Well for the students that attempted the F8 and P7 papers in Dec 2010, the current period will be stressful - results are coming out - Feb 21.
It is time for you to reflect back on what was your strong points during the last sitting and what was the weak points, this should help you learn about your own abilities and use them better for the coming examination.
In terms of pass rates, Malaysian students are inherently weak in written papers and stronger in the calculation papers, hence that is why students love to studying for F5, F6, F7 and F9 and dislike the F4 and F8 papers. The historical pass rates for Malaysia has always been lower than the average pass rate for the world for theory papers.
I suppose that the only way for the students to perform better is to accept this facts and find a way to overcome this inherent perception of theory papers. A simple shift in your mind about the papers can make a significant difference in the manner in which you acquire knowledge.
The other reason for poor performance in students - cramming everything in the last minute. Well it is possible to do this, but then you will never appreciate the subject matter that is being studied and studied only to pass the exam. Appreciation of the subject matter and understanding the variability of contextual application would allow for improved overall performance in professional papers.
Depending too much on question spotting is a bad idea, since it narrows down your scope and may impair you ability to fully appreciate a situation that draws on other areas of knowledge.
Overall a review of the past papers for P7 and F8 seems to indicate that you need to approach the audit paper with an integrated approach (using knowledge studied in F7, P1 and P2) to support your answers. In my opinion, both the papers were set at a fairly reasonable intellectual level for ACCA students.
If you did not get a pass - decide the reasons for failure
1. Lack of understanding
2. Lack of reading and review of studied material
3. Lazy
4. Distracted
5. Last minute studies = High risk of fundamental error (since you will answer what you have studied last minute rather than what the question was asking for)
Students that are interested in improving your chances for the papers F8 and P7, you can attend the classes for them in
Jpro training
Good luck on the results
