f6 Zaf Presentation

7/22/2019 f6 Zaf Presentation

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The global body for professional accountants

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Hello!

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 forACCA for a few years.


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REVIEW OF PASTEXAMS

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.


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NUMBER OF CANDIDATES SITTING

NUMBER OF CANDIDATES SITTING

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 aboutperformance.


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OVERALL VIEW

Compulsory nature of paper presenting no

problems

Basis of examining VAT working well

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.


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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

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.


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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

1) The solutions provided by the candidates is a form of communication with the examiner and marker. Poorlystructured and scrawled responses are not only difficult to mark but demonstrate poor planning, unfocussedanswers and poor communication.

2) Columns of numbers (while possibly correct) supplied in many answers without textual references cannotachieve marks. For example, if a candidate is calculating the tax value of an asset from the informationsupplied, 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 taxableincome calculation being derived from a net profit figure will require reference to amounts that do not requireadjustment. Candidates often lose marks by omission.

4) In some exam sittings, spot learning has been evident, that is, candidates perform extremely well on certainquestions and poorly on others. Generally the poorly answered questions are on a topic of new legislation or atopic 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 verydifferent results. It is of utmost importance that candidates are taught from the latest legislation.


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SPECIFIC ISSUES

SARS practices

Interpretation notes

Order of events

Terminology

Section references

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, areused. 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.


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LESSONS LEARNED

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IT IS NEVER ENOUGH TO RELY ON SPOTLEARNING

CANDIDATES NEED PASS MARKS IN MOST

QUESTIONS (preferably all questions) TO PASS

need full syllabus knowledge

EXAM TECHNIQUE NEEDS WORK

It is therefore obvious that candidates cannot just rely on good attempts at questions 1 and 2 in

order to achieve a pass mark.


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Which areas need to beimproved?


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COVER THE WHOLE SYLLABUS

ENOUGH SAID!

Make sure that the whole syllabus is covered.


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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

Effective revision is vital. Make sure the fundamentals are known

Practicing questions from past exam papers and tutorials will develop betterexam 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.


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How to improve?


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Use the 15 minute reading time i.e. plan youranswer

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.

There is no need to explain everything when a question just requires calculations.


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FOCUS ON FUTUREEXAMS


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SYLLABUS

New legislation will come through in exams

STC will have to be phased out and replaced with

Dividends Tax

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 isexaminable.


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WILL THINGSCHANGE?

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NO

Standards remain at the appropriate level

Different problems based on new legislation will

arise

Same technical material different problems

Standards must be maintained.

Taxation is an evolving subject and we have already seen that different problemswill arise from new legislation.

In addition, the same technical material or aspects thereof can be examined in a

number of ways.


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Thanks!


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The global body for professional accountants24

Questions?


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CONTACT

[email protected]

+44(0) 141.582.2000

www.accaglobal.com

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