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Just say no to the 49 Club

17 October 2011

What can PQs do to avoid joining the 49% Club

The exam marking process is a mystery to most accountancy students and after you discover the truth about what actually happens to your exam script you might wish it remained that way!
PQ magazine recently had a meeting with some real markers and one admitted that he has given students 49.5 for their exam script. He wasn’t concerned, rightly in fact, because in many professional accountancy papers the real pass mark isn’t apparently 50% (see our letters page for confirmation). Our markers explained that the pass mark for papers is normally anything between 53 and 44 so he feels it is only right that he gives the proper mark for the script in front of him. “I don’t know what the actual pass mark will be in the end it changes every time,” he explained.
Interestingly many top tutors have claimed that ACCA students in particular have to stop asking for administrative reviews of their paper. With electronic marking it is now highly unlikely that a page has been missed, and the computer programme adds up the mark automatically as well. “I am not sure what they are paying for,” said one senior lecturer.
In fact they are so worthless the lecturer claimed even those who are awarded 49 shouldn’t bother. “I haven’t heard of anyone getting their mark changed for the better,” he said.

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