Computer-based exams | ACCA Qualification | Students

ACCA has offered CBEs since 1998. The launch of the Foundation level awards saw an increased number of papers being assessed via CBE and this provides the next ... Computer-basedexams Home Students Studyresources BusinessandTechnology(BT) Technicalarticles Computer-basedexams ThisarticleoutlinesthebenefitsofACCA’son-demandcomputer-basedexams(CBEs),detailsthedifferenttypesofquestionsfeaturedintheseexamsandhighlightsthepointsthatyouneedtobeawareofwhencompletingcurrentCBEs.Pleasenotethatalltheinformationbelowreferstoouron-demandCBEs.OursessionCBEsfortheF5-F9examsaredifferent.  ACCAhasofferedCBEssince1998.ThelaunchoftheFoundationlevelawardssawanincreasednumberofpapersbeingassessedviaCBEandthisprovidesthenextstepinthemovetowardsACCA’svisiontodeliverallexamsviae-assessment. Paperscurrentlyassessedbyon-demandCBE Foundationlevelpapers PaperFA1, RecordingFinancialTransactions PaperMA1, ManagementInformation PaperFA2, MaintainingFinancialRecords PaperMA2, ManagingCostsandFinance PaperFAB, AccountantinBusiness PaperFMA, ManagementAccounting PaperFFA, FinancialAccounting ACCAQualificationpapers PaperF1, AccountantinBusiness PaperF2, ManagementAccounting PaperF3, FinancialAccounting PaperF4, CorporateandBusinessLaw* *EnglishandGlobalvariantsonly StudentswhotaketheirexamsbyCBEreporthighlevelsofsatisfaction.YoutoocanbenefitfromthefollowingadvantagesofCBEs: Flexibility On-demandCBEsmeanthatyoucantakethematanypointthroughouttheyear.Studentstellustheylovetheflexibilityofnotbeingrestrictedtoafixedexamschedule.Whilewehopethatyouwillpassfirsttime,akeyadvantageofaCBEisthatyoucantakeyourresitmuchsoonerwhiletheinformationisfreshinyourmind. Instantresults Instantresultsareprovided,soifyousitanon-demandCBEyouwillknowimmediatelyifyouhavepassed,soyoudon’thavetospendthenextfewweekswaiting. Convenience WeareconstantlyupdatingourCBEcentrenetwork,recruitingmorecentrestomakeitmoreconvenientforyoutotakeourexams.AllCBEcentresareapprovedbyACCAtoensuretheyallmeetourhighstandardsbeforeweaddthemtoournetwork. DevelopingCBEs AveryrigorousapproachistakenwhendevelopingACCAexams,whetherforCBEorthepaper-basedformat.AllquestionsforCBEsarewrittenbyexperiencedwritersandreviewedseveraltimesbeforetheymakeittoaliveexam.Byhavingsuchrigoroussystemsinplace,wecanensurewemaintainthesamestandardsforpaper-basedexamsandCBEs. ThekeydifferencebetweenCBEsandpaper-basedexamsisthatallliveCBEshavedifferentquestionsastheyareautomaticallyconstructedfromaquestionbank.Itmeanstwopeoplesittingtheexamatthesametimewillgetadifferentversionoftheexam.Italsomeansifsomeonesitsanon-demandCBEonaTuesday,theywillgetadifferentversionoftheexamiftheyresitthesamesubjectlaterthatweek.Therearesystemsinplacetoensurethatallexamsareofanequivalentlevelofdifficultybuthavingdifferentquestionsmeanswecanensureourrigorousstandardsaremetwhileofferingexamsondemand. Questiontypesinon-demandCBEs Currently,theseACCACBEscompriseoffourmainquestiontypes:multiplechoice,multipleresponse,multipleresponsematchingandnumberentry.Allquestionsareworthtwomarks.Somequestionswillincludebackgroundinformation,whichisneededtohelpyouanswerthequestion.ThetableshowsthequestiontypesincludedineachpaperavailablebyCBE. Multiple-choicequestions(MCQs) MCQsarethemostcommonlyusedquestiontypeandfeatureinallofACCA’sCBEs.Youarerequiredtochooseoneanswerfromalistofoptionsbyclickingontheappropriate‘radiobutton’.Figure1showsanexampleofanMCQfromthePaperFA1pilotexam. Inamultiple-responsequestion,youarerequiredtoselectmorethanoneresponsefromtheoptionsprovidedbyclickingtheappropriatetickboxes.Questionstypicallyhavefouransweroptions,twoofwhicharecorrect,However,sometimesthenumberofoptionspresentedandthenumberofoptionsyoushouldselectasyouranswerwilldiffer.Youwillbeawardedmarksonlyifyouhaveselectedallofthecorrectoptions,soitisthereforeimportantthatyoureadthequestioncarefullytoseehowmanyoptionsyoushouldselect.Figure2showsamultiple-responsequestionfromthePaperFABpilotexam. Multiple-responsematchingquestions Figure3,fromthePaperFMApilotexam,showsthestandardlayoutformultiple-responsematchingquestions. Numberentryquestions TheexampleinFigure4isfromthePaperF3pilotexam. Thisistheonlyquestiontypeinanon-demandCBEwhereyouneedtoenterthecorrectansweryourself,ratherthanchoosefromalistofoptions.Numericalanswersmustbesubmittedwithoutcommasand,whererelevant,usingthefullstopasadecimalpointand/ortheminussignasanegativesymbol(eg–10530.25). Sometipsforsittingon-demandCBEs SittingaCBEisadifferentexperiencetosittingapaper-basedexam,soherearesometipstohelpyouduringtheexam. Thetypesofquestionsincludedinbothpaper-basedexamsandCBEswillbesimilar,butthewaythateachquestionispresented,andthewaytheanswerisrecorded,differsbetweenthetwomethods.InaCBE,candidatesrecordtheiranswersonthesamescreenasthequestionisshown;forpaper-basedmultiple-choicequestions,answersarerecordedonthecandidateanswerbooklet. InaCBEyouarepresentedwithonequestionatatime,comparedtothepaper-basedexamwhereyoucanseeallquestionsatthesametime.Displayingonlyonequestionatatimehelpsyoufocusoneachquestion.Researchtellsusthatthewaywereadinformationpresentedonacomputerisdifferenttohowwereadonpaper.Onthecomputeroureyestendtojumparoundthescreenratherthanreaditsystematicallyaswewouldaprintedpage.Remembertotaketimetoreadthequestioncarefullytoensureyoudon’tmissanyimportantinformation.Onceyouhaveenteredyouranswerforaquestion,itisimportanttoclickonthe‘Submit’buttonforyouranswertobesaved.Youcanrevisitquestionsandchangeanswersatanytimeuntiltheexamdurationhasbeenreached–however,remembertoclickon‘Submit’tosaveyournewansweronceyouhavechangedit. Donotspendalotoftimeonquestionsyouareunsureof;instead,moveonandcomebacktothesequestionsattheendoftheexam. TomakeCBEsasuser-friendlyaspossiblewehaveincorporatedfeaturesthatwillguideyouthroughtheexam.Partofthescreenhasbeenreservedfortoolsthatwillhelpyounavigatebetweenquestions.Inaddition,questionsthatyouhavenotattemptedwillbehighlightedbyanasteriskinthedrop-downlistofquestionsandyoucanquicklymovetothesequestionsbyclickingontherelevantquestionnumberinthelist.Theexamsalsoincludeatimertoshowyouhowmuchtimeisremaining.Figure5showssomeofthesefeatures. Summary ItisimportantforyoutotaketimetofamiliariseyourselfwithCBEsbeforeyouactuallytakealiveexam. TheACCAwebsiteprovidesaccesstomaterialsthatwillhelpyoutoprepareforyourCBE,includingsyllabusandstudyguides.Inaddition,theACCAwebsitecontainsinformationonCBEsandfullpilotexamsforeachsubject,tohelpyoupreparefortheliveexam.Bypractisingexamtechniqueusingcomputer-basedpilotexams,youwillbeabletogainabetterunderstandingofhowthesystemworksandthequestionstypesthatyoumaybepresentedwithsothatintheliveexamyoucanconcentrateonansweringthequestions. 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