APM is a 3 hours 15 minutes exam of 100 marks in two sections. Every question is compulsory and every question is written.
Length
3 hours 15 minutes
Section A
One 50-mark case study: 40 technical marks and 10 professional skills marks
Section B
2 scenario questions of 25 marks, each 20 technical and 5 professional skills marks
Section B topics
One question from syllabus area C, performance reporting, and one from area D, data and technology
Professional skills
20 marks in all: communication, analysis and evaluation, scepticism and commercial acumen
Pass mark
50% of 100 marks
Section A: one 50-mark case study
A case on one organisation, often with its mission and strategic goals. You assess how it controls, manages and measures performance: a new strategy or project, its measurement system, or its use of improvement models. Expect calculations, comparison with other information and alternative recommendations.
It draws on syllabus areas A and B, and asks for a response in a stated format, such as a report to the board, written as an adviser to senior management. It carries 40 technical marks and 10 professional skills marks, and examines all four skills.
Section B: two 25-mark questions
Two scenario questions, each worth 20 technical marks and 5 professional skills marks. One comes from area C, performance reporting, and one from area D, data science and technology, with areas A and B as their foundation. Each examines at least two of analysis and evaluation, scepticism and commercial acumen.
Pacing
195 minutes for 100 marks is just under 2 minutes a mark: about 98 minutes for Section A and 49 for each Section B question.
Try 3 questions
Short questions in the course’s own format, not ACCA’s: the exam itself is all written.
Question 1 · Course practice question · Balanced scorecard and benchmarking2 marks
The balanced scorecard and benchmarking
Selby Insurance Co benchmarks its two claims offices against each other. It counts each part-time employee as half a full-time equivalent, and because a complex claim takes three times as long as a simple one, it counts each complex claim as three weighted claims and each simple claim as one.
North office: 8,000 simple and 2,000 complex claims in 2026, with 30 full-time and 10 part-time staff.
South office: 9,600 simple and 1,800 complex claims in 2026, with 24 full-time and 12 part-time staff.
If North matched South's weighted claims per full-time equivalent, how many fewer full-time equivalent staff would it need for its 2026 workload? Give the answer to one decimal place. (2 marks)
$
Question 2 · Course practice question · Divisional performance2 marks
Divisional and managerial performance
Lyle Co's operating profit for 2026 was $17.6m. It calculates economic value added (EVA) for 2026 as net operating profit after tax (NOPAT) less a charge of 10% (its weighted average cost of capital) on adjusted capital employed at 1 January 2026, which it has calculated as $96m.
To find NOPAT it makes these adjustments to operating profit, then deducts tax at 25% of the adjusted operating profit:
Development spending, which was expensed as incurred, is treated as an investment amortised straight-line over three years with a full year's amortisation in the year of spending. Spending was $1.8m in 2024, $2.4m in 2025 and $3m in 2026.
Operating profit was reduced by a non-cash increase of $0.6m in a general provision, which is added back.
What is Lyle Co's EVA for 2026, in $m to one decimal place? (2 marks)
$
Question 3 · Course practice question · Performance reporting2 marks
Management reports and commentary
Vance Co's three divisions reported these results ($m).
Division X: revenue 20 last year and 24 this year; operating profit 2.0 last year and 3.0 this year. Division Y: revenue 50 and 49; operating profit 6.0 and 4.9. Division Z: revenue 10 and 9; operating profit 0.5 and 0.27.
Operating margin is operating profit as a percentage of the same year's revenue.
Which three of the following sentences for the commentary are accurate? (2 marks)
No. It is one 50-mark case study in Section A and two 25-mark scenario questions in Section B, all written.
What is the pass mark for APM?
50%.
Which topics come up in Section B?
One Section B question comes from area C, performance reporting, and one from area D, data science and technology, built on areas A and B.
Unofficial practice for the ACCA Advanced Performance Management (APM) exam, not affiliated with ACCA. ACCA is a trademark of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which does not endorse this course. Every question here is original. No VAT is charged.