ACCA Pass Rates 2026: Every Paper and Level, Explained
Justyna Wachulka-Chan
- July 9, 2026
- 11 minutes read
Table of Contents
Every ACCA exam has a fixed 50% pass mark, but the pass rate — the share of students who actually clear that mark — swings from around 40% on the toughest papers to nearly 90% on the most accessible. In the latest sittings, Applied Knowledge papers like BT sit at 87–88%, while Strategic Professional options such as AAA and APM hover at 38–42%. Understanding these ACCA pass rates changes how you sequence your exams and how much runway you give yourself.
I’m CIMA-qualified, trained at KPMG and spent a decade in global finance before building Practice Tests Academy — and I’ve spent the years since watching what separates the candidates who pass these papers from the ones who resit. Pass rates are the single most misread number in the whole ACCA journey. Here’s how to read them properly.
In a nutshell
- Every ACCA exam is marked to a fixed 50% standard — the pass rate just shows how many students got there.
- Applied Knowledge papers are the most forgiving (64–88%); Strategic Professional options are the toughest (38–42%).
- PM, AAA and APM are the consistent pinch points across recent sittings.
- Pass rates measure a paper's difficulty, not your odds — structured, exam-style practice is what moves your personal number.
If you’re planning your ACCA route, ACCA pass rates are one of the most useful — and most misunderstood — numbers you’ll come across. They tell you which papers students find hardest, where the qualification steps up in difficulty, and where you’ll want extra runway. What they don’t tell you is your personal chance of passing. This guide breaks down the latest ACCA pass rates across all three levels, using official data published by ACCA, and shows you how to turn those numbers into a smarter study plan.
What's the difference between the pass mark and the pass rate?
The pass mark is fixed; the pass rate is not. Every ACCA exam needs 50% to pass and that threshold never moves — full stop. That threshold never moves between sittings. The pass rate is something different — it’s the percentage of students who actually hit 50% or above in a given session. So when you see PM at a 40% pass rate, it doesn’t mean the bar was raised; it means six in ten candidates fell short of the same 50% mark. ACCA doesn’t scale or curve. A low pass rate is a signal about how demanding a paper is and how prepared that cohort was — nothing more.
What are the latest ACCA pass rates by level?
The tables below show the four most recent sittings — June 2025 through March 2026 — drawn straight from ACCA’s official statistics. Applied Knowledge papers (BT, MA, FA) and Corporate & Business Law (LW) are on-demand computer-based exams reported only at the June and December sittings, which is why you’ll see gaps at March and September. All figures are pass rates (%).
ACCA papers ranked by pass rate — hardest first
Latest available sitting for each paper (Mar 2026, with Dec 2025 for on-demand papers).
Source: ACCA Global official exam statistics.
Applied Knowledge & Applied Skills — pass rates (%)
Four most recent sittings. BT, MA, FA and LW are on-demand exams reported only at the June and December sittings.
| Session | BT | MA | FA | LW | PM | TX | FR | AA | FM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | – | – | – | – | 45 | 53 | 50 | 43 | 50 |
| Dec 2025 | 87 | 64 | 68 | 82 | 40 | 55 | 51 | 46 | 48 |
| Sep 2025 | – | – | – | – | 43 | 55 | 48 | 46 | 46 |
| Jun 2025 | 88 | 64 | 68 | 81 | 43 | 54 | 50 | 44 | 48 |
Strategic Professional — pass rates (%)
| Session | SBL | SBR | AFM | APM | ATX | AAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 52 | 50 | 44 | 40 | 50 | 42 |
| Dec 2025 | 50 | 48 | 45 | 41 | 50 | 38 |
| Sep 2025 | 51 | 48 | 44 | 40 | 53 | 40 |
| Jun 2025 | 51 | 49 | 46 | 40 | 49 | 40 |
Source: ACCA Global official exam statistics. Figures are approximate and vary session to session.
How hard are the ACCA Applied Knowledge exams?
The Applied Knowledge exams are the most accessible in the qualification, with pass rates from roughly 64% to 88%. This is where most students start, and the numbers reflect it. Business and Technology (BT) is consistently the easiest paper at 87–88%, with Financial Accounting (FA) around 68% and Management Accounting (MA) around 64%. These papers reward solid fundamentals rather than exam gymnastics. A high pass rate here signals accessibility, not a soft standard — struggling at this level usually points to a gap in the basics that’s worth closing before you move up.
Which ACCA Applied Skills papers are the hardest?
Performance Management (PM) is the hardest Applied Skills paper, sitting at just 40–45% across recent sittings. Applied Skills is where many students first feel the difficulty curve. Audit and Assurance (AA) runs at 43–46% and Financial Management (FM) at 46–50%. Taxation (TX) is the outlier, holding a comfortable 53–55%. Corporate & Business Law (LW) stays accessible at 81–82%. The common thread among the harder papers is that they test application under time pressure — you can find the full paper-by-paper breakdown across our ACCA resources, but knowing the syllabus simply isn’t enough if you can’t deploy it quickly on unseen scenarios.
Why are the Strategic Professional papers so tough?
They’re tough because they’re long-form and case-study based, testing professional judgement rather than recall — so the pass rates step down accordingly. This is the sharp end of the qualification. Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) has historically been the hardest paper in the qualification, though it climbed to 42% in March 2026 — its strongest showing in years. Advanced Performance Management (APM) is now typically the lowest at 40–41%. By contrast, Strategic Business Leader (SBL) leads the level at 50–52%, with Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) close behind. The gap between Applied Skills and these optional papers isn’t accidental — it reflects a genuine shift toward professional judgement, integrated scenarios and answer quality over technical recall. I’ll be honest: this jump is where I see most candidates come unstuck — they prepare Strategic Professional the way they prepared Applied Skills, and these pass rates punish exactly that.
What do ACCA pass rates actually tell you?
Treat pass rates as a difficulty gauge, not a prediction. A 40% pass rate doesn’t mean you have a 40% chance — it means the average, across every level of preparation, landed there. Well-prepared candidates who practise under exam conditions consistently outperform the global figure. Where the numbers are genuinely useful is planning: pairing two low-pass-rate papers in one sitting while working full-time is a real risk, and papers like APM or AAA deserve more runway than their pass rate alone might suggest.
How can you beat the pass rate average?
The candidates who clear these papers first time tend to do the same things. They practise full questions under strict timed conditions from early on, not in the final fortnight. They read the examiner reports, which spell out exactly where cohorts lose marks — generic, un-tailored answers on case-study papers being the classic. And they get their answers marked, not just self-checked, so they fix technique rather than repeat it. That’s the entire logic behind how we build practice at PTA: exam-format questions, difficulty-weighted the way ACCA weights them, so your practice score actually predicts your real one.
ACCA pass rates are a map, not a verdict. Used well, they tell you where to expect resistance and where to invest your hours — the toughest papers (AAA, APM, PM) need structure and time, while the Applied Knowledge papers reward getting the fundamentals right. Read the ACCA pass rates as difficulty signals, prepare accordingly, and the only pass rate that ends up mattering is your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the pass mark for ACCA exams?
Every ACCA exam has a fixed pass mark of 50%. You need to score 50 or above out of 100 to pass, and this threshold is the same at every sitting — ACCA does not scale or curve results.
What are the hardest ACCA papers?
Across recent sittings the hardest papers are the Strategic Professional options AAA (Advanced Audit and Assurance) and APM (Advanced Performance Management), both around 40%, along with PM (Performance Management) at Applied Skills level. They test professional judgement and application under time pressure rather than recall.
What's the difference between the ACCA pass mark and the pass rate?
The pass mark is the score you need — a fixed 50%. The pass rate is the percentage of students who achieved it in a given session. A low pass rate means many candidates fell short of the same 50% bar, not that the bar moved.
Which ACCA papers have the highest pass rates?
Applied Knowledge papers are the most accessible: Business and Technology (BT) sits at 87–88%, Financial Accounting (FA) around 68% and Management Accounting (MA) around 64%. Corporate & Business Law (LW) is also high at 81–82%.
Do ACCA pass rates predict my chance of passing?
No. Pass rates are a global average across all levels of preparation, not your personal probability. Candidates who practise under timed exam conditions and get their answers marked consistently outperform the published figures.
How often does ACCA publish pass rates?
ACCA publishes pass rates after each of its four annual sittings — March, June, September and December. Applied Knowledge and LW figures are reported at the June and December sittings, as these are on-demand computer-based exams.
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About the Author
Justyna Wachulka-Chan
Justyna Wachulka-Chan is a CIMA-qualified finance professional with over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance, including roles at KPMG. She founded Practice Tests Academy in 2016, helping 35,000+ CIMA and ACCA students pass their exams through structured practice questions and mock exam resources.
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