The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has released the pass rates for its June 2019 exam sitting and found near-universal completion of its Applied Skills exams taken as computer-based exams.
Introduced in the September 2018 ACCA exam sitting, Strategic Professional exams are twofold: Strategic Business Leader and Strategic Business Reporting. Focusing on leadership skills and financial reporting principles, respectively, the new exams were built in part with employer feedback to give ACCA students an edge in the changing business landscape.
The June 2019 exam saw 125,000 students sit for approximately 160,000 exams around the world. Of those, 4,923 students ultimately completed their final exams to become ACCA affiliates. An additional 56,700 exams were taken on demand between April 1 and June 30, 2019.
The ACCA said the global enrollment of session-based exams for its Applied Skills exams is nearly 100 percent computer-based exams, nearly eliminating paper-based exams at this level.
"The results from the June 2019 session were very consistent for computer-based exams, demonstrating that the great learning support we have in place is working," stated Alan Hatfield, ACCA executive director of strategy and development. "All countries where CBE is possible are now taking exams through this mode of delivery, with the exception of some tax and law variant exams. ... Through these CBEs, ACCA is better preparing students to be effective in the workplace. The exams require demonstration of the skills employers expect, as they replicate the real workplace using spreadsheet and word processing skills, as well as testing technical skills."
CBEs now include tax variants across China, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malaysia, Singapore and the U.K. The June 2019 exam sittings also mark the first time the law variant exams were available as a CBE in Malaysia and Singapore.
"We were also pleased with the pass rates for Strategic Professional exams," Hatfield added. "Results for Strategic Business Leader reached 51 [percent] this session and Strategic Business Reporting remains in line with previous sessions at 48 [percent]. ... These two exams have been designed to meet the needs of employers and better equip students to be professional accountants of the future, with both having a strong focus on professional skills and meeting the needs of stakeholders."
For the full June 2019 exam results, head to the ACCA's
