Preparing for exams

Hello, and welcome to this mini ACCA podcast. I'm Isobel Wroath, part of the learner experience team at ACCA.

Today I'm introducing the Preparing for exams hub, an area of the ACCA website dedicated to helping you take your next step towards qualification.

Whether you're a new student, have already taken your first exams, or you're returning to study following a break. This is your go-to place for exam advice.

I'm going to give you a quick overview of the hub.

Let's start at the beginning. The first thing any student needs to do is consider their individual circumstances and their pathway through the exams. to guide you through this initial stage is the planning your route section of the hub.

Head here first to access our excellent pathway videos. These are designed to help you understand and plan your route in the ACCA Qualification. The introductory video will give you a general overview, and is followed by three short videos on the Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills and Strategic Professional levels.

On the same page is a link to Compass. This is your ACCA study planner. It's a great tool that allows you to visualise your study here and take a snapshot of the likely planning, learning and final revision time required to successfully attempt the exams.

Once you've completed this high-level planning, you're going to be starting to think about exams in a more focused and detailed way. This is where the Getting Started with exams page comes in. It is split into sections related to the various phases of study that is planning, learning, revising, and final preparation. Building each stage into your study schedule is going to play a key role in achieving exam success. So when you land on this page, you'll find four dropdown sections that cover these phases in the order in which you should tackle them. Click on each section to reveal key guidance, and the ACCA resources you should be using at each stage.

As well as a step-by-step guide, you will find links to extra exam related content, such as tuition and study options, the exam bookings page, and our Welcome to ACCA webinar. This on demand webinar provides a great snapshot of the support available to you at the beginning stage of your ACCA journey.

You can also read information about our InSession exam countdown emails. But I would also recommend listening to our InSession podcast episode to hear more about this fantastic study support which goes straight to your inbox.

Preparing for exams is often stressful. It's important to maintain a positive balance between studying and other commitments. There are lots of simple steps that can help you achieve this, such as adopting good habits around eating, sleeping, and taking regular study breaks. Check out the wellbeing section. From here you can explore exclusive articles, videos, and podcasts to help you manage.

Now let's get forward to exam results day. The culmination of lots of hard work and effort whether you pass or fail. It's at this point that we recommend heading to the next section of the preparing for exams hub, which provides guidance on your next steps on results day. Whether you've passed or not, this is a time to stop, think and reflect on your progress. And the advice on this page will help you do just that.

Now there's one final section of the hub that you might find useful. The returning to study page. It's very common for students to take a break from exams and we know that it can sometimes be hard to get back into studies. ACCA is here to lend support to those of you who are returning after a break with advice on setting new goals and rediscovering your motivation for working towards the qualification. As always, we've highlighted key resources that you can use at this stage of your journey.

So what are you waiting for? Head to the preparing for exams hub now to access all of these brilliant study resources and begin planning for exam success. Thanks for listening. Goodbye.