers that can be sat at a particular sitting, and in a year. More details will follow
in 2015, but for now this shouldn’t impact the way that you study for your exams.
Increased use of e-assessment
To increase flexibility and to remain relevant to the skills used in the business world, ACCA
are moving towards the use of e-assessment. This means that from 2016, the other Skills
papers (F5-F9) will be available as Computer Based Exams however, they will continue to
run alongside the Paper Based Exams and will not be available on demand. Further details will
follow in 2015.
What is BPP doing about the changes?
In order to fully prepare you we are updating all our study materials to reflect the syllabus and
legislative changes. In addition we are further developing our comprehensive range of online
resources to ensure no matter which exam mode you choose, you can be assured to get the
best possible resources and support for exam success.
Have more questions?
If you have questions about the changes or how they may affect your studies, please contact
our Student Management Centre or your ACCA tutor.
ACCA changes webinar
We will be running webinars giving an overview of the skills module changes and how to
prepare for the new format exams in August and September. For more information, available
dates and to register, visit our webpage: www.bpp.com/events
Contact us
BPP House, Aldine Place,
142-144 Uxbridge Road,
London W12 8AA
T 03300 603200
E service@bpp.com
www.bpp.com/ACCA