Questions in this paper
Our own one-line description of what each question tests. "Paper" jumps to the question's page in the official PDF; "Comments" to the examiners' notes on it.
| Q | Area | What it tests | Marks | Pass rate | Official | Walkthrough |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | MCQs | Seven MCQs (10 marks) on EOQ sensitivity, batch set-up cost attribution, outsourcing under a labour limit, absorption vs marginal statements, reciprocal service costs and ABC limitations. | 10 | 53% | Paper Comments | Q1 walkthrough |
| Q2 | Job costing | Journal entries for a month of job costing: materials, labour and absorbed overhead charged to two jobs, a material transfer between jobs, completion, and rejected units treated as abnormal loss. | 9 | 38% | Paper Comments | Q2 walkthrough |
| Q3 | Standard costing and variances | Working backwards from given variances to standard and actual material prices, standard hours, standard variable overhead per unit and the sales volume profit variance. | 10 | 46% | Paper Comments | Q3 walkthrough |
| Q4 | Overhead allocation and absorption | Budgeted overheads from a predetermined rate and budgeted hours for two products, under/over-absorption against actual overheads, and the closing journal entry. | 5 | 67% | Paper Comments | Q4 walkthrough |
| Q5 | Cost classification and manufacturing accounts | Statement of cost of goods manufactured for a furniture maker, allocating freight, rent, utilities and fixed costs between manufacturing and non-manufacturing areas. | 7 | 74% | Paper Comments | Q5 walkthrough |
| Q6 | Labour costing and learning curve | Accept-or-reject a special order made in batches, with labour hours on a learning curve that stops improving and material wastage that falls batch by batch, tested against a minimum contribution margin. | 8 | 64% | Paper Comments | Q6 walkthrough |
| Q7 | Joint and by-products | Closing inventory cost for two final products from a two-department process with joint products allocated on NRV, a by-product credited to joint cost, and blending in fixed ratios. | 15 | 26% | Paper Comments | Q7 walkthrough |
| Q8 | Cost-volume-profit analysis | Next year's break-even sales and margin of safety for two variants with different volume growth, price rises, a special material, wage and productivity changes, and split fixed/variable overheads. | 18 | 49% | Paper Comments | Q8 walkthrough |
| Q9 | Decision making and relevant costs | Revised operating profit under three options for a product facing a cheaper rival (keep price, cut price, discontinue), with a volume-based supplier discount, overtime, idle-time pay and labour-driven overheads. | 18 | 10% | Paper Comments | Q9 walkthrough |
Marks by area
All 100 marks set, by area. MCQ items count towards their own area.
Cost-volume-profit analysis18 marks
Joint and by-products15 marks
Standard costing and variances10 marks
Job costing9 marks
Overhead allocation and absorption7.5 marks
Activity-based costing2.5 marks
Heavier and lighter than usual
Compared with the average across all 2 indexed sittings of CAF-5 (differences of 5 marks or more).
Heavier
- Joint and by-products: 15 marks vs 8.8 average
Lighter
- Marginal and absorption costing: 2 marks vs 7.5 average
- Inventory valuation: 0 marks vs 5.5 average
Against the syllabus weightings
| Section | Syllabus weight | Autumn 2026 marks |
|---|---|---|
| A. Costs associated with production | 35–45% | 36 |
| B. Cost flow (process, joint products, target costing, variances) | 20–30% | 25 |
| C. Cost management, planning and decisions | 30–40% | 39 |
Section totals use our classification of each question's area into the syllabus grid.
Pass rate by question
Published in the examiners' comments for this sitting.
Q1 · MCQs53%
What the examiners said
The main themes of the official examiners' comments, summarised in our own words. Read the full report for question-by-question detail.
- The pass rate improved, but the decision-making question (Q9, product discontinuation) was again the weakest at 10%.
- The examiners stress that the decision-making area needs far more practice, as weak performance there has persisted.
- Typical slips: wrong account titles in job-costing entries, wrong basis for overhead allocation between departments, and not following the question's growth and inflation assumptions product by product.