ACCA Pass Rate Report 2026: Every Paper, Every Sitting

ACCA pass rates are one of the most searched topics among accounting students — and for good reason. Knowing which papers are hardest and how your preparation compares to the average is essential for smart study planning. This report analyses the official pass rates from the March 2026 sitting, with trends and study strategies for the toughest exams.

Updated June 2026 with official March 2026 results published by ACCA. This report is refreshed after every sitting — next update: September 2026.

ACCA Pass Rates by Paper (March 2026 — Official)

Applied Knowledge papers (BT, MA, FA) and LW are on-demand computer-based exams reported separately — they typically run 65–85%, with LW historically the highest-passing paper.

Which Papers Have the Lowest Pass Rates?

The Options papers at Strategic Professional remain the most challenging — but the order changed in March 2026. APM (40%) now has the lowest pass rate in the qualification, while AAA (42%) posted its best result on record after years as the persistent bottom paper. AFM sits at 44%.

At Applied Skills level, AA (43%) is the most commonly failed paper, with PM (45%) close behind despite its historic high. Both require strong application skills, not just recall.

March 2026: Two Historic Highs — and What They Tell Us

92,224 students entered the March 2026 sitting, completing 103,785 exams; 3,334 finished their final exams to become ACCA affiliates. The headline: PM and AAA both posted their best pass rates on record.

That is not an accident. ACCA credits increased engagement with structured support — the Study Hub, examiner-insight sessions and marker-feedback resources. In other words, structured exam-technique support measurably moves pass rates. The averages still hide a gap between supported students and those studying alone.

The underlying pattern holds: on-demand knowledge exams pass at 65–85%, while the hardest applied papers pass at 40–45%. The qualification stops rewarding memorisation at exactly the point where many self-studiers keep memorising.

Your Sitting Order Is a Strategy Decision

Pairing a hard paper (AA, PM) with a more passable one (TX) per sitting protects momentum — every resit costs a full exam fee plus three months. And your Options choice is a pass-rate decision: ATX (50%) versus APM (40%) is a ten-point difference in your odds before you open a book.

Study Strategies for Low-Pass-Rate Papers

For AAA, APM and AFM

• Practice past papers under strict exam conditions — every week, not just in the final month
• Focus on the professional skills marks: communication, analysis, evaluation, and scepticism
• Read the examiner's reports carefully — ACCA publishes detailed feedback after each sitting
• Work with a tutor who can mark your answers, not just check your technical accuracy

For PM, AA and FR

• Do not underestimate these papers — their reputation as "mid-level" masks genuine difficulty
• Focus on question technique: read requirements carefully, structure your answers, allocate time by marks
• Use practice questions from the first week of study, not just revision

A Note on Methodology

This report uses ACCA's officially published global pass rates (March 2026 results announcement). We do not publish Learnsignal cohort pass rates here — provider-level claims should be substantiated under ACCA's Approved Learning Partner advertising guidelines, and unverifiable pass-rate claims are exactly what this report exists to counter. Ask any provider citing pass rates how they are measured.

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