ACCA Applied Knowledge On-Demand CBEs: Booking, Pass Mark, Timing Tactics and a 6-Week Plan

ACCA's three Applied Knowledge exams, Business and Technology (BT), Management Accounting (MA) and Financial Accounting (FA), are on-demand computer-based exams (CBEs). You book a date that suits you instead of waiting for one of the four exam sessions. Each is 2 hours, fully objective, and has a 50% pass mark. This guide covers how booking works for UK students, how to spend your two hours on each paper, and a six-week plan. Exam details are from ACCA's 2026–2027 syllabus and study guides; booking details are from ACCA's on-demand pages as of November 2026.

How Booking Works

Register with ACCA first. You must be a registered ACCA student before you can enter any exam.
Book through a centre. For on-demand CBEs at a centre, ACCA's process is to find a centre on its centre list, contact the centre directly to arrange a date, and pay the centre.
The centre sets the fee. ACCA's UK fees page says fees for Applied Knowledge exams taken at CBE centres are set by the centres themselves, so compare a few. See ACCA's UK fees and charges for registration, subscription and exemption fees.
Remote on-demand exams are not a UK option. ACCA permits remote on-demand exams only in countries with no exam centre provision.
Results. A provisional result appears on screen at the end of the exam. ACCA confirms it on myACCA, normally within 72 hours.

Corporate and Business Law (LW) is an Applied Skills exam, but some variants, including the English variant, are also available on demand. Our LW exam tips cover that paper.

Order and Progression

ACCA's progression rules say exams must be taken in modular order: Applied Knowledge, then Applied Skills, then Strategic Professional. Within a module you can take the papers in any order, and to enter exams in the next module you must also enter all outstanding exams in your current one. In practice, most students take BT or MA first and FA before starting FR, because FR builds directly on FA.

The Three Exams and How to Spend Your Time

Each paper is 100 marks in 120 minutes, which is 1.2 minutes per mark. Write your section start and finish times on your scratch paper before you begin.

Business and Technology (BT)

Section A: 30 two-mark and 16 one-mark objective questions (76 marks). Budget about 90 minutes.
Section B: six four-mark multi-task questions, one for each of the six main syllabus areas (24 marks). Budget about 30 minutes, or 5 minutes each.

The one-mark questions are short recall items. Do not spend more than a minute on any of them; bank the time for the two-mark questions.

Management Accounting (MA)

Section A: 35 two-mark objective test questions (70 marks). About 84 minutes, or 2.4 minutes each.
Section B: three ten-mark multi-task questions on budgeting, standard costing and performance measurement (30 marks). About 12 minutes each.

Financial Accounting (FA)

Section A: 35 two-mark objective test questions (70 marks). About 84 minutes.
Section B: two fifteen-mark multi-task questions, one on consolidation and one on accounts preparation for a sole trader or limited company (30 marks). About 18 minutes each.

Worked example of the timing check. In FA, you reach question 20 of Section A after 55 minutes. At 2.4 minutes a question you should be at 48 minutes, so you are 7 minutes behind. Flag anything that is not quick for the next five questions, answer it with your best choice, and come back if time allows. There is no negative marking, so never leave a question blank.

A Six-Week Plan for One Paper

This assumes about 10 to 12 hours a week alongside work, and that you have some background in the subject. If the subject is completely new, add two weeks to the first phase.

Weeks 1 to 3: learn and test each chapter. Cover the syllabus in order. After each chapter, do 15 to 20 objective questions on it straight away and log every mistake with the reason. Our free banks are organised by chapter: BT, MA and FA.
Week 4: the weak areas and Section B. Go back to the two or three chapters with the worst scores. Practise multi-task questions under time: 5 minutes for a BT one, 12 for MA, 18 for FA.
Week 5: mixed timed sets. Do mixed sets of 20 to 35 questions at the real pace. Use the ACCA daily challenge as a ten-question warm-up on the other days. Book your exam this week for a date at the end of week 6, once your mixed-set scores are consistently above 60%.
Week 6: full mocks and review. Sit at least two full two-hour mocks in ACCA's CBE practice platform, so the software holds no surprises. Spend the days between them on your error log, not new material.

Why 60% in mocks before booking? Exam-day nerves and unfamiliar questions usually knock a few marks off your practice score. A buffer above 50% is what makes a pass likely rather than possible.

The 2027 Qualification Changes

ACCA has announced a redesigned qualification. What it has confirmed so far:

The new levels are Foundations, Knowledge, Expertise and Strategic Professional.
Essential Employability Modules start in early 2027. Foundations and Knowledge exams start in July 2027; Expertise and Strategic Professional exams start in September 2027.
Students part-way through receive credit for their progress, and ACCA's Transition Tool shows how your passes map across.
The current Applied Knowledge syllabuses are unchanged for September 2026 to June 2027.

I have not found ACCA guidance that maps BT, MA and FA one-for-one to the new exams, so I won't guess. If you are sitting Applied Knowledge now, the passes will count; check your own position on ACCA's future qualification page and its FAQs before planning beyond mid-2027.

FAQs

What is the pass mark for ACCA BT, MA and FA?
50%.

How long are the Applied Knowledge exams?
Two hours each.

How do I book an on-demand exam in the UK?
Find a centre on ACCA's on-demand centre list, contact it directly, and pay the centre.

Can I sit ACCA Applied Knowledge exams at home in the UK?
ACCA allows remote on-demand exams only in countries with no exam centre provision, so UK students sit at a centre.

When do I get my result?
A provisional result is shown at the end of the exam; ACCA confirms it on myACCA, normally within 72 hours.

Is there negative marking?
No.

For more on each paper, read our guides to the BT exam format, passing MA and FA exam tips, and the Applied Knowledge pass rates.

Sources

ACCA, Syllabus and Study Guides September 2026 to June 2027: BT, MA, FA (exam structure, duration, pass mark)
ACCA, Find an on-demand exam centre (booking steps)
ACCA, Fees and charges (UK)
ACCA, Remote on-demand CBE FAQs (remote eligibility, provisional results)
ACCA, Exam progression rules
ACCA, The future ACCA Qualification explained and FAQs on the future ACCA Qualification