If you are worried about your SBL paper then surely by the end of this 5 minute read, you won't be.
Why? Because this article talks about how to effectively plan, manage and pass SBL and provides useful tips on how to incorporate existing exam resources into your study plan.
Nature of SBL paper
This is a relatively new paper format introduced into ACCA qualification. It is a new version of two papers of P1( corporate governance) and P3( Business Analysis) combined. For you to pass this exam it is important to understand what type of paper it is and what skills it purports to develop within ACCA students. In the ACCA website resources section, there is examining team guidance. There you’ll find a general set of tips to approach the SBL paper, plus videos and links to examiner reports on key areas to help you with exam preparation.
Syllabus content
The syllabus contains areas and topics that will be assessed in an exam session along with the study guide containing elaborate details of the topics that will help you in planning your paper.
For ease of understanding, let’s divide the paper into two parts:
The technical areas
The professional skills.
Firstly, the technical areas contain the main content of the syllabus and form part of the “knowledge” that students are required to possess to sit an exam. Whereas, the professional skills area considers the “technique” part in which emphasis is placed on how the answer is presented and in what format. It is however important that students must place an equal amount of importance on both of these areas as these are the key to passing the exam. The technical area allotts 80 marks out of 100 total and professional skills allot the remainder of 20 marks.
Technical areas:
The area covers the following topics:
● Leadership
● Governance
● Strategy
● Risk
● technology and data analytics
● Organizational control audits
● Finance in planning and decision making
● Innovation, performance, and change management
Since this paper is a combined version of two different papers there have been some old topics excluded and new ones included (disruptive technology, cloud computing, and shared services).
Professional skills:
Here is the list of skills that students must exhibit in order to gain professional skills marks:
● Analysis skills
● Skepticism skills
● Evaluation skills
● Commercial acumen
● Communication skills
Technical articles:
Under the Acca resource section, these are detailed articles that are exam-focused and fulfill the technical knowledge part of the syllabus. If you are self-studying your Acca then these technical articles are great resources to incorporate into your study plan. Although using these resources is a great way to prepare; for some students, it is a daunting task and they would rather like to use the resources of the approved learning provider such as Vifhe.
Tuition providers:
Acca recommends that students should learn from tuition providers that guide and share their expertise with students and deliver programs that are student-oriented and exam focused. On that note, Vifhe provides exceptional tutors and tailored practice platforms to support ACCA students.
There are a lot of popular teachers in the market for SBL that deliver professional courses among them. However, Sir Hassan Dossani tops all. His repertoire precedes him in SBL. If you want to have access to his teaching skills, videos and lectures then click here. Vifhe also provides mock exam services with added review and checking facility that way you can analyze where you stand in terms of practice.
Past exam papers:
If you want to get familiar with the question style then practice the past papers as much as you can. It is an excellent way to ensure you’re well prepared for the exam.
In the past exam library, students can find a series of recent papers with their answers, this allows them to practice exam questions while reviewing their answers against answers provided. This way students can self-review their practice.
These are some of the resources you can incorporate into your study plan and increase your chances to pass the exams. Since the times are changing, adopting smart ways to study becomes imperative so use multiple resources to plan and pass SBL paper.
