Hardest ACCA exams ranked by September 2026 pass rates
Understand ACCA pass rates by paper, ATX difficulty and how to choose and order your option papers.
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The toughest ACCA exam at the September 2026 sitting was Advanced Performance Management (APM), with a pass rate of 41%. Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) and Performance Management (PM) came next at 42%, and Taxation (TX) had the highest pass rate of the 11 Applied Skills and Strategic Professional papers at 54%. The same three papers were also the lowest three in December 2025 and June 2026, though not in March 2026, when AA and AFM both came in below PM. So the pattern mostly holds from one sitting to the next. Use the ranking to decide where your extra study hours go and which option papers suit you.
ACCA pass rates by paper: September 2026 ranking
ACCA published the September 2026 results in October 2026. Here are the 11 papers ranked from the lowest pass rate to the highest. Corporate and Business Law (LW) isn't included because it's sat on demand rather than in the quarterly sittings.
| Rank | Pass rate | Level | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41% | Options | APM Advanced Performance Management |
| 2= | 42% | Options | AAA Advanced Audit and Assurance |
| 2= | 42% | Applied Skills | PM Performance Management |
| 4 | 45% | Applied Skills | AA Audit and Assurance |
| 5= | 47% | Options | AFM Advanced Financial Management |
| 5= | 47% | Applied Skills | FM Financial Management |
| 7 | 49% | Applied Skills | FR Financial Reporting |
| 8 | 50% | Essentials | SBR Strategic Business Reporting |
| 9= | 53% | Options | ATX Advanced Taxation |
| 9= | 53% | Essentials | SBL Strategic Business Leader |
| 11 | 54% | Applied Skills | TX Taxation |
Source: ACCA, September 2026 pass rates. Last checked: 13 November 2026.
Essentials and Options are the two parts of Strategic Professional. Everyone sits SBL and SBR, then chooses two of four Options papers. ACCA reports that 102,263 candidates entered the September 2026 sitting and completed 114,239 exams between them.
Are the hardest ACCA papers the same every sitting?
Mostly, yes. APM and AAA were among the three lowest pass rates at each of the last four sittings, and PM joined them in three of the four. TX had the highest each time.
| Paper | Dec 2025 | Mar 2026 | June 2026 | Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APM Advanced Performance Management | 41% | 40% | 42% | 41% |
| AAA Advanced Audit and Assurance | 38% | 42% | 39% | 42% |
| PM Performance Management | 40% | 45% | 41% | 42% |
| AA Audit and Assurance | 46% | 43% | 47% | 45% |
| AFM Advanced Financial Management | 45% | 44% | 47% | 47% |
| FM Financial Management | 48% | 50% | 48% | 47% |
| FR Financial Reporting | 51% | 50% | 52% | 49% |
| SBR Strategic Business Reporting | 48% | 50% | 47% | 50% |
| ATX Advanced Taxation | 50% | 50% | 47% | 53% |
| SBL Strategic Business Leader | 50% | 52% | 51% | 53% |
| TX Taxation | 55% | 53% | 55% | 54% |
Source: ACCA pass rates for December 2025, March 2026, June 2026 and September 2026. Last checked: 13 November 2026.
Most papers move by only a point or two. ATX moved the most, from 47% in June 2026 to 53% in September 2026, which is a good reason to look at several sittings before reading too much into one.
A pass rate also tells you about the people sitting a paper as well as the paper itself. Candidates choose their Options, and many pick the one closest to their day job. So a high pass rate can mean the paper suits the people who choose it.
Why do APM, AAA and PM catch candidates out?
The three papers share one demand. Each rewards applying what you know to a specific business and explaining your judgement, more than recalling rules or running a standard calculation.
PM is the Applied Skills paper where this first shows up. Many candidates prepare it as a numbers paper and practise variances, costing methods and decision techniques until they're quick. The marks that tend to slip away are in the longer Section C questions, where you have to say what your numbers mean for the business and what it should do next.
APM takes that same skill and makes it the whole exam. Like the other Options papers, it has a 50-mark question in Section A and two 25-mark questions in Section B, all compulsory, with marks for professional skills. You might be asked to assess a set of performance measures for a particular company. A general list of the pros and cons of balanced scorecards scores little. Points tied to the company in front of you score well.
AAA is a big step up from AA. You need to know the auditing standards and ethical rules, but the marks come from applying them to a client: spotting the risks in a scenario, judging an ethical threat, or deciding what an audit report should say. Candidates who can quote a standard but can't say what it means for this client find AAA hard.
If one of these papers is on your list, change how you practise:
- Learn the core content first, but move to full exam-style questions early.
- Answer questions under timed conditions, typing your answer as you would in the computer-based exam.
- Mark your answer against the official model answer and note every point you missed.
- Read the examiner's report for that sitting to see where other candidates lost marks.
- Rewrite one weak answer so it's specific to the scenario, then try a new question.
Is ACCA ATX difficult?
ATX had a pass rate of 53% in September 2026, just one point behind TX at 54%. Over the last three sittings it has ranged from 47% to 53%, so it sits around the middle of the table.
ATX is harder than its pass rate suggests if your TX knowledge is rusty. ACCA's examining team article says ATX-UK "is directly underpinned by TX-UK". An ATX question can draw almost entirely on TX content, and you'll be expected to apply it to a more complex scenario.
The format is a step up too. ATX is a 3 hour 15 minute exam with a 50-mark Section A question (40 technical marks and 10 professional skills marks) and two 25-mark questions in Section B. TX leans towards calculations, while ATX leans towards written advice. When a question asks about the tax consequences of a situation, you're expected to work out which taxes are relevant yourself.
One likely reason ATX passes at a similar rate to TX is who sits it. Many ATX candidates work in tax, so they use the material every day. If that's you, ATX is a sensible option. If you passed TX a few years ago and work in a different area, plan time to refresh the TX content before you start the new ATX material.
How to choose your ACCA option papers
You need two of the four Options (AAA, AFM, APM and ATX) if you finish by the June 2027 sitting. From September 2027, ACCA requires only one Option. Pass rates matter, but they come third in this list.
- Start with your job. Audit points to AAA, tax to ATX, treasury or corporate finance to AFM, and management accounting or business performance to APM. Your work gives you real examples to draw on in the scenarios.
- Think about which Applied Skills paper went best for you, and how recently. Each Option builds on one: ATX on TX, AAA on AA, AFM on FM and APM on PM.
- Use pass rates to break a tie. If two Options suit you equally, the one with the higher pass rate at recent sittings (ATX or AFM) is usually the easier route.
- Check what's changing. ACCA is updating the qualification's structure, so if you expect to sit Strategic Professional papers in September 2027 or later, read ACCA's transition guidance before you commit.
If APM or AAA is the right fit for your career, choose it. A lower pass rate means you plan more practice time for it.
What order should you sit ACCA exams in?
Timing matters more at Strategic Professional because of the time limit. Once you pass your first Strategic Professional exam, you have seven years to pass the rest. Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills passes don't expire.
A few ways to use the ranking when you plan:
- Sit each Option soon after its Applied Skills paper, while the content is fresh.
- Avoid pairing two of the lowest pass rate papers, such as APM and AAA, in the same sitting if you're studying around full-time work.
- Pair a lower pass rate paper with one you find more comfortable, so your hours go where they're needed.
- Give PM, AAA and APM more timed question practice than TX or ATX.
The next sittings are December 2026 and then March 2027. If you're booked for December, spend the remaining weeks on full, timed questions rather than rereading notes. Medly gives you exam-style questions to practise and marks your written answers, so you can see where marks are going before the real exam.
Frequently asked questions
What is the toughest exam in ACCA?
On September 2026 pass rates, Advanced Performance Management (APM) was the toughest at 41%. AAA and PM followed at 42%, and those three papers were also the lowest at the December 2025 and June 2026 sittings.
Which ACCA exam has the highest pass rate?
Of the 11 papers in the September 2026 sitting, Taxation (TX) had the highest pass rate at 54%. Corporate and Business Law (LW), which is sat on demand, had a pass rate of 82% in ACCA's June 2026 figures.
Is ATX harder than TX?
ATX is a harder exam, even though its pass rates are similar (53% against 54% in September 2026). ACCA says ATX is directly underpinned by TX, and ATX asks for more written advice on more complex scenarios.
Is SBL harder than SBR?
Not on pass rates. SBR has come out slightly lower than SBL at each of the last four sittings. In September 2026 SBL had a pass rate of 53% and SBR had 50%.
How many option papers do you take in ACCA?
You take two of the four Options papers: AAA, AFM, APM and ATX. From September 2027 ACCA requires only one. Both Essentials papers, SBL and SBR, are compulsory.
How long do you have to pass the Strategic Professional exams?
You have seven years from your first Strategic Professional pass. ACCA can grant one extension of up to a year (four exam sessions), and only in extenuating circumstances such as critical illness.