Why ACCA Candidates Keep Failing on Easy Questions (2025 Examiner Reports)
The 2025 examiner reports for FR, AA, TX and FM all say the same thing: candidates are losing marks on fundamentals. Not hard questions. Easy ones.
The bottom line
You don't need to learn more. You need to lock down what you already know. If the basics aren't automatic under exam pressure, the harder questions have nothing to sit on.
What the examiners flagged
FR — Candidates confused margin and markup in an unrealised profit calculation. The examiner called it one of the two most common errors on the consolidation question.
AA — All four statements were true. Candidates second-guessed themselves and talked themselves out of the right answer. The examiner's words: candidates need to be confident with their knowledge and not second-guess themselves.
TX — Candidates forgot to spread transition profits over five years under the new basis period rules. Core syllabus. Missed marks.
FM — Candidates confused buffer inventory with reorder level. Strong on calculations, weak on knowing which formula to use.
None of these were trick questions. The examiners said so.
Example: margin vs markup (FR)
Parent sells goods to subsidiary at a markup of 25%. Subsidiary holds $100,000 of those goods at year end.
What most candidates wrote:
$100,000 × 25% = $25,000
Wrong. That's margin (profit ÷ selling price).
What the examiner wanted:
Markup means profit ÷ cost. Selling price = 125% of cost.
$100,000 × 25/125 = $20,000
$5,000 difference. And it cascades — wrong unrealised profit means wrong retained earnings, wrong NCI, wrong consolidated inventory. One basic error. Multiple marks gone.
What to do about it
Drill the fundamentals. Not read them. Drill them. Under timed conditions. Until they're automatic.
Read the examiner reports. They're free on accaglobal.com. They tell you exactly where marks were lost. Most candidates never open them.
Trust what you know. If a question feels straightforward, it probably is. The examiner isn't trying to trick you.
The numbers
FR pass rate September 2025: 48%. AA: 46%. PM: 43%.
More than half of candidates fail these papers every session. The examiner reports keep saying the same things. The candidates who pass are the ones who actually listen.
Stop revising. Start drilling.
All examiner report findings referenced in this post are from the ACCA March/June 2025 and September 2025 examiner reports, available free on accaglobal.com.