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Jag's Journey

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

How to Master the ICAEW ACA Case Study Marking Key

Four blogs into the ACA Case Study and you might just start to think that I am slightly obsessed with this exam. The ACA Case Study is so different to any other of the 15 ACA exams that I feel there is so much to discuss for this exam. I was not planning to go into detail about the Case Study marking key. However, I have recently realised many who are independently studying or who are taught by different providers may not have all these details or the same level of understanding. In order to pass the ACA Case Study, you do really need to understand how it is marked . Today this is exactly what I will delve into.

You may also want to refer to the other three ICAEW ACA Case Study blogs:  ICAEW Case Study Made Easy ,  ICAEW Software Testing  and How Much Preparation is Enough? .

Table of Contents

Aca case study marking key terms, maximum marks and marking, different ways to fail the icaew aca case study, overall assessment criteria, executive summary (es), requirements – generic aca case study marking key, marking yourself, aca case study wrap up.

If you are unaware of the exam structure for the ACA Case Study exam, I would recommend reading the Made Easy blog before reading details about the Case Study marking key. You essentially need to know the report you are required to produce is split into an executive summary and three equally weighted requirements .

This will overlap with the ICAEW Case Study Made Easy blog where I have briefly touched on the marking key. The ACA Case Study marking key can be explained using the following terms: “ boxes ” and “ diamonds “, where boxes are skills assessment boxes (SABs). The meaning of these will get clearer as we go on but to give a quick explanation, the Case Study marking key is split into 40 boxes :

• The executive summary has 6 boxes (2 for each requirement)
• Each requirement (r1, r2 and r3) has 11 boxes
• There is one final box for the overall assessment criteria

Within each box, there are diamonds /bullet points that you need to hit to get marks. The maximum mark for each box is 6 marks . Each box will have up to six “diamonds” that are up for grabs from your answer. For example, one diamond could be met by stating revenue increased by x amount/(y %) based on the case study numbers. This will make more sense once you start looking at mock exams for the ICAEW ACA Case Study.

The Case Study marking key is not completely straight forward. It is not one mark per one diamond. Here is how it works:

From the table above you can see you do not benefit from getting more than four diamonds as you will be capped at 6 marks . You may be in fact wasting time and time is definitely of the essence in the ACA Case Study even if it is 4 hours . However, it is difficult to know whether a point you make is a valid diamond or not so it is perhaps best to aim for 5 diamonds at most in each box of the Case Study marking key. 

What makes the ACA Case Study very different from the other exams is that there are  no predetermined correct answers . I have been told only after assessing the first say 100 papers are the diamonds and the marking key put together. You need to write what everyone else writes so state the obvious and work together when preparing beforehand! This ACA Advanced Level Telegram group (essentially WhatsApp without phone numbers) where you can connect with other students may help.

The maximum marks for the ACA Case Study is 240 marks . Remember, there are 40 boxes and the maximum mark is 6 per box. You may think as the ICAEW ACA Case study exam is 50% to pass , you just need 120 marks to pass. Again, the Case Study really is not that straightforward. 120 marks across the whole paper will not cut it. You actually need 50% in each requirement (including the executive summary) to pass. Getting 66 marks in requirement 1 but 20 marks in requirement 3 is a no go. However, this is not the only way to fail the ACA Case Study…

The below ways to fail which I will touch upon are less black and white than the 50% in each requirement criteria. This is a very grey area and is not nice for anybody in this position. I have come across candidates who have achieved 50% in each requirement and still failed. Below outline the other potential reasons why one could fail the ACA Case Study exam:

• As mentioned, achieving  less than the overall 50%  pass mark.
• Achieving  less than 50% in each individual requirement  and being deemed incompetent often. You really need to show you can produce a strong report to be on the safe side. In each requirement, you should ideally be getting over 50% competent grades (CC or SC) which means six or more boxes. Five SCs (30 marks) and the remaining ID/IC grades (6 marks) would get you above 50% in the requirement (33 marks) but may not be enough to pass.
• Missing out parts  of the report. If you score above 50% in all requirements but have missed out 4-5 skills assessment boxes, you are likely to fail. There cannot be gaps in the report. A fail could also be for writing poor conclusions and recommendations throughout.
• This exam is all about balance . If you have too many NA and ID grades, this could also be a factor of failure.

Essentially, the examiner wants to see that you can write a  complete and balanced  report. If you do not do as ICAEW say in this exam you will be punished and you will fail. This really is a grey area , especially as for those marginal scripts there is re-moderation to decide which scripts pass and which fail. It does seem quite harsh as surely getting 50% would be enough but examiners will only want to pass a good quality report. Further marking details can be found here from ICAEW and is definitely worth a read.

ACA Case Study Marking Key

This one box will look as follows (imagine the dashes are diamonds):

If you meet all four diamonds, you will show you are clearly competent and should get 6 marks.

The executive summary is essentially meant to summarise each of the three requirements and provide the conclusion and recommendations. It is at the start of the report so if somebody did not have time to read the full report, they would be able to understand exactly what is covered by reading the ES. The Case Study marking key for the ES is as follows. Note this is very generic and may differ case study to case study:

ICAEW in recent years have been very clear that you cannot simply copy and paste the report into the executive summary. The two must differ otherwise you will not score any marks and this could result in failure! Spot the difference below…

I will keep this much more generic and do all three requirements in one. Through these boxes you will need to demonstrate  that you can: assimilate and use information; structure problems and solutions; apply judgement and form conclusions and recommendations.

If you have not started any mocks yet, this may all look like gibberish to you. Trust me on this one, once you have been through a mock or so, you will be very grateful for the above tables. For the requirements, you essentially get two boxes for the appendices, two for each of the sub-requirements stated in the question and then two for the conclusions and recommendations. Keeping this in mind when you write your report is crucial to doing well.

If your ACA Case Study is marked by somebody else, I would highly recommend going through this yourself afterwards. This will really help you to understand what kind of points scores diamonds and which do not. You can also see where you are perhaps going overboard or not writing enough .

What I think is very beneficial about going through the Case Study marking key is that you will spot where things are in bold. You may have noticed this above. If “and figures” is written in bold, it means you cannot get the diamond without any numbers. Where I slipped up initially is that I was not including figures or sometimes comparative figures that were needed. You also sometimes must write the £ and % change to get a diamond. It really is worth going through this to maximise your diamond potential.

Hopefully this blog has stressed to you the importance of timings . If you get too many NA boxes, you are likely to fail. This means you cannot just miss areas out and move on but you do need to do it all . If you want help with your timings as well as planning sheets and help with requirement 1’s appendix, join my journey. I will be sending these out to you for free within a few days of joining.

Understanding the Case Study marking key is essential to do well in this exam. I can recall going through this for a full morning in college to make sure we really understood the marking key. If you do not have a solid understanding of this, as well as the different ways to fail, you may just do so. Hopefully this blog has been insightful and helped in some way. I would even suggest taking those generic marking keys into the exam with you so you do not miss anything out.

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Advanced Level Case Study

The Case Study module covers the following topics:

• requires demonstration of knowledge, skills and practical application from multiple areas of the syllabus
• tests professional skills in the context of a specific business issue
• demands ability to analyse financial and non-financial information
• requires demonstration of professional and ethical judgement
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How to use the advance information during the Case Study exam

Published: 16 Sep 2021 Update History

Role of the advance information

Wider business issues (wider business issues), wider business issues in requirement one, wider business issues in requirement two and requirement three, example of the potential wider business issues points for the beal ltd case - november 2020, tips for success.

This guide is designed to help you understand how to use the advance information during your Case Study exam. It will cover the role of the advance information and wider business issues, examples and 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:

Introduction to the Case Study exam

• 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

When thinking of the advance information and the Case Study exam it's worth thinking about the role or purpose of this information. The advance information is there to help you become familiar with your client, their industry, their current position and their future plans. Therefore, when you get to the Case Study exam your focus must switch away from the advance information and towards the exam. Quite simply, in the exam, you must react to, and write your report around the events unfolding in it.  

During your exam you must think of the advance information as a reference document; its main role is therefore:

• Providing the prior year data for the financial data statement analysis in Requirement one.
• It may provide the methodology for the Requirement two or Requirement three calculations, eg, earn out calculations in Bux (July 2016), and the toll processing contract and grape importing in True Taste (November 2016).
• Provides a source of wider business issues points.

The exam marking key has a box each for Requirement one, two and three for identifying business issues and wider context. The marks within these boxes are awarded for the use of information provided within the advance information and exam to underpin the analysis and recommendations contained within your report.

Given that the Requirement one will require you to commentate on the financial performance of the business over the last year most of the wider business issues points can be found in the advance information. Knowing this will allow you to scan the advance information in advance for potential wider business issues points that may support your analysis in the exam.

Wider business issues can be much trickier here, as of course we know there is much less certainty over the issues that will be examined in these requirements compared to Requirement one, which always features a review of the management accounts. None-the-less although we do not know what will be examined in Requirement two and Requirement three, the structure of these requirements does tend to show some consistency across exams.

It is important that you know your advance information in detail; you will not have time in your exam to go looking for these supporting facts.

Wider business Issues (advance information/Exam in Report body)

• Covid impacts +/- on whole business or each business line
• Competitive industry 
• Online advertising growth
• £200k overdraft limit
• Public sector clients take two months to pay
• Can re-use Special Report content after three months
• Large annual subs renewals in December
• Large marketing spend critical for MLE
• Beal readers are professionals 35-55 /not price sensitive 
• Content quality is a Critical Success Factor
• Anything relevant from the exam

The following steps will help you use your advance information appropriately in the exam:

• Produce a detailed summary of the advance information. (See the guide to Requirement one, Requirement two and Requirement three document).
• Use a highlighter pen and page tags to help you locate key facts and figures. 
• The industry review, financial commentary, strategic review and media article exhibits are good sources of wider business issues points.
• Produce lists of potential wider business issues points embedded within the advance information (see the example below), this can be cross-refenced in the exam to see if any points provide context to your report.
• Focus on the new information provided in the exam - remember the advance information provides context, you must focus your report on the current and future performance of your client.

Watch webinar

View this short webinar for an introduction to the advance information in the Case study exam.

Read out this code to the operator.

Pass In Training

November 2021 - advance information workshop.

Workshop for all Nov 2021 ICAEW Case Study students. Our experience in interpreting the Advance Information will give you an advantage in understanding the business. Join our Pass In Training Facebook Chat Group to enrol for free.

Key Information

Date & Time: Saturday 2nd October 2021 at 10:00am (London TIme Zone) - Expected duration 5 hrs, although depending on the complexity of the Case Study, this may increase.

Increase your understanding of the Advance Information

Understand the key themes underpinning the business model e.g. how the business generates revenue, profits and cash

Understand the likely direction for the 2021 financial results and position

Consider how Applying Judgement is assessed and the likely AJ style marks for this Case Study

Increase your awareness of likely R2 scenarios ahead of your mocks and the real exam

Consider the most likely strategic direction the business could take in the future

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Facebook Chat Group

Pass In Training Chat Group

We are developing a Facebook group where students can ask questions and receive expert feedback about the Case Study. We post tips, hints and blogs which are exclusive to our Facebook Group, which will assist you ahead of the exam. Our group also has exclusive offers and discounts available on all courses. Join our Facebook Group and receive assistance as you prepare for your Case Study exam. Facebook Chat Group

Course curriculum

Course information & sample slides from november 2020.

Example Slides From Beal's AI Course.pdf

Introduction To Our Advance Information Workshop

Joining Information For Workshop

Powerpoint slides used in the live course

Advance Information Workshop Video

Other courses for July 2021

Knowledge, Technique, Application & Feedback

£495.00 Full Tuition Course - Live

£350.00 full tuition course - on demand version, £160.00 july 2023 - all four mock exam bundle, £30.00 steps to pass in case - online book, £50.00 july 2023 - advance information study pack, £60.00 july 2023 - marking service mock exam 1.