The ACCA syllabus is 13 exams across three levels — Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills and Strategic Professional — plus the online EPSM ethics module and a 36-month Practical Experience Requirement (PER) your UAE job already counts toward. This page maps all of it, paper by paper, with the exam format for each level — so you know exactly what an ACCA course in Dubai puts in front of you before you enrol.
The full ACCA syllabus is 13 exams grouped into three rising levels: Applied Knowledge (3 papers) builds the foundations, Applied Skills (6 papers) is the technical core — reporting, audit, tax, law and financial management — and Strategic Professional (4 papers) tests the judgement of a senior finance professional. Around the exams sit two non-exam requirements every member must complete: the online Ethics and Professional Skills Module (EPSM) and a 36-month Practical Experience Requirement (PER).
You don't tackle all 13 in one block, and most people in the UAE don't sit all 13 at all. A standard B.Com is usually exempt from the entire Applied Knowledge level, so the real syllabus you face is closer to 10 exams. Each level you finish is also a stand-alone credential — clear Applied Knowledge for an ACCA Diploma, clear Applied Skills plus ethics for the Advanced Diploma — so the syllabus rewards you long before the final paper.
Three exam levels, one online ethics module and three years of practical experience. The exams prove your technical knowledge; EPSM proves your professional judgement; PER proves you can do the job. You become a full ACCA member only when all three are complete — and your Dubai finance role typically builds the PER while you study.
Here is the complete syllabus, level by level — what each one covers, how many papers it holds, and where most students start once exemptions are applied.
The foundations of accounting and business. On-demand computer-based exams you can book almost any time, with results in roughly 72 hours. Most B.Com graduates are exempt from this whole level, so it's often the part of the syllabus you never have to sit.
The technical core of the ACCA syllabus — corporate law, performance management, taxation, financial reporting, audit and financial management. These are three-hour exams sat in the four fixed sittings (March, June, September, December), and for most B.Com students this is where the real study begins.
The final level: two compulsory Essentials — SBL and SBR — plus two Options you choose from four. These are case-study papers testing applied judgement at a senior level. There are no exemptions here — every ACCA member, however they entered, sits these four.
The syllabus isn't just what you study — it's how you're tested. The format changes as you rise through the levels, from quick on-demand papers to long case studies, and all of it is computer-based.
Two-hour, on-demand computer-based exams. Objective and short-answer questions, booked almost any working day at the Dubai test centre, with results in about 72 hours — so you control the pace at the foundation level.
Three-hour computer-based exams, sat only in the four fixed sittings — March, June, September and December. A mix of objective and longer constructed-response questions worked in a spreadsheet-and-word-processor exam environment.
Longer case-study computer-based exams in the same four sittings. SBL runs to about four hours; SBR and the Options test applied judgement and analysis on realistic business scenarios rather than memorised facts.
Two parts of the ACCA syllabus aren't exams at all — but you can't qualify without them. The good news for UAE candidates: both fit around the job you already have.
EPSM is an online module of interactive units covering ethics, commercial awareness, communication, analysis and professional judgement — the human side of being a chartered accountant. You complete it online rather than at a test centre, and ACCA recommends finishing it before you start Strategic Professional. It's mandatory for everyone, with no exemptions, and it's woven into your study plan rather than left as an afterthought.
The Practical Experience Requirement is three years of relevant work, signed off by a workplace mentor. In Dubai, your finance, accounting or audit role usually counts — so you build it alongside the exams, not after them.
You become a full ACCA member — and a chartered accountant — only when all three are complete. Pass every exam but skip the PER and you're "ACCA finalist", not yet a member.
Because your UAE job feeds the PER and EPSM is online, you rarely add standalone time at the end. Plan it from day one and qualification lands the moment your last paper does.
Exams, EPSM and PER together — our advisors lay out which papers you sit after exemptions, when to slot EPSM in, and how your current role logs toward the 36 months. You get a single realistic plan for the entire qualification, not just a class timetable.
The 13-exam syllabus is the full picture — but almost nobody sits all 13. Where you join depends entirely on your prior qualifications, and getting that number right is the difference between an honest plan and a sales pitch.
A standard three-year B.Com typically earns exemptions from the three Applied Knowledge papers (BT, MA, FA). That means you skip the entire foundation level and sit 10 of the 13 exams — starting at Applied Skills. A CA-Inter qualification often earns more exemptions, sometimes reducing the count further into the single digits. There is no single magic number that applies to everyone.
That's why we never quote "just 8 papers" to every B.Com graduate the way some institutes do — it's an optimistic round-down designed to make the course sound shorter. We run your actual transcript through ACCA's official exemption check and tell you the real figure before you pay a dirham. The honest math is part of the syllabus conversation, not a footnote to it.
B.Com → usually exempt from Applied Knowledge → 10 exams to sit, not a flat 8. CA-Inter often fewer. Strategic Professional is never exempt. We confirm your exact paper count against ACCA's official calculator first, then build the plan. Check your exemptions → · ACCA after B.Com →
The ACCA syllabus has 13 exams across three levels: three Applied Knowledge papers (BT, MA, FA), six Applied Skills papers (LW, PM, TX, FR, AA, FM) and four Strategic Professional papers — the two compulsory Essentials, SBL and SBR, plus two Options chosen from AFM, APM, ATX and AAA. Alongside the exams you complete the online Ethics and Professional Skills Module (EPSM) and a 36-month Practical Experience Requirement (PER).
EPSM is ACCA's Ethics and Professional Skills Module — an online course of interactive units covering ethics, communication, commercial awareness and professional judgement. It isn't an exam you sit at a centre; you complete it online, and ACCA recommends doing so before the Strategic Professional level. It's mandatory for everyone, with no exemptions.
PER is the 36-month Practical Experience Requirement — relevant work experience signed off by a workplace mentor. In Dubai, your day job in a finance, accounting or audit role usually counts toward it, so you build your PER while you study and sit exams rather than afterwards. You become a full ACCA member only once exams, EPSM and PER are all complete.
Applied Knowledge papers are two-hour on-demand computer-based exams you can sit almost any time. Applied Skills papers are three-hour computer-based exams sat in the March, June, September and December sittings. Strategic Professional papers are longer case-study computer-based exams in the same four sittings, testing applied judgement rather than recall.
A standard three-year B.Com usually earns exemptions from the three Applied Knowledge papers (BT, MA, FA), so you sit 10 of the 13 exams rather than all 13. CA-Inter holders often qualify for more exemptions. We confirm your exact figure against ACCA's official exemption check before you enrol — never a flat "just 8 papers" applied to everyone. See ACCA after B.Com →
Yes. London International runs an ACCA course in Dubai covering every level of the syllabus — Applied Knowledge through Strategic Professional — as live weekend and weekday-evening batches plus an online option, with the Dubai test centre handling your sittings. Your tuition maps only to the papers left after your exemptions.
Once you know the syllabus, the next questions are exemptions, timeline and fees. These guides answer them.
Send us your qualification and we'll show you exactly which of the 13 papers you sit, where EPSM and PER fit, and a realistic plan to qualify — free, no hard sell.
Tell us your background and we'll map the full syllabus — papers, EPSM and PER — to your exact situation, with an itemised fee.
Free exemption check, paper-by-paper plan & itemised fee.