Exam technique for ACCA Professional level Papers Steve Willis PwC’s Academy

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Messages from Examiners

Answers lacked evaluation and assessment of issues, which is required at this level Scenarios need to be evaluated and assessed, rather than described—this difference is fundamental and crucial Responses offered little by way of analysis and tended to repeat observations that were present in the question

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Messages from Examiners

Problems were answers written in a brief, bullet point format Candidates quoted lengthy detail from the scenario, scoring few marks A common problem is writing too little and failing to develop points beyond simple identification of facts

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Good exam technique is critical

for all P-level exams!

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What we’ll cover

Follow-on marks & showing your workings Writing under stress and time pressure Getting the professional marks Pitfalls to avoid

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Resitters

What is one thing you will do differently this time?

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Follow on marks and show your workings

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Tips on workings

Step-by-step approach when possible Double space Easy marks first Assumed answer if you run out of time

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How to write under exam pressure

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Why is this important?

P-level exams are mostly writing!

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3 Steps to follow

Read Plan Write

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Read and analyze the requirement

What are verbs and objects? Models? Time?

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Models?

BCG? Mendelow? The framework? Performance Prism? Audit risk model? Value chain?

How do they help? Structure!

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Plan: set your paragraph structure

Mind map or bullet points Sections Subsections Ideas

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Read and Plan: 1

(a) Define ‘transparency’ and evaluate its importance as an underlying principle in corporate governance and in relevant and reliable financial reporting. Your answer should refer to the case as appropriate. (10 marks)

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Read and Plan: 1

Define ‘transparency’ and evaluate its importance as an underlying principle in corporate governance and in relevant and reliable financial reporting. Your answer should refer to the case as appropriate. (10 marks)

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Read and Plan 2

(b) Explain Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development and identify the levels of moral development demonstrated by the contributions of Gary Howells, Vanda Monroe and Martin Chan. (12 marks)

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Read and Plan 2

(b) Explain Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development and identify the levels of moral development demonstrated by the contributions of Gary Howells, Vanda Monroe and Martin Chan. (12 marks)

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Read and Plan 3

(c) Critically discuss FOUR principal roles of non-executive directors and explain the potential tensions between these roles that WM’s non-executive directors may experience in advising on the disclosure of the overestimation of the mallerite reserve. (12 marks)

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Read and Plan 3

Critically discuss FOUR principal roles of non-executive directors and explain the potential tensions between these roles that WM’s non-executive directors may experience in advising on the disclosure of the overestimation of the mallerite reserve. (12 marks)

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Writing: quantity

1 Mark = 1 idea = 1.8 minutes of work 1 Idea = 1 short paragraph = 3ish sentences You get diminishing returns on your time

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Writing: content

•  Short sentences •  Simple structure •  Active voice •  Link to the scenario •  Friendly, professional style

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Structure 1

Point

Explain

Example Slide 30

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Structure 2

Calculate

Comment

Discuss Slide 31

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Structure 3

What?

So what?

Now what? Slide 32

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Example 1

“Define ‘stakeholder’ and explain the importance of identifying all the stakeholders in the stadium project. (10 marks).

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Point – explain – example 1

IMPORTANCE Understand the conflicts Conflicts will lead to delays, bad publicity, etc… This can result in the football club missing their objective of a new stadium. Understanding who the stakeholders are and what they want will help avoid this. E.g. The residents are against the construction so let’s meet with them early, maybe negotiate on some points—might keep them from protesting.

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Point – explain – example 2

Understand who has influence It’s critical to understand who has the most power and influence. The football club will need to keep them satisfied as they can block the project. E.g. the local government can make a lot of trouble for the football club (like revoking licenses). Keep them satisfied by following all the rules of construction and managing conflicts with the residents.

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Calculate – comment – discuss 1 Revenue per park dropped 15% over 5 years (w1) This is a bad sign. Cundy is failing to attract customers. Maybe her prices are too high for the level of quality they provide, or maybe they aren’t investing in new rides. They should re-invest in the existing parks instead of developing new ones. BCG grid analysis might help here—which parks are the dogs to close?

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Calculate – comment – discuss 2 Profit per park dropped 40% over 3 years This is another worrying sign. Costs are not dropping as fast as revenues. They should have transformed more fixed costs to variable when they saw this trend—reduce operational gearing. Maybe they need to improve cost control as well.

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What? – so what? – now what?

Explain how DRB might re-structure it’s upstream supply chain to achieve the growth required by DRB and to tackle the problems that Dilip Masood has identified. (10 marks).

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What? – so what? – now what? Switch from 2 shippers to 1 shipper We see poor inbound logistics: DRB has “missing shipments” and a “poor tracking system”, and the provider is not willing to help. These will increase their missed deliveries to customers and hurt their competitive advantage. They should switch to a more modern supplier (e.g, UPS) that will give them real time tracking info on a website and better quality here.

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Don’t forget to summarize

Overall Cundy’s strategy clearly isn’t working: Profits & revenues are down, their P/E ratio is below average, and they have a big liquidity problem. I recommend they cancel the expansion and focus on improving the existing parks, e.g. investing in new rides.

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Professional marks

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Your Goal

Impress the marker!

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Format

Make your document look like the requested document For example, if it’s a report: •  Give it a professional-looking beginning •  Include an introduction and/or executive summary (conclusion)--make your answer stand out You have 4 marks, use the time •  But remember: format is not the only thing the marker is looking at

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Style

Tone set from the opening Who are you writing to? Use professional language Use short paragraphs, avoid bullet point “shopping lists” Link to the scenario as much as possible by mentioning the people, company, and industry

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Structure

Group ideas together Make sure there is a logical order to your paragraph structure Use the reading and planning time here Headings and sub headings

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Clarity

Use headings as signposts Short, succinct sentences Use linking words

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Speech

“Welcome to our AGM Thank you all for coming today. My name is Mike Smith, I’m the Chairman of the Board of XYZ Corporation. I know you’ve read about our problems X, Y, and Z in the paper, and I want to assure you we’re doing everything to fix this. Good corporate governance is a main foundation of our company, and I’d like to tell you about the improvement we’re making in this area.” A) Independent Audit Committee Keep writing here …. Keep writing here…… Idea 2 Slide 50

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Effective P-level Writing: Checklist

Circle verb, underline object before you start Plan your paragraph structure: verbs and models will drive this Use short, concise, simple sentences Use headings and subheadings Aim for 2-4 sentences per paragraph Use one of the patterns to build your paragraphs Link as much as possible to the scenario Impress the marker with a good attempt at the professional marks

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Pitfalls: don’t do this

•  Shopping list •  Wall of words •  Regurgitation •  Not answering the question •  Miss the professional marks •  Not watching the clock

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Summary

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Key ideas

Get the follow on marks—show your workings Use assumed answers if you are out of time on a section Writing is the key skill at the professional-level exams Use a system to craft paragraphs the get marks Make sure every paragraph is linked to the scenario Give valuable advice, does your answer help the company? Know how to get the professional marks

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Resitters

What is one thing you will do differently this time?

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Any Questions?

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Good luck J

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