ACCA PM September 2026: Why "Revenue Fell 9.1%" Scores Zero in Section C (SD25 Examiner Report)
The Sept/Dec 2025 PM examiner report says it plainly: writing "the percentage of machines with defects has fallen from 0.69% to 0.64%" earns zero analysis marks. You calculated it correctly. You still scored nothing.
With the September exam two weeks away, this is the highest-value fix left in your revision. Section C is 40 marks, and the SD25 report shows exactly where analysis answers die.
Restating a movement is not analysis
The SD25 Balanced Scorecard question (Klen Co) gave 15 marks for analysing performance. The examiner reports that candidates who took each measure and described its movement — up, down, by how much — "did not perform well". Restating what you calculated in part (a) adds nothing the marker doesn't already have.
Marks went to answers that added significance: what the figure means against the company's stated objectives, the economic downturn in the scenario, or another measure on the scorecard. The examiner explicitly rewards linking scorecard elements together rather than working through them one by one.
Answer the requirement you were given, not the one you expected
On the CVP question (Kaylene Co), part (c)(ii) asked for the effect of increasing one product's sales volume on two specific measures: the weighted average C/S ratio and the CVP analysis already performed. The most common mistake? Discussing the effect on the company in general. Direct fail of the requirement — the marks were for spotting that the Jumbo had the lowest C/S ratio of the three products, so pushing its volume drags the overall ratio down.
The easy marks candidates keep binning
Three technique errors the SD25 report flags, all fixable in an afternoon on the CBE practice platform. Candidates ignored rounding instructions — "three decimal places" is a mark, not a suggestion. Candidates typed final numbers into cells instead of calculating in the spreadsheet — so when the answer was wrong, there were no workings to award partial credit against. And candidates misread the template — it asked for "Operating profit ($m)" and a number of candidates supplied operating profit margin (%).
One more: Klen offered up to 3 bonus marks for additional calculations, but only for new, relevant figures. Recalculating numbers already given in the scenario earned nothing. The smart extra calculation was the industry's sales decline — the perfect comparator for Klen's own revenue drop.
Wrong answer vs right answer
Weak (scores little): "Klen has done badly against its growth objective due to a decline in revenue."
Strong (scores): "Although Klen's revenue declined 9.1% and it is not meeting its growth objective, the market declined 11.9% — so Klen is beating the market, which is supported by its rising market share."
Both candidates did the same calculation. Only one turned it into insight: figure, comparator, so-what. That three-part shape is the whole skill.
What to do before the exam
1. Ban naked movements from your answers. Every analysis sentence must carry a comparator (target, market, prior year, another measure) and a consequence. If a sentence just says something went up or down, delete it or develop it.
2. Underline the object of the requirement before writing. "Explain the implications for the weighted average C/S ratio" means comment on that ratio — not on profit, not on the company generally. SD25 shows this single misread was the most common mistake on the CVP question.
3. Do one full Section C in the ACCA CBE practice platform this week. Calculate inside the spreadsheet cells so your workings are visible, follow every rounding instruction, and read template row labels twice. These are free marks — the examiner is telling you where they are.
The bottom line
PM's pass rate hit 45% in March 2026 — the best in years — but that still means most Section C scripts are leaving analysis marks on the table for sentences that just repeat the spreadsheet.
The marker already has your numbers. The marks are for what they mean.