Professional level exams within the overall ACCA qualification are by far the most interesting and application-oriented exams. However, they can also be challenging if students do not prepare for the exam with the right approach in mind.
All professional level exams test the following aspects of the student’s preparedness –
- Conceptual clarity
- Application mindset
- Business Acumen
- Skills such as Problem Solving, Critical Thinking and Communication
Especially from a Strategic Business Leader (SBL) exam, the course / subject over the last few years has evolved in terms of curriculum, application, and even examination pattern to ensure relevance and applicability to real-world scenarios. It is important for students, professionals pursuing the mandatory Strategic Business Leader (SBL) subject to appreciate the fact that this subject would provide you exposure like a mini-MBA programme.
Before getting into the tips and tricks that students should keep in mind for the Strategic Business Leader (SBL) exam, let us understand more about the SBL curriculum.
- Strategic Business Leader (SBL)
About the syllabus – The subject provides students in-depth insights on the world of running a business, opportunities / challenges (both coming in from the external and internal environment) and how companies leverage / overcome them through strategy making, decision making, change management, critical thinking, problem solving and many more.
Key topics included as part of the curriculum are as under –
- Understanding and analysing the Internal and external environment
- Strategic planning process including strategic analysis, choice and implementation
- Product portfolio and market analysis of a company
- Pricing decisions
- Understanding and managing stakeholders of a company
- Understanding employees of a company in terms of their needs, types, and ways to motivate them
- Leadership and their impact on the organization, its culture, and employees,
- Types of organizations, structures etc.
- Change Management
- Risk management and internal controls
- Integrated reporting
- Sustainability of business and decisions
A thorough understanding of the Strategic Business Leader concepts, also sets the right foundation for students when they embark on pursuing other optional subjects later.
I am sure most of you are reading this blog to know about the tips and tricks in your quest to clear the SBL exam . Here we go then
Conceptual Clarity – Throughout the entire SBL curriculum, there are about 75+ concepts and frameworks that students would go through. As a student is it important to understand 3 important things –
- Purpose and objective
- Understand how the concept / framework works
- Output that we obtain from implementing the concept / framework
- Practical understanding of how companies use insights obtained from the framework
Unless students understand all these 4 elements, it would be difficult to apply the same to real-life based examination situations
Practice small case studies – Many coaching institutes and teachers, focus majorly on explaining the concept to students. However, hardly any time is spent on making students apply individual concepts to small cases. This is where the problem starts to develop. While attempting small cases and seeking constructive feedback from the faculty, students will improve their ability to apply the concept to real-life situations, build & structure thoughts commensurate to the needs of the exam, learn to manage time. Critical feedback from the faculties is super important for students to know their areas of improvement and then work on them.
Practice past papers – With my experience of teaching the subject for more than a decade, I have observed the following two basic flaws while preparing for the SBL exam
- Faculties leave the element of practicing past papers for a little too late
- Students do not take seriously the fact that practising questions from past papers, solving an entire past paper in the stipulated time period are critical to acclimatizing the mind to a real exam scenario
- Another risky approach that students follow is that rather than self-attempting the past paper, they read the past paper question and answers feeling that they would also be able to do a similarly good job in the live exam
- Some students who are diligent in solving past papers also make a common mistake. They generally do not attempt a past paper within the allotted 3-hour time frame and understand what worked well and the challenges. This for me is the real make or break in the actual live exam.
Please keep in mind the fact that majority of students attempting the SBL exams come from a background wherein the exam pattern was nowhere close to the SBL exam patter. Previous exams are mostly focussed on explaining the concept, rote learning, drawing diagrams etc., none of which is relevant for the SBL exam.
Revision Vs. Recall – We have all grown up to revise our syllabus multiple times before the exam. People around us tell us, sell this to us as a good recipe for academic success. However, this is absolutely not worth the effort we put in. Over a period of time while the courses, curriculums and examination patterns have evolved, our approach to prepare for them is more or less old school, static. Revision needs to be replaced with “Recalling”, wherein students test their memory about things they remember (random topics) from the curriculum. Whatever they remember, further solidifies in the form of retention (which is good for the real exam) and things that they do not remember is what they should immediately refer to from their notes, presentations etc. This has proven to be a real game changer for all students who have tried implementing the same consistently over a period of time.
Pre-seen analysis – The latest change in the SBL examination pattern is that students receive a pre-seen case study generally 10-15 days in advance of the actual SBL exam. For example, the pre-seen case study for the December 2023 attempt is expected to be released by ACCA by the 21st / 22nd November. According to me this is a very positive step taken by ACCA for the benefit of the students and also reinforce the need for more emphasis on an application mindset rather than a theoretical mindset. Students should thoroughly analyse the pre-seen and spend time to understand the following things –
- Black and white information – this includes things, facts and figures explicitly mentioned in the pre-seen
- Interpreting the grey areas – While there will be a lot of black and white information, things are also subject to interpretation and drawing inferences from them. This is critical
A good grip on both the above elements, helps student align their thoughts to the company, anticipate probable scenarios that could be asked in the exam and prepare for them well in advance. However, given the limitation that anticipation od scenarios can only be as much, students do not need to worry about it. This is because if you have a good grasp on the pre-seen, understand information well, have put down your thoughts relating to the different scenarios, attempted practicing a few scenarios, obtained constructive feedback, and worked on areas of improvement, then you are all set.
Faculty – While a good faculty is important for every student and every subject that they study. However, it is even more critical for students studying Strategic Business Leader (SBL) subject. It is important that you should opt for a faculty who is not only a good academician but also possesses rich and diverse corporate experience, across the length and breadth of different types of organizations and roles. Given the fact that SBL is an amalgamation of concepts with application to real-life scenarios, a faculty with a similar mindset, knowledge and experience would be able to add real value to students pursuing Strategic Professional Level exams.
Other things to keep in mind are as under –
- Paper pattern – The revised paper pattern (starting the September 2023 attempt) consists of 3 tasks / questions with 2-3 sub questions per task
- Passing marks – Students need to secure a minimum of 50% marks to clear the exam
All ACCA exams are computer-based exams. It is highly recommended that students should opt for a centre-based exam wherever possible. However, if there is challenge in finding a nearby centre (either due to distance or non- availability of a centre), students could go for a home-based proctored exam.
Timing of Exams
- Professional Level (PL) – Exams happen once every quarter (March, June, September, and December)
Exam Booking
Students can book their examination slot as under –
- March attempt – Last date to register for the exam is 31st Jan
- June attempt – Last date to register for the exam is 30th April
- September attempt – Last date to register for the exam is 31st July
- December attempt – Last date to register for the exam is 31st October
Please note that the booking of an ACCA exam is also subject to availability of examination slots at the respective ACCA approved centres. Students are advised to book their exam slots as early as possible (as and when the exam booking is open) and not wait for the last week / day to book the exam.
Institutes such as The WallStreet School which is an approved Gold Learning Partner of ACCA, have faculties who amalgamate conceptual knowledge with real life practice experience of working with marquee corporates through their hybrid classes to help students succeed in professional level exams.
