HOW TO PASS YOUR ACCA P3

HOW TO PASS YOUR P3 WITH FLYING COLOURS
By Dr Kwesi Atta Sakyi 19th May 2015

After reading this piece and you fail to pass your P3, then you have nobody to blame but yourself. P3 is an easy paper to pass and you should adopt an attitude of 'one touch' so that you sit the exam once and for all. What are the things to do?
Take the exam as an English comprehension exercise where your reading skills are being tested. All the material needed to pass the exam are in the scenarios given. Use the information given to answer the questions. Identify the business case or problem at stake and look for evidence of data or statistics to address it. The information is made compact for you in a user-friendly way. As a Business Executive, you will need to make decisions. Your duty is to work out a few percentages, ratios, and make inferences and recommendations.
First read rapidly to see the plot or gist. Underline key points and make annotated notes on the edges for each paragraph so that on your second reading, you do not waste much time in extracting the facts.
Make a plan of the points you want covered in your answer, and ensure that you touch each one of them. Do not be in a hurry to cancel what you have written.
Use headings according to elements in a model to answer a question. The headings could also conform to what the examiner wants you to cover in your answer.
Make some extracts of tables in your answers and show some organisation and neatness.
Mind spellings and write good English and full sentences.
Explain the points you advance in full. Do not let points made go not amplified or explained fully.
Understand exactly what the examiner wants and do it. The exam needs a lot of common sense.
Use your communication skills of report writing. A good report has memo report format
From: To: Subject: Date:
Introduction, Main body of analysis, evidence, arguments for and against, suggestions, observations, make some assumptions, be innovative, use the names mentioned correctly with capital letters beginning for all proper nouns. Do not misspell names etc
Do not force all elements of a model in an answer if all of them do not apply. But ensure at the beginning you mention all the elements and then focus only on those which apply to the scenario. Do not waste time explaining too much of a model. Pick its elements to form headings and apply the scenario to them
Give real life examples of mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances, franchising, licensing etc which went well or went badly and relate to the scenario.
Manage your time well.
Spend the first 20 to 30 minutes reading for facts and planning your answer so that when you start writing, you will not stop. I recommend 12 pages for the whole exam, with four to six pages for Question 1, and two to three pages each for Section B questions.
Do not fail to answer all the questions because the maximum you can get for Section 1 is 30 marks. You should know that it is very easy to score highly in Section B questions where it is possible to get say 16 or 17 out of 25 marks. Assuming you spent 1 hour 40 minutes on question 1, and scored 24 marks and you did not finish Section B where you scored 11 out of 25, and 12 out of 25, then your total is 47 marks and you have narrowly failed the exam.
Number your answers correctly such as Q 1 (a), Q1 (b), Q1 (c), Q1 (d)
Ensure neat work. Write on both sides of the answer booklet. Start a full question on a fresh page. Arrange your answers in correct order.
Do not be afraid to cancel a word or section of work but think twice before you do it. No one will arrest you or penalise you for that.
Look at model answers and answer questions as a consultant by always arguing for and against and giving recommendations. Be prepared to apply a lot of analysis of trends and figures in your answer, making plenty of assumptions. Be innovative and creative.
Speed, accuracy, neatness, and the guts to succeed should fire you to do well.


GOOD LUCK