Ever wondered about the course structure & exam pattern of ACCA? This article will take you through the Subject list of ACCA along with their examination pattern.
About ACCA
ACCA is a globally recognized course offered by The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of the UK. With a simple aim to provide industry-specific premium training to the applicants, this foundation was specially created to develop finance and accounting personnel for meeting the industrial requirement. This course was originated in 1904, with its core objectives of diversity, integrity, originality, and accountability. These objectives were associated with industrial requirements, thereby ensuring to develop efficient accountants for the business.
ACCA Course Structure
The overall course structure of ACCA is divided into three major levels and modules with different examination patterns at each Level. Mentioned herewith is a brief overview of the ACCA syllabus.
Modules and levels of ACCA
As mentioned above this course is divided into three different levels, that are mentioned below:
- Knowledge Level (3 Papers)
- Skill Level (6 papers)
- Professional Level (4 Papers)
Students have to attempt 03 papers in the knowledge level that deals with financial and management accounting. Moreover, the skills level consists of 06 subjects focusing on technical aspects of accounting, audit, and taxation.
Let’s get a close insight of all the subjects involved in both these levels.
| Knowledge Level | Skills Level |
| Accountant In Business (AB)Management Accounting (MA)Financial Accounting (FA) |
Corporate and Business Law (LW)Performance Management (PM)Taxation (TX)Financial Reporting (FR)Audit and Assurance (AA)Financial Management (FM) |
Professional Level ( 2 essential and 2 optional out of 4 Papers)
The Professional Level consists of six papers in total, and the students are entitled to clear any 4 out of six. From these six papers two are compulsory, which every student has to clear (Strategic Business Leader (SBL), Strategic Business Reporting (SBR). However, students are provided the liberty to choose any two papers out of the remaining four subjects, which are:
- Advanced Financial Management (AFM),
- Advanced Performance Management (APM),
- Advanced Taxation (ATX),
- Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA).
Simply put professional Level has six subjects that are mentioned below :
| Professional Level | |
| Compulsory Subjects | Optional Subjects |
| Strategic Business leader (SBL) | Advanced Financial Management (AFM), |
| Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) | Advanced Performance Management (APM) |
| Advanced Taxation (ATX), | |
| Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA). |
Besides the above mentioned two levels, there is a professional ethics module that needs to be cleared to gain a diploma certification. The students are entitled to clear this module only after completing the Fundamentals level and entering the professional Level.
Examination Pattern of ACCA
As mentioned earlier, the exam pattern of ACCA varies at every potential Level. Mentioned herewith is the detailed version of their exam pattern:
| Subject | Exam Duration | Exam pattern |
| Accountant In Business (AB) | 2 Hrs On-Demand CBE | This paper is divided into two sections. Section A consists of 35 objective type questions of 2 marks each. Section B contains three multi-task questions of 10 marks each. |
| Management Accounting (MA) | 2 Hrs On-Demand CBE | This paper is divided into two sections. Section A consists of 35 objective type questions of 2 marks each. Section B contains three multi-task questions of 10 marks each. |
| Financial Accounting (FA) | 2 Hrs On-Demand CBE | This paper is again divided into two sections. Section A consists of 35 objective questions of 2 marks each, and Section B consists of 2 questions of 15 marks each. |
| Corporate and Business Law (LW) | 2 Hrs On-Demand CBE | This paper is divided into two sections. Section A consists of 25 objective type questions of 2 marks each and 20 questions of 1 mark each. Section B contains five multi-task questions of 6 marks each. |
| Performance Management (PM) | 3 Hrs Session CBE | This paper is again divided into two sections. Section A consists of 30 objective questions of 2 marks each, and Section B consists of 2 constructed-response workspace questions of 20 marks each. |
| Taxation (TX) | 3 Hrs Session CBE | This paper is again divided into two sections. Section A consists of 30 objective questions of 2 marks each, and Section B consists of 2 constructed-response workspace questions of 20 marks each. |
| Financial Reporting (FR) | 3 Hrs Session CBE | This paper is again divided into two sections. Section A consists of 30 objective questions of 2 marks each, and Section B consists of 2 constructed-response workspace questions of 20 marks each. |
| Audit and Assurance (AA) | 3 Hrs Session CBE | This paper is divided into two sections. Section A consists of 15 objective questions of 2 marks each, and Section B consists of two 20 marks and one 30 marks constructed response workspace question |
| Financial Management (FM) | 3 Hrs Session CBE | This paper is divided into two sections. Section A consists of 30 objective questions of 2 marks each, and Section B consists of 2 constructed-response workspace questions of 20 marks each. |
| Advanced Financial Management (Optional) | 3 Hrs Session PBE | It is a subjective paper with only 1 section comprising of two 25 marks questions and one 50 marks question. |
| Advanced Performance Management (Optional) | 3 Hrs Session PBE | It is a subjective paper with only 1 section comprising of two 25 marks questions and one 50 marks question. |
| Advanced Taxation (Optional) | 3 Hrs Session PBE | It is a subjective paper with only 1 section comprising of two 25 marks questions and one 50 marks question. |
| Advanced Audit and Taxation (Optional) | 3 Hrs Session PBE | It is a subjective paper with only 1 section comprising of two 25 marks questions and one 50 marks question. |
| Strategic Business Leader (SBL)- Compulsory | 4 Hrs Session PBE | It is a subjective paper with only 1 section comprising of One 80 question 20 marks for professional skills. |
| Strategic Business Reporting (SBR)- Compulsory | 3 Hrs Session PBE | It is a subjective paper with only 1 section comprising of two 25 marks questions and one 50 marks question. |
Besides the above mentioned subjects the students are also entitled to complete the Ethics and Professional Skills module of ACCA in order to get the diploma certificate. The best part about this course is the exemption it offers to the students depending on their present qualification. All you have to do is get your university and qualification ready and enter the required details to know the exempted subjects. Click here to find out more.
