NCTech – ACCA SBL Pre-seen December 2023
The ACCA Strategic Business Leader exam (SBL for short) has finally released its second-ever pre-seen for December 2023, and don’t worry; it’s a great one!
NCTech is a cloud service company (data storage and computing services) based in Farland. It was founded 10 years ago by three software engineers and has grown dramatically during that time.
With the introduction of a new pre-seen still being fairly new, the SBL exam is becoming more challenging and reflective of real-world scenarios for qualifying accountants.
Carefully analysing NCTech and ensuring you are as prepared for the ACCA SBL exam as possible is a highly worthwhile investment of your time. Continue reading to discover more about NCTech and how to maximise your chances of passing this December!
1. Overview of NCTech
2. How to approach the pre-seen
3. Pre-seen exam challenges
4. Importance of mock exams
1. Overview of the NCTech pre-seen
During your ACCA SBL exam, you will need to use the information you have been given about NCTech and apply that to the questions you’re given. So, let’s dive straight in!
NCTech is a high-growth public cloud service company that was established ten years ago by three software engineers.
Currently, NCTech offers an IaaS service model which is a basic cloud service where clients can lease server capacity for data storage and processing. They target small to medium-sized companies (SMEs) based in Farland, a developed country currently experiencing rapid growth in the cloud service sector.
NCTech’s vision statement is ‘to be one of the leading cloud service providers in Farland‘.
So, at first glance, Farland prioritises growth for their business strategy. By having a good reputation in the industry, competitively priced and secure service, they hope to out-beat the ever-growing competition.
But don’t just take our word for it! Ensure you have read and understand the complete pre-seen information by logging into your myACCA account via your exam planner.
But if you want to read our full ACCA expert analysis, and dive deeper into the pre-seen, be sure to sign up for our free pre-seen pack below.
FREE ACCA SBL NCTECH PRE-SEEN PACK
Sign up now to get the following:
+ 2 mock exams based on the pre-seen
+ Full analysis of the pre-seen
+ Full strategic analysis
+ Top 10 most likely issues to come up in the exam
+ Industry analysis document
+ Time Management Guide
2. How to approach the NCTech pre-seen
You’ve obtained the pre-seen material, so what’s the next step?
Your primary task at this moment is to utilise your valuable time effectively. We recommend reading through the NCTech pre-seen at least three times to ensure you are comfortable with the material and understand it.
However, before that, it’s essential to identify the key elements to be aware of.
The ACCA has stated that you won’t need to conduct additional research about NCTech, so there’s no pressure to become a cloud software sector expert in a fortnight. Instead, you will need to be an expert on the information in the SBL pre-seen itself, so like we said above, be sure to read it carefully!
With two weeks to prepare, there’s a compromise to consider – the ACCA SBL exam has been shortened from four hours to three hours and fifteen minutes.
To make the most of these changes, it’s crucial to familiarise yourself with NCTech before entering the exam.
Keep in mind, the SBL pre-seen will be available during the exam for reference (if needed), but you definitely do not want to waste your time reading it from scratch on the day.
With that, dedicate some time beforehand to immerse yourself into the business of NCTech, rather than trying to do so during the exam when you should be concentrating on understanding and structuring your responses to the questions effectively.
Still unsure about the new pre-seen element of the exam?
One of the key takeaways from the pre-seen being introduced is that marking will focus less on your ability to read lots of new information during the exam. You can instead focus on applying the theory you’ve learned to the company.
While the syllabus has largely remained the same, we do understand that this new element can throw you off course. That’s why we’ve created a definitive guide for everything you need to know about the new ACCA SBL exam.
3. Pre-seen exam challenges
While there are certainly some silver-linings to this update of this pre-seen (including the qualification being more relevant to your future potential employers and letting you do some additional preparation), this isn’t to say there aren’t some new challenges too!
Consider the following potential challenges presented by the ACCA Strategic Business Leader exam with its updated NCTech pre-seen component:
Time:
Instead of devoting the weeks before the exam to studying theory, you will need to spend these last two weeks studying NCTech (probably alongside working a job and whatever other commitments you have in your life), which can be demanding.
Difficulty:
The examiners will now expect you to have entered the exam with a full understanding of NCTech as a company.
The questions you’ll be asked will likely now be more demanding to take this into account, as you won’t be using your brainpower to get your head around the scenario during the ACCA SBL exam.
A new format:
The SBL pre-seen is the only pre-seen element in the ACCA exams, so you may never have encountered this form of exam preparation before. Knowing how to prioritise your time, both before and during the exam itself, may be difficult for you.
(Note: You might want to check out our Free ACCA SBL Time Management Guide)
Top tip from us! Make sure you practice plenty of mock exams to improve your time management and answer planning.
4. Importance of mock exams
Our suggestion? Seize every opportunity to complete as many mock exams as you can find!
With only a fortnight between the release of the NCTech pre-seen and the exam, you’ll likely encounter numerous mock exams that are rather general and not specifically tailored to the NCTech pre-seen. Therefore, if you come across any practice exams that specifically challenge your ability to apply what you’ve learned to NCTech, grab them! Such targeted preparation could prove immensely beneficial in the run-up to your exam and might provide you with a competitive advantage.
Arguably, the most crucial aspect to consider when tackling mock exams (or any practice questions) is to simulate exam conditions. This means eliminating all distractions (including study notes) and timing yourself as you would in the actual exam. Failing to acclimate to the time constraints during practice could leave you at a significant disadvantage in the actual exam!
At Astranti, we are offering 2 mocks based on the actual NCTech pre-seen, with solutions for free! So make sure you make full use of them to understand what you need to work on before the all-important exam date.
FREE NCTECH MOCK EXAMS
Sign up now to get instant access to 2 free mock exams for ACCA SBL December 2023 sitting.
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