The Life of An ACCA Exam Paper

 

We go to greatlengths to ensure that each exam paper is rigorously checked and tested so thatit fairly and accurately tests the abilities of well prepared students. Thissection explains the process involved when setting and checking all ACCA exampapers.

 

Setting the Exam Papers

 

ACCA’s exampapers are set by a team of Examiners and subsequently checked by a panelcomprising the Examiner, an Assessor, Subject Co-ordinator and Exam Sitter.

 

Each Examiner isresponsible for setting the question paper, writing the suggested publishedanswers and producing a marking scheme.

 

No member of theteam is permitted to teach students who may be sitting any of the papers forwhich he/she is responsible. Examiners are required to report to us any attemptmade by a student to discuss future papers with them.

 

Once an exampaper has been drafted, it is reviewed by an Assessor whose job it is to ensurethat the questions are relevant to the syllabus and that the paper is fair andbalanced throughout. The Assessor also ensures that the suggested answers andmarking schemes are suitable for publication.

 

Next, a SubjectCo-ordinator examines the agreed version of the question paper, suggestedanswers and marking scheme to ensure that they have been set in accordance withthe standards required for that level of the exams. The Subject Coordinatoralso checks to see that the exams are consistent with previous exam sessions,avoid unnecessary overlap with other papers and ensure progression.

 

Once the paperhas been fully considered, it is attempted by the Exam Sitter – our examinersdon’t expect you to sit a paper that they are not prepared to sit themselves!

 

The purpose ofthis is to ensure that the paper can be completed by an average student in thetime available. The Exam Sitter then produces a report outlining in detail anyproblems encountered sitting the question paper.

 

At all stages,the Examiner, Assessor and Subject Co-ordinator for each paper work with ACCA’sfull-time team of Education Advisers who co-ordinate and monitor the papersthroughout the process, providing an additional level of quality assurance.

 

Marking Exam Scripts

 

Each Examinerco-ordinates a team of Qualified Markers responsible for marking candidates’scripts. Markers’ meetings are held as soon as possible after the final paperfor each exam session to discuss potential problems and establish a clearmarking strategy. To ensure fairness in the marking of scripts, the markingteam does not know the identity of the candidates.

 

We do not set atarget percentage of candidates to be successful at each exam sitting. Yourresults in each and any paper are totally uninfluenced by any previous examrecord, or the performance of other candidates.

 

Examiners and Markerspay particular attention to borderline scripts and the need to ensureconsistency between exam markers.