ACCA SBL December 2026: The 2-Mark Point You're Only Getting 1 Mark For

SBL awards up to 2 marks for a single point. Most candidates write points worth 1. That means they need twice as many ideas to reach the same mark — and they run out of time before they run out of exam.

The examiner has said this every sitting

From the SBL examiner's report: "up to two marks are available for a well-developed point made." The second mark only comes when you identify the point and then do one of four things — evaluate how significant it is, relate it directly to the organisation using information provided, explain the consequences for the organisation, or support it with an example from the case material.

The same report notes candidates "often had few or no such points, meaning that they had to come up with more points earning single marks in order to pass." Do the arithmetic. An 18-mark task needs 18 one-mark points, or 9 developed ones. At roughly 2.5 minutes per technical mark, that is the difference between finishing the paper and abandoning Task 3.

Where it bites hardest

The financial analysis task is the clearest example. In a recent sitting candidates were asked to compare two sites and discuss the reasons for and implications of the differences. The examiner found "many comments on the figures provided were superficial and did not explain the underlying reasons." Describing movement is not analysis. The mark is in the why and the so what.

Risk tasks fail the same way. Candidates reproduced the conditions from the exhibit "but did not state what the impact or consequence would be." Saying one volunteer staffs the shop is not a risk. It is a fact. The risk is what that fact causes.

Worked example

The 1-mark answer: "Catering income fell at Stowater because visitor numbers fell."

The 2-mark answer: "Catering income at Stowater fell in line with the 12% drop in visitors, but the decline also coincides with employee numbers falling — suggesting the café is understaffed at peak times and turning customers away rather than simply serving fewer of them. If so, catering income will keep falling even if visitor numbers recover, and HP loses the higher-margin income it relies on to fund conservation."

Same observation. The second one earns the development mark because it explains the underlying cause, uses a second piece of exhibit data, and states the consequence for the organisation.

And on risk: 1 mark — "Only one volunteer is on duty in each shop." 2 marks — "With one volunteer on duty, no one independently checks cash takings, so cash can be removed without detection and losses may go unnoticed for months given shops bank weekly."

What to do

Write half as many points and finish each one. Before moving on, ask: have I said why this matters to this organisation? If not, the point is unfinished.

Use a two-sentence discipline. Sentence one identifies. Sentence two develops — consequence, significance, or a second data point from the exhibit. Never one sentence, rarely three.

Mark your own mocks with a D. Go through a practised answer and write D next to every point you actually developed. Count them. If fewer than half your points have a D, that is your gap — not your knowledge.

The numbers

SBL has run at roughly 50% since launch, with March 2026 at 52% — among the strongest sittings on record. 80 technical marks, 20 professional skills marks, 240 minutes, no separate reading time. The professional marks follow the technical ones: the examiner repeatedly notes professional skills marks "often depended on the depth of analysis shown."

You do not fail SBL because you did not know the model. You fail because you stopped writing one sentence too early, thirty times over.