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As with most exams - especially exams with a large global organisation like ACCA - there are certain procedures, deadlines, and guidelines that you must adhere to so that the exam process runs seamlessly. Following the advice in this article will help ensure that you are entered for the exams that you are expecting to take, and that you get your results when you expect to receive them. Even if you have taken exams before with another professional body, it is essential that you familiarise yourself with ACCA’s procedures to ensure your exams run as smoothly as possible.

Entering for exams

Twice a year, the exam cycle begins when ACCA sends you an Exam Results and Status Report and an Examination Entry Form. This is dispatched when the results for the previous exam session are announced (generally mid-February for the December exams and mid-August for the June exams). Your exam results and exam status following the most recent session are detailed on your Exam Results and Status Report.

If you decide to enter for the exams, you have until 15 April (for the June exam session) and 15 October (for the December exam session) to return your completed Examination Entry Form and appropriate fees to ACCA. Your national office may offer to forward completed Examination Entry Forms in batches to ACCA’s Glasgow office. Check if your national office offers this service, and make sure you know their local deadline to guarantee safe delivery by the final deadline to Glasgow. Alternatively, visit the myACCA area of ACCA’s e-business website to register for exams online. Using this method, fees can be paid via debit card or credit card and you will receive an automated acknowledgement. Exam entries cannot be accepted by e-mail or fax.

A late exam entry period is also available in which you can continue to enter for exams. The late entry period is 16 October to 8 November for the December exams and 16 April to 8 May for the June exams. In the late exam entry period, exam entries can only be submitted by accessing myACCA and using the online entry facility. A fee of £110 per paper will be charged if your application is processed during the late exam entry period.

ACCA can accept no liability for failures in the postal system and strongly recommends that you send your entry as early as possible. Entries received after the standard exam entry closing date will be rejected and students will be advised to use the myACCA late exam entry service.

The exams are displayed in timetable order. Papers that you are eligible to attempt will have a box alongside them and you should place a cross in the appropriate box to show the papers you wish to attempt.

Acknowledging your exam entry

Once your Examination Entry Form has been processed (generally within two weeks of receiving it) we will send you an Examination Entry Acknowledgement Form. This will be sent by e-mail if we hold an e-mail address for you. Otherwise, it will be sent by post. Again, you must read this form carefully and confirm that all the details are correct. If anything is incorrect please contact ACCA Connect immediately so that any discrepancies can be dealt with before it is too late.

From 15 April (or 15 October for the December session of exams), ACCA’s exams team begin the complex process of allocating candidates to centres, and allocating a desk to each candidate for each paper that they are sitting. Once this task is completed you will be sent an Examination Attendance Docket, normally about four weeks before the exams start. If you lose your Examination Attendance Docket you can download a copy from ACCA’s e-business website. If you do not have Internet access, your national ACCA office can download a copy for you.

Exam day

The Examination Attendance Docket includes a timetable of the exams that you are entered for, as well as detailing the desk that has been assigned to you for each paper. Importantly, it also has the address of your exam centre. If you are not completely sure of the location of the centre, how to get there, or how long it may take you, make sure you rehearse your route before the day of the exam. Please remember that exams may start at peak times so you should allow for rush hour traffic and possible hold-ups etc.

On arrival at the centre you must show your Examination Attendance Docket in order to gain entry to the exam hall. You must also sit at the designated desk detailed on your docket. This will ensure that you are registered as being in attendance for that exam. The docket will be collected by the supervisor during the exam for the purpose of recording your attendance. If you have any other exams during the session, the docket will be returned to you. If it is your final exam of the session, the docket will be retained for our records.

As well as being essential to gain entry into the exam hall, the Examination Attendance Docket details important exam regulations and guidelines. You should read these regulations and guidelines carefully to familiarise yourself with the exam procedure. It will also ensure that you take only the permitted equipment into the exams. These regulations are also reproduced regularly in the noticeboard section of finance matters.

Please also remember to take your Student Registration Card with you to each exam. This will be checked during the exam together with your Examination Attendance Docket to verify your identity. You should try to arrive at the exam centre about 30 minutes before the timetabled start of the exam. This will give you time to relax and prepare yourself. You will be given an additional 15-minute reading and planning time allowance. However, you should still be sat at your desk at the time stated on your docket. Read the article in the 'See also' section to find out what you can and can’t do during reading and planning time.

In the exam hall

When you have found your desk in the exam hall, you will find the following items on it:

• an Examination Candidate Registration Sheet
• an Examination Script Booklet
• the Examination Question Paper.

You should check that you have all the relevant forms and the correct version of the exam paper before the exam begins. If you have any queries, put your hand up and an invigilator will come to you. The Examination Candidate Registration Sheet is used for three purposes. You need to include relevant details from your Examination Attendance Docket such as your registration number, desk number, paper number, centre name and code. This form is optically scanned, so you need to be careful and ensure that you mark the form exactly as directed in the instructions on the front of this form.

If your paper contains multiple-choice questions, you should also answer these on your Examination Candidate Registration Sheet. Again, do not make any stray markings and ensure that you fill the form in correctly. If your answers are not shown clearly, you may not be awarded a mark. No marks will be awarded if you do not clearly indicate your final choice or if more than one bubble per question is filled in. To void a selected answer, place a cross over the bubble. If you do not record your answers on the Examination Candidate Registration Sheet the markers will not be able to award you any marks.

Your marker will detail your scores for each section of the exam paper on the back of this form. It is essential that you do not write on any part of this section. If you do, it will invalidate your result.

Just before the timetabled start of the exam, the supervisor will make relevant announcements and go through the exam regulations. Key points to note are that mobile phones should be switched off and are not permitted at your desk. You must also ensure that your calculator falls within the permitted guidelines, eg noiseless, cordless, pocket-sized, programmable or non-programmable and without printout or graphic/word display facilities. Failing to comply with these guidelines will result in you being reported to our professional conduct department for investigation.

If you have any queries once the exam starts - for example if you need additional paper or need to go to the bathroom - put your hand up. An invigilator will attend to you.

Because ACCA holds exams worldwide, for security reasons you must remain in the exam hall until the end of the exam. You will have to wait until the supervisor and invigilators have collected all of the papers - including your question paper, script booklet(s), and Examination Candidate Registration Sheet - before you will be given the signal from the supervisor that you may leave the hall. Any student in breach of these arrangements will be reported to ACCA’s professional conduct department.

Exam results

Results are issued nine weeks after exams are completed. All students receive a postal notification, dispatched on the same day from the UK. However, if you want to receive your results as quickly as possible, you can register to receive your results by e-mail as well. Log on to ACCA’s e-business website and choose the option to receive your exam results by e-mail.

The correspondence sent to you by ACCA is extremely important. Take time to read it carefully, and let ACCA Connect know as soon as you can if any of the information is incorrect. This will ensure that your ACCA exams run as smoothly as possible. 

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