ACCA 2027 Changes: New Exams, Key Dates and What Current Students Need to Know

ACCA is replacing its current qualification structure in 2027. ACCA's pages describe four levels (Foundations, Knowledge, Expertise and Strategic Professional), with Foundations and Knowledge exams starting in July 2027 and Expertise and Strategic Professional exams starting with the September 2027 session. If you are partway through the current qualification, ACCA says you receive credit for completed equivalent elements. This guide sets out the structure, the exam names, the mapping from current papers, the key dates and the four Essential Employability Modules, using ACCA's published pages. It also lists what we could not confirm. For the current structure see our current ACCA exam structure, and for background see the redesigned ACCA qualification guide.

At a glance

The four levels

ACCA's future qualification page describes four levels: Foundations, Knowledge, Expertise and Strategic Professional. Foundations applies only to students who do not meet the entry criteria. The page gives the RQF levels of the last three levels as 4, 6 and 7. We did not check the exact mapping of each level.

The new exams

At Foundations ACCA lists F1 Accounts Preparation, F2 Management Information and Costing and F3 Decision Making with Data. At Knowledge it lists K1 Financial Accounting, K2 Management Accounting and K3 Business Law. At Expertise it lists E1 Taxation, E2 Financial Reporting, E3 Audit, Risk and Control, E4 Finance and Investment and E5 Performance with Data Analysis. At Strategic Professional there are two compulsory exams, a reporting exam and Strategic Business Leader, plus one Options exam. ACCA's pages disagree on the name of the reporting exam, giving Business and Sustainability Reporting on one page and Sustainability and Business Reporting on another, so check the live page.

The Options

The Options exams listed are Audit and Assurance Professional, Corporate Finance Professional, Data Science Professional (new), Performance and Insights Professional and Taxation Advisory Professional. Students will need only one Options exam, down from two today.

How current papers map across

ACCA's transition page maps Financial Accounting to K1, Management Accounting to K2 and Corporate and Business Law to K3. Taxation maps to E1, Financial Reporting to E2, Audit and Assurance to E3, Financial Management to E4 and Performance Management to E5. Strategic Business Reporting maps to S1 and Strategic Business Leader to S2. Advanced Audit and Assurance, Advanced Financial Management, Advanced Taxation and Advanced Performance Management map to the corresponding Options. Business and Technology is not an exam in the new structure: it maps to the Responsible Business Management module, with credit only if you have passed it.

Key dates

ACCA's timeline shows Foundations and Knowledge exams starting in July 2027. Expertise and Strategic Professional start with the September 2027 session, with entry opening in May 2027 and the last entry date in August 2027. The final sitting of the current Applied Skills and Strategic Professional exams is June 2027. ACCA says Applied Knowledge exams and the Foundations in Professionalism module must be completed by mid-July 2027, with exact dates still to be confirmed. Our FIA withdrawal guide covers the FIA deadlines.

What happens to current students

ACCA says Applied Knowledge students move to Knowledge, Applied Skills students move to Expertise and Strategic Professional students stay at that level, receiving credit for completed equivalent elements. Students who have completed Applied Skills in full move on to Strategic Professional. ACCA provides a transition tool to map your progress. Students who have not completed all Applied Skills exams before transition must complete the Digital Tech and Innovation module, which ACCA puts at about 100 hours, and students who have not passed Business and Technology must complete Responsible Business Management, at about 60 hours.

The Essential Employability Modules

ACCA lists four Essential Employability Modules, one per level: Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Responsible Business Management, Digital Tech and Innovation, and Ethical, Sustainable Leadership. ACCA's FAQs describe them as mandatory elements at each level. The ethics modules will no longer be part of the qualification, and ACCA says the new modules should not be treated as a direct replacement for the Ethics and Professional Skills Module. Students who complete that module before transition receive credit for the Ethical, Sustainable Leadership module. Our Ethics and Professional Skills Module guide covers the current module. We could not confirm when the new modules launch, because ACCA's pages give different months, or what they cost.

Practical experience and exemptions

ACCA's FAQs say the 36 months of supervised practical experience stays. ACCA says that in future up to six months may be met through certain optional employability modules, but not from September 2027. Exemptions will be available for the Foundations, Knowledge and Expertise exams and for the Responsible Business Management module, but not for the Strategic Professional exams. See our ACCA practical experience requirements for today's rules.

What we could not confirm

ACCA's pages disagree on how the seven-year rule works after transition, so we do not state it; see our ACCA time limits guide for today's rule. We could not confirm the number of papers: some online articles say the qualification is going from 13 papers to 11, but no ACCA page we read says so. Counting the listed Knowledge, Expertise and Strategic Professional exams gives 11 compulsory exams, but that is our own count. We also could not confirm fees for the new exams or modules. Our ACCA fees guide covers current fees.

Frequently asked questions

When do the new ACCA exams start?

Foundations and Knowledge exams start in July 2027, and Expertise and Strategic Professional start with the September 2027 session, according to ACCA's timeline.

When is the final sitting of the current Applied Skills and Strategic Professional exams?

June 2027, according to ACCA.

Do I keep my passes?

ACCA says students receive credit for completed equivalent elements, and provides a transition tool to map your progress.

Is Business and Technology still an exam?

No. ACCA maps it to the Responsible Business Management module.

Does the 36-month experience requirement change?

ACCA's FAQs say the 36-month requirement stays.

Next steps

Read our redesigned ACCA qualification guide and current ACCA exam structure next. If you are comparing study options, see our Learnsignal pricing page.

Source: ACCA future qualification page, ACCA timeline page, ACCA transition page for ACCA Qualification students and ACCA future qualification FAQs. Checked October 2026.