The 12 rules of studying for your ACCA exams

Some rules to think about when preparing for your ACCA exams

Rule 1:
Be fanatical. Be totally committed - in fact you must positively radiate passion for the subjects you intend to study. A fanatical fervour to study is the minimum level of enthusiasm required at the start of term.

Rule 2:
Planning is everything. It is vital that you organise your study programme before you commence your ACCA studies - work backwards from the date of your targeted ACCA exam and allocate your study time on that basis. Also, ration your available time to accommodate other important needs including your domestic, social and sporting commitments as well as planned holidays and events. Balance different subjects by weighting the subjects you are about to study according to the degree of difficulty you perceive in each – e.g. you may be weak in the computational aspects and feel that more time needs to be devoted to them than for discursive topics. Construct your overall ‘Course Plan’ by drawing up a programme table and slotting your agreed allocated times (by unit of study, etc.) into different days of weeks. You should then regard your ‘’Weekly Course Planner’ as being the most important ancillary document of your studies. In fact – stick it up and look at it every day!

Rule 3: Decide when to study. You may be an ‘early bird’ and work at your best when mind and body wake refreshed by sleep, or alternatively you may be a ‘night owl’ and work best in the late evening ‘burning the midnight oil’ There is no firm and sound rule on this but obviously if you attempt to study when you are tired your ability to assimilate information and facts is reduced and your interest and enthusiasm will waver.

Rule 4: Get addicted to your ACCA study. Get into a study routine as quickly as you can. If possible organise your ACCA study routine so that you use the same place, the same table or desk and plan to work at the same time each day. At the start, study will be a chore … then routine makes it habitual …… and soon you will find it interesting and become addicted!

Rule 5: Stay sane. Encourage your family and friends to assist in your ACCA studies. Don’t become isolated or alienated from your immediate circle by being too introverted while you are studying.

Rule 6: Catch up! If you fall behind in your ‘Weekly Course Plan’ then make a determined effort to bring your ACCA studies back into line.

Rule 7: Don’t abuse your body. Healthy body = Healthy mind. In other words don’t try to do too much each day and get permanently overtired. Don’t go on swotting for lengthy periods without having a break or with-out taking regular exercise of the type appropriate for your needs.

Rule 8: Drill down. Study hard with the aim of understanding, interpreting, appraising, evaluating and using the points covered. And study the entire syllabus!. Studying can be very hard work - but there is no reason why it should not be interesting and enjoyable. Keep a clear-headed perspective. Remember that only two years hard study often results in thirty years or so of rewarding and satisfying employment. Not a bad return on time investment!

Rule 9: Bite the bullet – and work questions. The surest way to succeed in your ACCA exams is to constantly recall, rethink, test and refresh knowledge. Examination status questions act as a stimulus for the learning process and provide a basis by which you can practice answering questions and assess your progress.

Rule 10: Get feedback. The full value of working through exam-status questions will only be gained if you give them the same degree of respect you give to your ACCA exams. Be totally committed, work hard for, and at, questions and be concerned about how well you perform. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that students benefit enormously from tackling questions and getting feedback on how well they are doing. The benefits of practising questions, however, will only be gained if the question is worked under simulated exam conditions with the same strict code of behaviour adopted.

Rule 11: Wind down. Happy times! Your ACCA exam is over and all you need to do now is wait for your exam results. Use the period between your ACCA exams and the exam results, and presumably the commencement of your next study programme wisely. This is a time for holidays and relaxation. Such opportunities should not be wasted. Do not leave an exam hall and immediately start sudying for your next exam - ambitious, committed and interested though you are. You will be doing yourself no favours.

Rule 12: Keep your flag flying. Think on this ….

Ability results from endeavour….
Success results from ability….
Satisfaction results from success.

Work hard in your studies and achieve satisfaction in your life. It’s worth it!

So there is some advice. I suppose that many will not heed it and this semester's styles of learning will be as varied and often as ineffective as before. But at least you can't say we haven't put our points across!

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