The primary aim of the F5 Paper is to test candidates’ understanding of how the performance of a business can be managed. Unfortunately, many students find the transition from the underpinning paper F2 to F5 difficult and past exam results reflect this.
That said, a plethora of specific F5 advice, aimed solely at helping with Performance Management accounting, can now be accessed at a new ACCA, Paper F5 micro-site. Although the best way to become familiar with the site is by diving right in, planning visits before hand in the following order, should assist.
A great place to begin is the homepage. Located here are a brief description and key elements for all five syllabus areas. This ought to give an outline of the paper. The next step is to visit the syllabus and study guide in the resources section. These provide insight into the structure and rationale of the syllabus, exam structure and assessment, plus instruction on how to direct studies.
Regularly, candidates presume that papers F5 and F2 can be dealt with in the same way. They fail to appreciate that it is “skills” based and demands not only evidence of knowledge but also its application to business scenarios. As a consequence, a review of the article “Stepping up – the difference between paper F2 and F5”, again in the resources section, will make clear how not to fall into this trap.
Having understood the key elements of F5 paper students ought then to establish the objectives of the examiner. Once known, these can inform study and effectively shape exam approach. Examiner reports, interviews and in particular, the “F5 approach article” in “Examiner’s Guidance” are all hugely beneficial in clarifying the examiner’s expectations.
Furthermore, helpful resources like past papers, formulae calculations and self test pages etc are available to bring together learning, ensure comprehension and give practice in doing exam questions. Also,the articles “Top Tips for the Paper F5 exam” and “Answering Written Questions” give essential F5 advice on negotiating problem areas, directing learning and using techniques to properly interpret exam questions, gain the easy marks and achieve maximum exam performance.
The F5 exam is without question a jump up from previous knowledge orientated papers, as a review of past results with demonstrate. Irrespective of this, smart use of the F5 micro-site should enable students to achieve top performance and so alter the trend set by past candidates.