Passing the ACCA exams can give you access to a rewarding career, a bright future and global recognition. However, all this can be yours only after you clear the ACCA examinations. The exams are tough, and the ACCA pass rates have been quite moderate, showing us the toughness of the exams.
So let us first understand how difficult the exams are, and how you can do your best to clear the exams comfortably.

ACCA Pass Rates Of Last 10 Sessions

The following have been the ACCA pass rates of the last 10 sessions. There are 16 papers in total in the entire course, and the candidates have to pass any 14 out of these to complete the exams.

• Fundamentals Exams Pass Rates:

Exam session

Exam session	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	F6	F7	F8	F9
Mar 2017	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38*	41*	47*	38*	40*
Dec 2016	82*	63*	71*	82*	40*	52*	50*	40*	45*
Sep 2016	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	39*	47*	48*	44*	47*
Jun 2016	83*	63*	72*	80*	41	46	47	45	46
Mar 2016	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	39	44	51	41	41
Dec 2015	84*	64*	68*	74*	41	53	45	46	45
Sep 2015	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	39	47	44	42	35
Jun 2015	85*	58*	63*	75*	37	50	40	39	41
Dec 2014	83*	58*	59*	70*	44	43	43	45	40
Jun 2014	80*	60*	63*	45	39	53	47	40	40

• Professional Exam Pass Rates

Exam session	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7
Mar 2017	45	52	51	35	28	38	32
Dec 2016	49	51	49	33	30	34	31
Sep 2016	45	50	47	37	35	35	32
Jun 2016	48	46	48	40	38	35	32
Mar 2016	50	47	48	38	33	44	30
Dec 2015	47	47	47	35	29	42	39
Sep 2015	48	44	45	36	30	45	29
Jun 2015	49	48	46	36`	28	34	40
Dec 2014	52	50	48	33	30	38	42
Jun 2014	52	47	46	35	29	39	36

So as you can see, the pass rates are very moderate and quite low in some cases.

How To Succeed In Spite Of The Low ACCA Pass Rates

Passing the ACCA exams will be impossible unless you strategize meticulously for it. Start by understanding the exam details, including the syllabus, exam structure and passing requirements. Then you will have to go about the preparation process in a planned, phased manner.

Here are some essential things that you will need to do in order to pass:

• Plan meticulously:

It is said that once you have planned properly, you have won half the war. The same holds true for the ACCA exam preparations. If you want to steer clear of getting caught in the low ACCA pass rates, you will need to spend a lot of time in planning for the exams. Break down the preparation into phases and assign deadlines to each phase. Factor in how much time is available to you, your other commitments and how much you have to cover. Also, create a timetable which will help you to stay on track.

• Know the exam syllabus well

Spend some time to read through the ACCA website to know about the syllabus and the passing requirements in detail. It also contains valuable information about the exam pattern of each paper and the question structures. Understand these, so that you do not face any problem in answering the questions in the actual exams.

Read the Materials Thoroughly

Just skimming through the ACCA books and other materials will not help you at all. Also, do not think that simply memorising the materials will help you to clear the exams successfully. This is certainly not a good idea. ACCA is an advanced professional course which requires you to develop an in-depth knowledge of the topics, so you can not expect to do well just by memorising everything. if you do so, you are going to get stuck in the questions requiring practical application of what you have understood.

• Practice thoroughly:

The ACCA exams tend to be lengthy and there is often a lot of time pressure to the candidates. To overcome exam stress you will need to practice answering lots of questions under the exam conditions. Get hold of practice question banks which contain questions from the actual ACCA exams as well as mock tests, and start practising after your first round of studies are over. This will help in building your confidence as well as speed.

• Answer all the questions in the exams:

Leaving out questions in the ACCA exams can prove to be a costly mistake. Before you start answering the questions, read the questions thoroughly and carefully. Then draw up a mental plan about how much time you can allocate to each question. After you start answering, you can increase or decrease your speed depending on the actual time you take to answer each question.
If you follow these dos and don’ts, you will be geared up to do well in the exams, and beat the low ACCA pass rates comfortably.