STUDENTS' FAQS ON COMPUTER-BASED EXAMS

HOW MANY CBES ARE AVAILABLE WITHIN THE ACCA AND CAT QUALIFICATION AND THE FOUNDATIONS IN ACCOUNTANCY SUITE OF AWARDS?

All three knowledge module papers within the ACCA qualification are available by CBE, as well as by paper-based exam:

• F1 Accountant in Business
• F2 Management Accounting
• F3 Financial Accounting

New syllabus and study guides have been introduced for all ACCA Knowledge exams papers F1, F2 and F3. These papers each share a syllabus and exam format with the following papers in Foundations in Accountancy:

• ACCA F1 and FAB
• ACCA F2 and FMA
• ACCA F3 and FFA

The first seven papers in the Foundations In Acoountancy suite of awards and the CAT qualification are also available in CBE format.

For more information on the Foundation Level qualifications, please see the Related Links in the top left of the page.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMPUTER-BASED EXAMS AND PAPER-BASED EXAMS?

Questions in both formats of the exam are written to correspond with the syllabus and students should expect to see questions covering all aspects of the syllabus in both paper-based and computer-based exams.

In all cases, the computer-based version is automatically generated so that each candidate gets a different set of questions, whereas the written exam is made up of a pre-selected set of questions.

New question types were introduced into F1-F3 and the equivalent Foundations level exams, FAB, FMA and FFA in February 2014. 

The table below compares current format computer-based exams with their paper-based equivalents:

Paper	Paper-based format	Current CBE format
FA1	50 MCQs	50 MCQs
FA2	50 MCQs	MCQ & other short objective-style questions
FAU	MCQ + 4 longer questions	N/A
FFM	MCQ + 4 longer questions	N/A
FTX	MCQ + 4 longer questions	N/A
Intermediate certificate
Introductory certificate
MA1	50 MCQs	50 MCQs
MA2	50 MCQs	MCQ & other short objective-style questions
Option Papers

Diploma

CBEs from 26 February 2014 and paper exams from June 2014 will have two sections as follows:

Exam	Section A Objective Test Questions (OTs)	Section B Multi Task Questions (MTQs)
F1/FAB	16 x 1 mark questions 30 X 2 mark questions	6 x 4 mark questions
F2/FMA	35 X 2 mark questions	3 x 10 mark questions
F3/FFA	35 X 2 mark questions	2 x 15 mark questions

Note:

CBE

• Objective Test Questions are traditional short questions, each relating to a single scenario.

•  Multi-task questions (MTQs) contain a series of tasks which relate to one or more scenarios. These tasks can be made up of different question types – multiple choice, multiple response, multiple response matching, number entry, hotspots and gapfill questions.  

PAPER

• All questions in section A are MCQs
• Multi task questions in paper exams will require computational and written answers.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EXAM FORMATS?

All of the exam formats and question types are outlined on the CBE Specimen and Related Resources page (link on the left hand side of the screen).  Please ensure that you access these resources before you attempt a live exam.

I AM COMPLETING THE ACCA QUALIFICATION AND WISH TO TAKE COMPUTER-BASED EXAMS. HOW DOES THAT AFFECT ANY ATTEMPTS AT PAPER-BASED EXAMS?

Papers F1, F2 and F3 are available by computer-based exams (CBE). You are eligible to sit a maximum of four papers in a six-month cycle, in any combination of computer-based and paper-based exams. The cycles are:

• 1 February to 31 July and
• 1 August to 31 January

If you wish to take computer-based exams, please indicate this on your exam entry for each session. You can then enter to sit the balance if your four exams at the paper-based session. For example, you can enter for F1 and F2 by CBE and then elect to sit F3 and one paper from F4 to F9 at the paper-based session.

I AM REGISTERED ON FOUNDATIONS IN ACCOUNTANCY AND WISH TO TAKE COMPUTER-BASED EXAMS. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY PAPER-BASED ATTEMPTS?

All Foundations in Accountancy exams are available as computer-based exams, except the Options papers FAU (Foundations in Audit), FTX (Foundations in Taxation) and FFM (Foundations in Financial Management).

There are no restrictions on the number of papers you can attempt at each session as a Foundations in Accountancy student. If you are considering taking any of these exams by paper, please take into account your timetable restrictions.

HOW IS IT BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE ACCA QUALIFICATION KNOWLEDGE MODULE EXAMS?

Students should ensure that as part of their revision, they are familiar with the multiple choice style of questions as well as the wider range of objective question types, and multi task questions if taking a computer-based exam.

It is recommended that students sit the relevant CBE Specimen exam. These are located on the CBE Specimen and Related Resources page (link on the left hand side of the screen)

ARE SECTION WEIGHTINGS FOR COMPUTER-BASED EXAMS THE SAME AS FOR PAPER-BASED EXAMS?

Both computer-based and paper-based exams have the same weightings for different syllabus areas. Weightings for each area have been given to reflect their relative size and importance.