The SBR Examiners Report Debrief | December 2025

One of the most common areas of lost marks in the December 2025 SBR exam came from the way candidates used the pre-populated spreadsheet in Question 1.

The issue wasn’t technical knowledge. It was exam technique.

Here we'll show you exactly what went wrong — and what you should do differently when taking SBR next.

What The Spreadsheet Isn't!

The pre populated spreadsheet is NOT there for you to:

• Rebuild the spreadsheet from scratch

• Put unexplained numbers into random cells

• Replace the numbers already given.

What The Spreadsheet is For

It's there for you to make clear, logical adjustments to the correct figures that are already entered for you.
The examiners want you to:

• Begin with the provided figures

• Make adjustments to what only needs changing

• Provide an audit trail of your workings

Quite a large majority of candidates made the following errors:

*Overwrote existing figures instead of adjusting them
*Entered numbers with no explanation or reference
*Used the spreadsheet as a blank workspace rather than an adjustment tool

Because of this, the markers were unable to determine what had been changed or why — and so, candidates lost marks, even when the final number looked reasonable.

In SBR, the workings, or your audit trail, are just as important as the answer itself.

What Successful Candidates Did Right

Here's what the exminers say helped them mark confidently, and what successful candidates did:

1. Adjustments were made in separate columns or rows

2. All adjustments made clearly linked back to the scenario

3. All numbers were supported by brief explanations

4. Only the requird adjustments were made nothing extra

TIME MANAGEMENT

The examiners say that Question 1 takes up too much of your exam-time, particularly when candidates over-complicate the spreadsheet.

Some students spent far too long perfecting calculations or presentations, then rushed through later questions — particularly Question 3, which was the worst answered question of the exam.

If you remember one golden rule, make it this: Adjust, don't rebuild

The SBR Examiners say candidates don't fail SBR because they can't do group acounts.
They fail because they don't use the spreadsheet as it was intended.

So, practice, practice, practice using the prepopulated spreadsheet, folks!

Check out the aCOWtancy SBR Classroom for more or ➡️ to our YouTube Channel for some super-useful guidance on how to master this spreadsheet! Click on the link below:

https://youtu.be/HMliBv7qgV8?si=dUKBdjJxZKieTscN