Students' FAQs on the trainee development matrix (TDM)

Do trainees at gold and platinum ACCA Approved Employers need to use My Experience record?

If your employer is a gold or platinum ACCA Approved Employer - trainee development stream, you may be exempt from achieving the Performance Objectives. You will still be required to complete 36 months’ experience and record this in My Experience. This is because we recognise that your employer already has a robust training and development programme in place which will equip you with the required competence. It is important to confirm that your employer has gold or platinum level approval and it is up to the employer if they want to allow you to claim the Performance Objectives exemption.

In summary:

• Please note that it is your employer - not you - who decides whether you can claim the Performance Objectives exemption.
• You will still need to use My Experience to record the 36 months of experience you gain.

After my workplace mentor has signed off my performance objectives, do I need to print and send them by mail to ACCA?

• No. If your workplace mentor is using the My Experience record, there is no need to print or send anything.
• If your workplace mentor does not have internet access or chooses not to use the online My Experience record, you can ask them to sign your printed answers. They should then return them to you. Only then should you mark the relevant performance objectives as ‘achieved’ in your My Experience record. Keep the signed hard copies safe, because you will be asked to provide these when your transfer to membership is assessed or if you are selected for a PER audit.

How often should I update my My Experience?

ACCA recommends that you regularly update your My Experience record. One of the difficulties trainees often experience when they come to apply for membership is that they find they are missing vital information, such as employer details, or they have failed to gain sign-off for performance objectives achieved with a previous employer. A reminder pop-up screen will appear when you log into myACCA if you have not recently engaged with My Experience, as a reminder to update you experience details.

How do workplace mentors sign off performance objectives?

• Once you have found someone who agrees to act as your workplace mentor, you should enter their details including their email address into My Experience, which you can access via myACCA.
• When you submit your challenge question answers, the workplace mentor will be sent an email. They will be asked to agree to act as your workplace mentor. They will be given access to review your challenge question answers and sign off your performance objective(s) via My Experience. Please note: the workplace mentor can review your challenge question answers but cannot see or change anything in your My Experience record.
• Please note: your workplace mentor only receives an email when you submit the challenge question answers to them for review. So, if it has been a long time between you asking the person to be your workplace mentor and you submitting your challenge question answers, it a good idea to explain that there will be an email coming from ACCA.