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Updated: Feb 22, 2023

This article offers advice on how to pass the ACA Case Study exam. Written by a multiple prize-winning ACA tutor who scored 92% in the Case Study exam and won the ICAEW prize for the highest score in the world, this is essential reading for any student preparing for their Case Study exam.

How to Ace the ACA Case Study Exam

The Case Study is unlike most other ACA exams as there is very little technical content to learn. Therefore, students who are used to memorising technical concepts and then ‘smashing out the question bank’ will be perplexed when they are presented with 40+ pages of advance information and a Case Study exam paper seemingly testing nothing they have learnt in their other 14 exams.

However, the Case Study is actually very similar to the other ACA exams in that the three exam requirements are always the same, as are the mark schemes. By appreciating the consistency in the exam requirements and the mark schemes, you can develop your exam technique to ensure that you tick all the 'boxes' on the mark scheme and complete your ACA qualification in style.

In light of this, we believe that there are 5 steps to Case Study success:

1. Understand how Case Study is marked

2. Understand what each of the three requirements involve

3. Understand what information is provided in the Advance Information (AI) and what is provided in the exam

4. Learn the Case Study exam technique which ensures that you hit all the boxes on the mark scheme

5. Practice mock exams to master your exam technique

Step 1: Understand how Case Study is marked

The Case Study marking process is objective: there is a set marking key for each requirement and if a student’s report includes a point which is on the mark scheme, they will get the mark. This is not like an academic essay where the examiner forms an overall opinion of the piece of work and then decides whether it is good enough to pass; the Case Study marking grid is rigid. Whilst it can be frustrating that making a valid point which is not on the mark scheme does not score a mark, it does mean that the marking process is very transparent and easy to navigate. Below is an example from a Case Study mark scheme to illustrate what I mean by points and boxes.

Step 2: Understand what each of the three requirements involve

As explained above, the three requirements are broadly the same in each Case Study exam.

R1: Analyse the financial performance of the company

R2: Evaluate a financial proposal

R3: Evaluate an opportunity or issue

The mark scheme for each requirement is also the same. This makes the exam fairly predictable.

By having a look at recent past papers, you will soon start see the consistency in the requirements and build an understanding of what each requirement involves.

Step 3: Understand what information is provided in the AI and what is provided in the exam

In addition to the exam requirements and mark schemes being in the same format every time, the AI is also in the same format every time (albeit a different business with different issues).

By working through past Case Study exams, you will soon start to see that the AI always has the same exhibits with very similar types of information e.g. industry background, prior year accounts, key customers / suppliers, strategic goals and risks. Similarly, all the exams include the same exhibits with very similar types of information.

Having completed the exam, it is important to mark it and reflect on what information came from the AI and what came from the exam exhibits. You will soon start to see that the majority of mark scoring points come from the exam exhibits rather than the AI. You will also learn which types of information in the AI tend to be rewarded in the mark scheme and where in the mark scheme they are rewarded, i.e. which box.

Step 4: Learn the Case Study exam technique which ensures that you hit all the boxes on the mark scheme

Having understood what the exam requirements are and how they are marked, you need to develop an exam technique which ensures that your report includes the points which are included on the mark scheme. Fortunately for you, we have developed an exam technique which does this and it has resulted in two students winning the prize for the highest mark in the world (90% and 92%), another winning a prize for the highest mark in their region (88%) and another achieving the highest mark in their firm (81%)!

Given the practical nature of exam technique, it is not possible to explain this in text so you can watch a free class here which teaches you exactly how to ace Requirement 1 and get a prize-winning mark.

Step 5: Practice mock exams to master your exam technique

By this stage in your ACA journey, you will already know that question practice is key to success. Having learnt the prize-winning technique, you then need to practice mock exams on your case study business under exam conditions so that you master the technique and sign off your ACA in style!

Need Help Passing the ACA Case Study Exam?

Details of our live tuition, video tuition, mock exams and proforma reports can be found here .

About the Author

Kieran Doe is a Senior ACA Tutor at ACA Masters. Kieran won ICAEW prizes for his performance in Financial Accounting and Reporting, Tax, Financial Management, Audit, Business Strategy and Case Study. This is in addition to winning several prizes at university for various Accounting, Management, Business and Economics subjects.

Kieran’s tuition is based around the learning techniques and exam strategies which enabled him to win prizes for all the subjects he teaches. Under his guidance, several of his ACA students have also won ICAEW prizes.

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Jag's Journey

Sharing my life experiences including the Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification

ICAEW ACA Case Study – How Much Preparation Is Enough?

The ACA Case Study was an exam I had not heard much about in detail before my time came to prepare for the exam. I was always one to book annual leave to ensure I had enough time to revise for the exams, especially as I would sit three at a time . When asking my work friends how much time I would need to book off for the ACA Case Study exam they would state only a day or two . As a lot of the exam is skills based and dependant on the real exam itself, it is difficult to know whether you have done enough preparation. I therefore thought I would write this blog to hopefully help.

Note : you may also want to refer to ICAEW Case Study Made Easy , ACA Case Study Marking Key as well as ICAEW Software Testing for more help on the ACA Case Study exam.

Check out my  YouTube video  if you would prefer watching to reading!

Table of Contents

Advanced information (ai), past aca case study mock exams, planning sheets, how much preparation is actually needed, how similar are these mocks to the real exam.

The AI is provided six weeks before the ACA Case Study exam. When the AI was released, I of course took a look to see what industry the business was in. For me, it was Beal the magazine company. As expected, I then read the whole AI when I had more time and went through, very slowly, with the highlighter.

Here is a checklist I have pulled together for what information you need to ensure to pull out of the AI:

• Details of who the report will be from so you can form your disclaimer – join my journey for a draft disclaimer included on the overall timing sheet with a draft structure for the report too
• Benchmarks/targets/key performance indicators (KPIs) for Requirement 1 – this will give you quick and easy marks in the real exam if you state whether these have been met or not
• The relevant PY figures from the AI for Requirement 1 – join my journey to receive how I laid this out and set it up for my Case Study as well as a blank template for your own that you can populate and copy in your exam
• For Requirement 2 and 3 you will need to pull out assumptions and these will come from the AI. The AI should also help you with the calculations for these. For my case study, I was able to pull out at least a page of assumptions from the AI!
• Business issues and wider context that you can put into any of the exam requirements such as whether the industry is competitive
• The ethics marks you should be able to easily identify these from the articles at the end of the AI

Something to consider is whether you need to practice past ACA Case Study mock exams. Now, I studied with Kaplan who really did not focus on the real potential exam much at all to begin with. Even when the AI was out, we would still be going through past paper exams. This was very frustrating at the time but in hindsight, it was definitely beneficial .

We actually ended up going through four ACA Case Study mock exams both in class and as homework and then ran through the real AI and two mocks for this too. Given each mock exam is four hours long, this was definitely not fun. However, timing is KEY with this exam and it is very important to nail timing . If you mess up your timings, leading to an incomplete report as a result, this could result in failure . If you need help with timings, join my journey to receive my timings sheet.

I would therefore strongly recommend practicing at least a couple of ACA Case Study mock exams. Not only will it help ensure you are able to stay on top of your timings but another plus is that it does really help you to understand the mark scheme . The more you practice, the more you start to figure out where the marks/”diamonds” come from and how the mark scheme actually works. For example, knowing which figures are in bold and are needed or how conclusions and the Executive Summary needs to be written.

If you have joined my journey, you should also have been sent some blank planning sheets . These were very helpful when I was studying for the ACA Case Study so I thought I would share these. I only really went into detail on this planning sheet for Requirement 1. This requirement is quite predictable based on the AI in the sense that you should be able to grasp whether the areas of interest are revenue, gross profit and operating profit for example.

What is nice is that the AI purposely gives you three years of management accounts. The AI actually gives example analysis of the year-on-year movements too where they use a range of different numbers and movements. This should help you to prepare for Requirement 1 so you can get an idea of what kind of analysis comments , such as revenue mix, may score a “diamond”. However, a lot of this information and the marks are in the real exam so make sure to pull all of this information into your answers.

I thought it would be helpful if I showed you my Requirement 1 planning sheet for Beal so you can get the gist of how I did this:

Essentially for the Requirement 1 planning sheet I would draft it out similarly to how I have done. Include PY comparison figures so you have these to hand such as PY revenue growth or revenue mix. Also ensure to include business issues and wider context points and recommendations . If your AI mentions any benchmarks/targets/KPIs I would note to comment on whether they were met. Additionally, if there are any bank loan covenants to comment on a breach based on overdraft, note this down. A draft conclusion can also be made based on past mark schemes.

In college we did go through and do a few more planning sheets to Requirement 2 and 3 but I did not really use these given the reduction in predictability. It looks like I have more sheets stapled to the Requirement 1 sheet photographed. However, there are all actually blank (sorry to disappoint) . I pulled this together myself but it may be worth going through this with a friend or study buddy . This may speed up time and it does help with this exam if you all write the same!

It does actually sound like I did a LOT of preparation for the ACA Case Study exam. Looking back, I guess I actually did. Here is a list of points that I think you must do :

• Read the AI and pull out everything I have said above!
• Practice a couple of past mock exams to time so you can nail timings and understand the mark scheme – depending on how well you do, you may need more practice.
• Draft a table with the PY figures for Appendix 1 so you can copy this out into the exam and get started almost straight away
• Practice a mock exam based on your AI . Hopefully you are with a training provider so you have access to this or see the next section for an alternative

Anything else on top of this is just an added bonus , such as the next section of this blog. The Requirement 1 planning sheet is not a must do but it really is worthwhile if you do have the time. You could also draft some standard recommendations for Requirement 2 or 3. I have included a photo of a some I had made below for Beal.

Given the above bullet points, I think you should not need to spend more than a few days on preparing for the ACA Case Study exam outside of college. It is very skills based in terms of how you structure and write your report. Many of the marks are going to be in the real exam so through practice, you should get better at knowing how to pull this out and where to include it in your report.

ACA Simplified/Paradigm Shift Mock Exams

Many of you have probably heard of the ACA Simplified or newly named Paradigm Shift ACA Case Study mock exam pack . I did actually get these for my ACA Case Study exam, where I was given five mock exams. It definitely was not needed to pass but I do think it helped. I did not practice any of these but did read through the mark schemes, understood the calculation workings and took these into the exam with me. Given there are so many mocks, I made a quick reference guide for each mock so I could easily identify the relevant mock.

The reason I wanted the mocks is because I found for my case study Beal that the Requirement 2 and 3 calculations were quite difficult. In all honesty, even though I love Maths and know I am good at it, I did always find these tricky. These mock exams give examples of potential calculations that could come up as well as model appendices to address these. The mocks were therefore helpful in this sense.

The mocks were actually quite similar to the real exam in terms of the scenarios that came up. Such as an increase in the magazine price for one of the requirements. I was able to apply how the calculation was done in the mocks to the real exam. This is likely to be the case given the AI indicates a limited number of potential scenarios and I was given five mocks.

You do need to bear in mind that many of the marks/”diamonds” for the real exam will be based on the information given in the real exam . This of course cannot be predicted and so you cannot just copy the mock answers. The same exam will never come up so application is required and given the time pressure, you do need to know what you are doing. That being said, you can probably copy the business issues and wider context points.

If you have other Advanced Level exams to revise for, try not to get too carried away with the ACA Case Study. SBM also helps with Requirement 1 as there is an overlap with the performance analysis.

I hope this helps and good luck!

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Case study tomorrow, just one more pass and I’m finally ACA qualified. May the odds be in my favour.

Good luck!! You have got this 🤞🤞

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• Introduction to the Case Study exam

Published: 10 Sep 2021 Update History

In this guide we will introduce you to the Case Study exam, and will cover what the Case Study exam is and why it is unique, the importance of time management, the professional skills examined as well as tips for success.

This series of Case Study exam resources will cover everything you need to know to prepare for the Case Study exam. This includes:

• How to approach the advance information
• Using the advance information during the Case Study exam
• A guide on Requirements one, two and three
• An overview of the Executive Summary
• How to prepare to retake the Case Study exam

What is the Case Study exam?

Case Study is designed to reproduce a typical situation in which ICAEW Chartered Accountants find themselves. It puts you in the position of a final year trainee, reporting directly to a Partner. You will be required to draft a formal business report on the current position of a client firm, advising the client on the way forward.

What is unique about the Case Study exam?

The Case Study exam is very different to any other exam you will have sat during your ACA studies to date. The major points of difference include:

• There is no syllabus.
• You will access a detailed pack of advance information six weeks before exam.
• There is a prescribed format for your answer.
• There are explicit marks for ethics and business trust analysis.
• It is marked using a matrix, with a total of 240 marks available.
• Always try and attempt all questions and requirements and answer them fully to give you the best chance of exam success. 

Time management

When you practise your first Case Study you will immediately become aware of the unique time pressure of this exam. Some students are of course able to think, plan and type very quickly, and will be able to produce their answers within the four hours permitted. However, most students will find time management the single greatest challenge in passing their Case Study exam.

The timings suggested below may support you to manage your timings during the exam:

• Reading and planning - 1 hour
• Calculations - 1 hour
• Drafting your report - 2 hours

Professional skills

Across the mark key matrix you will see four columns, each referring to the skills that an ICAEW Chartered Accountant acting as a business adviser is expected to have. The Case Study exam requires you to demonstrate competence across ALL of these skills:

• Assimilating and Using Information (AUI) - using basics facts to support your analysis, identifying how to use data in calculations.
• Structuring Problems and Solutions (SPS) - using data to perform meaningful analysis, identifying commercial and ethical aspects of business scenarios.
• Applying Judgement (AJ) - interpretation of data analysis, explaining the impact of commercial issues, recommending how to deal with ethics and business trust issues.
• Drawing conclusions and making recommendations - summarising your analysis, identifying practical ways to implement commercially-driven advice.

Tips for success

The key steps in the Case Study exam preparation include:

• Be familiar with your advance information. You must imagine that you are in the workplace, reporting to an actual client. Your analysis and advice must be relevant and impactful, and this only comes with client-specific knowledge.
• Be strict with your time management. It is better to submit a complete report that feels a little 'thin' in places, than a report that is very detailed but incomplete.
• Plan your calculations before starting them. There will always be more numbers in the advance information and the exam than you need, therefore, you must think about the most concise way to deliver the numerical analysis you need. Failing to plan can lead to excessively detailed financial appendices that add little value, and crucially wasting your precious time.
• Plan on paper – it may help to take blank marking keys into the exam with you, and in the early stages of planning Requirements one, two and three, fill in the mark box headings, then complete your bullet points before drafting your report. This will help you produce a coherent and concise report.
• Use headings from the marking key in your answer. If your report headings correspond with those in the exam marking key this will ensure the relevance of your answer and make it easier for the marker to award you credit.
• You must complete your report . The importance of completing your exam means that if you are overrunning in any section of the report you must switch focus to writing up the Executive Summary section for that section, then move onto the next requirement. Remember an incomplete report, or a report lacking an Executive Summary section will likely lead to a failed result.
• Practise, Practise, Practise, Practise . You are advised to attempt at least four past Case Study exams before your advance information is released. This will help you build the skills and time management techniques you need to pass.

How to use the advance information during the Case Study exam

Overview of the Executive Summary

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October 2021

Kieran Doe has some top advice on how to pass the ACA case study exam. And he should know – he scored 92% in it!

The Case Study is unlike most other ACA exams as there is very little technical content to learn. So students who are used to memorising technical concepts and them ‘smashing out the question bank’ will be perplexed when they are presented with over 40 pages of advance information and a case study exam paper seemingly testing very little from their other 14 exams.

However, the Case Study is actually very similar to other ACA exams in that the three exam requirements are always the same, as are the mark schemes. By appreciating the consistency in the exam requirements and the mark schemes, you can develop your exam technique to ensure that you tick all the ‘boxes’ on the mark scheme and complete your ACA qualification in style.

I believe that there are five steps to case study success:

Step 1: Understand how Case Study is marked

The marking process is objective: there is a set marking key for each requirement and if your report includes a point which is on the mark scheme, you will get the mark. While it can be frustrating that making a valid point which is not on the mark scheme does not score a mark, it does mean that the marking process is very transparent and easy to navigate.

Each requirement has 11 boxes and you need to pass six boxes on each requirement.

The Executive Summary has seven boxes and you need to pass four boxes. To pass a box, you need to get three of the points included in that box. You need to pass each requirement and the Executive Summary in isolation. Have a look at some recent mark schemes to see what I mean about boxes and points.

Step 2: Understand what each of the three requirements involve

As explained above, the three requirements are broadly the same in each Case Study exam.

• Requirement 1: Analyse the financial performance of the company.
• Requirement 2: Evaluate a financial proposal.
• Requirement 3: Evaluate an opportunity or issue.

The mark scheme for each requirement is also the same. This makes the exam predictable and by having a look at recent past papers, you will soon start to see the consistency in the requirements and build an understanding of what each requirement involves.

Step 3: Understand what information is provided in the AI and what is provided in the exam

In addition to the exam requirements and mark schemes being in the same format every time, the AI is also in the same format every time (albeit a different business with different issues).

By working through past case study exams, you will soon start to see that the AI always has the same exhibits with very similar types of information; industry background ; prior year accounts; customers; suppliers; strategic goals and risks. Likewise, the exams include the same exhibits with very similar types of information.

Having completed an exam, it is important to mark it and reflect on what information came from the AI and what came from the exam exhibits. You will soon start to see that most mark scoring points come from the exam exhibits rather than the AI. You will also learn which types of points tend to be rewarded in each box.

Step 4: Learn the Case Study exam technique which ensures that you hit all the boxes on the mark scheme

Having understood what the exam requirements are and how they are marked, you need to develop an exam technique which ensures that your report includes the points which are included on the mark scheme.

Fortunately for you, we have developed an exam technique which does this and it has resulted in two students wining the prize for the highest mark in the world (90% and 92%), another winning a prize for the highest mark in their region (88%) and another achieving the highest mark in their firm (81%).

Given the practical nature of the exam technique, it is not possible to explain this in text so click the link for a tutorial showing you exactly how to ace Requirement 1 and get a prize-winning mark – https://youtu.be/unvyelEwv6y

Step 5: Practice mock exams to master your exam technique

By this stage in your ACA journey, you will already know that question practice is key to success. Having learn the prize-winning technique, you then need to practice mock exams on your case study business under exam conditions so that you master the technique and sign off your ACA in style.

• Kieran Doe is a Senior ACA tutor at ACA Masters

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