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Hello!

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So who am I? Dr Craig West. I am the new examiner for the South African variant of the F6 and P6 exams from December 2010. So how can I comment on the exams previously? I have been a marker for ACCA for a few years.

REVIEW OF PAST EXAMS

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I will review the past six exams from June 2009 till December 2011 in terms of students performance. I will be commenting on the performance of candidates in the exams under two headings: exam technique and technical knowledge.

Click, next slide, please.

NUMBER OF CANDIDATES SITTING

NUMBER OF CANDIDATES SITTING

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As can be seen from the table, only a few candidates attempt the F6 South African variant at each sitting. This makes trend analysis of results too volatile to examine. As a result, I will be looking at trends in the examination papers themselves and making general comments about performance.

OVERALL VIEW
Compulsory nature of paper presenting no problems Basis of examining VAT working well

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There are no problems with candidates having to attempt five compulsory questions, and the way that VAT is treated within the paper is working well. VAT can either be examined as part of questions 1 or 2, or as a separate question. The lack of choice in the exam also ensures a fuller examination of the syllabus and prevents poor question choices by students.

What was done well?

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GOOD ASPECTS
Full attempts at all questions Students do not appear to be time pressured Clear labelling of question (or part thereof) attempted

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1) Further comments follow. 2) As full solutions are drafted for each question, there does not appear to be excessive time pressure in the examinations. 3) It is also clear from the candidate responses which question they are attempting.

What wasn't done well?

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COMMON THEMES
Poor communication skills Columns of numbers with no textual reference Poor reading of the question and requirement Spot learning of topics Out-of-date knowledge

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1) The solutions provided by the candidates is a form of communication with the examiner and marker. Poorly structured and scrawled responses are not only difficult to mark but demonstrate poor planning, unfocussed answers and poor communication. 2) Columns of numbers (while possibly correct) supplied in many answers without textual references cannot achieve marks. For example, if a candidate is calculating the tax value of an asset from the information supplied, a poor answer is shown as follows: R100,000 (R40,000) R60,000 A correct answer would show: Cost of Asset A R100,000 Less allowances to date (R40,000) Tax value of Asset A R60,000 The problem is made worse when the column is a taxable income calculation with no textual reference. 3) It is apparent that the candidates to do not fully read requirements or the scenario supplied. Often a taxable income calculation being derived from a net profit figure will require reference to amounts that do not require adjustment. Candidates often lose marks by omission. 4) In some exam sittings, spot learning has been evident, that is, candidates perform extremely well on certain questions and poorly on others. Generally the poorly answered questions are on a topic of new legislation or a topic that did not feature in the previous sitting. 5) We frequently find that candidates apply out-of-date legislation to the questions and scenarios, at times with very different results. It is of utmost importance that candidates are taught from the latest legislation.

SPECIFIC ISSUES
SARS practices Interpretation notes Order of events Terminology Section references

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Candidates must be made aware of SARS practices and Interpretation Notes. In addition, the candidates must understand how to apply such practices to the scenarios supplied. A common problem in the F6 paper is a lack of understanding of the order of events in tax law. The legislation spells out the calculation order. For example, an RAF deduction calculation should not appear before a pension deduction; medical deductions do not come before RAF deductions; capital gains and capital losses are aggregated before applying the annual exclusion (if a natural person) and before determining any inclusion of a taxable capital gain. These fundamental steps are critical in exam technique and application of the legislation. Candidates should avoid incorrect use of terminology as it demonstrates a lack of understanding. For example, an exemption is not a deduction and a reduction is not a deduction. Knowledge of section numbers will not be needed to understand questions in this paper, nor will students be expected to use them in their answers. If students wish to refer to section numbers in their answers, they may do so and will not be penalised if old, or even incorrect section numbers, are used. Rather, candidates can use descriptions rather than references to demonstrate their knowledge. For example, a reference to wear & tear would be accepted as a reference to section 11(e). Manufacturing capital allowance would be an acceptable reference to section 12C etc.

LESSONS LEARNED

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IT IS NEVER ENOUGH TO RELY ON SPOT LEARNING CANDIDATES NEED PASS MARKS IN MOST QUESTIONS (preferably all questions) TO PASS need full syllabus knowledge EXAM TECHNIQUE NEEDS WORK

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It is therefore obvious that candidates cannot just rely on good attempts at questions 1 and 2 in order to achieve a pass mark.

Which areas need to be improved?

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COVER THE WHOLE SYLLABUS

ENOUGH SAID!

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Make sure that the whole syllabus is covered.

EFFECTIVE REVISION
Learn the fundamentals (order of events; aspects of full syllabus) Practice exam technique (past papers; tutorial questions) Use up-to-date material Making decisions
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Effective revision is vital. Make sure the fundamentals are known Practicing questions from past exam papers and tutorials will develop better exam technique when strictly marked against a suggested solution and when completed in the same time as allocated for the exam. This is not a replacement to learning the actual material. Use the latest books. Tax legislation changes at least one per year. ACCA applies an annual cut-off date for examinable legislation of 30 September for the following June and December exam sittings, therefore 2 exam sittings will be based on the same legislation, to provide publishers, tuition providers and students with certainty of what is examinable. Candidates must be made to understand that an examination is a communication exercise. Where a decision is made, for example between two potential outcomes of making use of an elective provision or not, that decision should be noted on their script. An examiner and marker cannot guess at the candidates intent.

How to improve?

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Use the 15 minute reading time i.e. plan your answer Plan how long to spend on each question and STICK TO IT Score the easy marks State the obvious

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WORKINGS
No need to explain everything when a calculation is required noting earlier comments about making decisions. For a profit adjustment question all items must be listed and a zero used when no adjustment required.
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There is no need to explain everything when a question just requires calculations.

FOCUS ON FUTURE EXAMS

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SYLLABUS
New legislation will come through in exams STC will have to be phased out and replaced with Dividends Tax

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1) ACCA applies an annual cut-off date for examinable legislation of 30 September for the following June and December exam sittings, therefore 2 exam sittings will be based on the same legislation, to provide publishers, tuition providers and students with certainty of what is examinable.

WILL THINGS CHANGE?

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NO
Standards remain at the appropriate level Different problems based on new legislation will arise Same technical material different problems

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Standards must be maintained. Taxation is an evolving subject and we have already seen that different problems will arise from new legislation. In addition, the same technical material or aspects thereof can be examined in a number of ways.

Thanks!

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Questions?

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CONTACT
students@accaglobal.com +44(0) 141.582.2000 www.accaglobal.com
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