December 2018 BPT exam -ACA

Hi there,I was wondering if anyone has done this exam. I just had it and for me it was really tough. Was wondering if anyone had the same experience with this paper. I just did not know what to write and I don’t know how harshly they will mark the papers :/

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone has done this exam. I just had it and for me it was really tough. Was wondering if anyone had the same experience with this paper.

I just did not know what to write and I don’t know how harshly they will mark the papers :/

Hey,Yes I found it pretty tough as well. I was hoping for a big capital tax question unfortunately. Most of the people I have spoken to found the paper tough so I reckon they will shift up the marks to get the pass percentage in line with other sittings. Good luck with your results. I hate the long wait we have!!

TC - try and finish the question bank. Make sure you know all the big pro formas (income tax, IHT etc). Don't get too caught up on small details, most of the marks are in the basic stuff. Don't neglect ethics, it's a free 7 marks if you revise it properly, which can be the difference between passing and failing.

BPT - really hard exam. Do question practice to time as early as possible because timing will be the killer. Even more time pressured than FAR. Practice with your open book and make sure it's tabbed up well. Focus on breadth (covering all the relevant topics in a question) rather than on huge amounts of detail. Don't get too caught up in calculations. Really get to grips with how to do time consuming topics quickly (e.g. residency questions or loss relief).

Hi thank you very much for the advice.

Firstly how do I revise for ethics? Is just going over that one chapter in the workbook?

For BPT will there be stuff that I can just copy out the QB? Calculations are my weak point. Someone I know literally read the QB for BPT twice and that’s it and got 75%.

For tax compliance, I did the ethics question bank questions on the tube to and from work, and I read the study manual chapter on it the day of the exam. That was enough to guarantee 7/7 in that question, which takes so much pressure off (it's WAY easier to harvest marks there than, for example, nailing the VAT question).

On the BPT approach you described, I personally didn't do that and my tutor strongly advised against it. I have heard it working for some people though. I think it's pretty high risk. It might work if you get a very standard incorporation question or whatever, but quite a lot of the time the exam will throw curve balls. I sat the December 2018 sitting and the questions, at least for me, felt very different to any QB answer. I would personally stick to having a solid open book that you can refer to really quickly in the exam (speed is absolutely key).

Hi there,

Adding to what egg1234 said about BPT is only to organise the things to get in the exam as much as possible. Even if you have no idea what to answer you will have the notes to back you up at least on the basics and most importantly the question bank.
Once you are done with this exam it will be such a relief trust me, best of luck !!!

I'm so scared, I've never felt this way for any exam in my entire life.

It's terrible, but you'll get through it! When I sat it I thought it was impossible lol. But most people pass, somehow. Even if you don't pass, you'll probably pass on the next go.

Just try and not get overwhelmed. Remember, you don't need to be anywhere near the model answers to get 55.

Lots of people also consider it the hardest ACA exam, so once you get through it, you'll be over the hump!

Hopefully I pass, how did you prepare your open book did you have lots of tabs? Did you make your own notes?

I have the A5 version of the kaplan workbooks to make it easier to flick through and give me more space. I've tabbed up some questions that I think are good in the QB.

As I'm reading through the answers in the QB i'm also trying to find the relevant pages in the workbook so I get an idea of where things are.

I think that sounds like the right way of prepping notes. I did something similar. One thing I’d say is that the key is timed question practice with whatever open book you make. It’s all about being able to use your own system really quickly. Also the question practice will highlight areas where your open book is weak so you can make adjustments.

Got TC and BPT next week on the 12th and I'm starting to panic about both. For BPT i think i have done 80% of the QB and I understood most of it when reading through the answers, I just feel like that I will spend 2.5 hrs looking through my open book and run out of time or panic if I after reading the Q i dont know where to start.

Running out of time is a major risk for BPT. ONLY practice timed from now on. You just need to be brutal with yourself in terms of timing - don't go over on any question. Remember that really basic stuff gets you loads of marks, like knowing the conditions for a relief and applying it properly to the question. Don't obsess over small details because those things will probably be worth fewer marks than you think.

You'll probably see stuff in both exams (especially BPT) that will horrify you on the day lol. That's normal. It's impossible, for example, for someone to have learnt the whole TC syllabus (CGT on short leases LOL). The worst thing you can do is panic. Just focus on what you know because the bread and butter stuff will be more than enough to pass both.

And don't sack off ethics

And don't sack off ethics

Hi there,

Adding to what egg1234 said about BPT is only to organise the things to get in the exam as much as possible. Even if you have no idea what to answer you will have the notes to back you up at least on the basics and most importantly the question bank.
Once you are done with this exam it will be such a relief trust me, best of luck