BPP ACCA P3 Exam Tips March 2017

　　If we look back at the June 2015 P3 exam we can see that the examiner has again required students to have a very good grasp of the syllabus, both breadth and depth, combined with an ability to apply that knowledge (along with a decent amount of commercial common sense) to the specific circumstances of the scenario.

　　In addition it is clear that the examiner likes to keep students on their toes by including substantial elements within questions that are from areas that could be considered the fringes of the syllabus. For instance in December 2013 there was a 25 mark question which required a detailed knowledge of regression analysis, time series analysis and budgeting.

　　In December 2012 there was a 25 mark question based largely on decision trees.

　　It is therefore extremely dangerous for any student to focus on certain elements of the syllabus at the expense of others. To stand the best chance of passing P3 students need to have a good understanding of the entire syllabus. This will enable them to choose the

　　questions where they believe they will find it easier to pick up marks (for instance because it is easier to understand the requirements, or easier to structure an answer, or easier to pick

　　up knowledge marks) rather than having to choose questions because of the syllabus area.

　　In addition if students were to look at the exams in the past couple of years they will see that all of the key areas of the syllabus have been examined over the past four or five sittings which again shows the danger of question spotting or ignoring areas.

　　Important areas to cover for the September exam include:

　　It could be argued that the following areas, despite being key syllabus areas that have been regularly examined, have not been examined significantly in the past couple of papers, and therefore may be a little more likely to surface (however remember that this is a very dangerous game to play if it distracts students from other syllabus areas):

　　‐ Value Chain.

　　‐ Critical success factors and KPIs.

　　‐ Role of the corporate parent including BCG matrix/Ashridge.

　　‐ Managing strategic change including Force Field Analysis.

　　Finally it is worth pointing out that the June paper contains some compulsory calculations in Section A, as well as in some of the optional Section B questions – a trend we expect to continue throughout 2017.