Useful Articles
Articles written by the examiner and other individuals pertaining to paper 1.2 are included in the ACCA website (www.accaglobal.com/students).
Paper 1.3 Exam Tips
Practice questions from the 2007 BPP Practice and Revision Kit are a great way to prepare for your exam. It is essential that you attempt and debrief as many questions as possible. When you have read a chapter I recommend that you either complete in full or plan your answer to a question based on that chapter. It will cement your learning and keep you exam focused. Complete a question and only then look at the suggested solutions at the back of the kit. Allocate the appropriate time for each question (25 minutes for 15 mark questions), as this will ensure that your time management skills are finely tuned.
In Section A there is a compulsory Scenario Question worth 40 marks, which is usually broken down into between 4-8 discrete parts. It is difficult to predict whether the examiner will remain in a mainstream core area of the syllabus or examine somewhere less obvious. However he has written an article in Student Accountant prior to most exam sittings, and often based Question 1 upon it, so it is important to keep a look out for articles right up until the exam.
In Section B there is a requirement to undertake 4 from 5 questions, each worth 15 marks. It is difficult to make tips of which areas he might examine, however, it would be worth reviewing the following topic areas:
- Recruitment and Selection – a question in every exam to date
- Training and development – as performance appraisal was examined in Dec. 2006
- Effective Communication Practices – a favourite area
- A number of topics have not been examined for a while: teams, culture, H&S
Each question is broken down into 2 -3 parts. Be careful to only answer what the examiner has asked for.
Health Warning! Please note the examiner, Dr John Ball, deliberately tries to avoid question spotting. Just because a question featured last time, does not mean it won’t feature this time. Use the tips as areas to have a good look at, but remember that no one knows what is in the exam, apart from the examiner. Your safest bet is to achieve good syllabus coverage in your revision, as the examiner aims to do this in the exam.
ACCA Paper 1.3
Managing People
Relevant Articles
Read the examiner’s feedback comments on previous exams (see www.accaglobal.com). This will give you a valuable insight into what the examiner expects from students when answering questions. He will also comment on common mistakes.
No articles published yet so keep reviewing the Student Accountant magazine or www.accaglobal.com for any article relevant to 1.3 Managing People. There has been an article published prior to every previous exam (June 2005 being the exception) and the subject covered has formed the basis of a question.
I would also recommend that you read previous articles written by Dr Ball and then attempt a question based on the article, as this will help you to understand how he forms his questions.
Best of luck with your exams.
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