In September 2015 ACCA will be offering an additional exam session in some of our key markets, which will be followed in 2016 by the introduction of four exam sessions a year across all of our markets, allowing you to take your exams in March, June, September and December
　　These four sessions will be available to all – not just those resitting – giving you much greater flexibility in how ACCA exams are studied for and taken. This is in direct response to your feedback asking for more flexibility in our exam schedule.
　　The first exam session in September 2015 will give you in some of our larger markets the opportunity to use this new session. This means around one-quarter of you can make use of this opportunity but, at the same time, we are acting on feedback from our education providers to avoid ‘big bang’ changes.
　　We’re delighted to say we can now confirm these markets. The following markets will be able to take exams in September 2015: UK, Ireland, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As this is a limited roll out, exams will be available in the main cities only.
　　For the full list of cities where we are offering exams in this session, please see below.
　　Country Centre Name
　　Ireland Dublin
　　Ireland Cork
　　UK London
　　UK Glasgow
　　UK Belfast
　　UK Leeds
　　UK Aberdeen
　　UK Birmingham
　　UK Edinburgh
　　UK Cardiff
　　UK Newcastle
　　UK Dundee
　　UK Manchester
　　Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City
　　Kenya Nairobi
　　Ghana Accra
　　Zambia Lusaka
　　Mauritius Mauritius
　　Uganda Kampala
　　Zimbabwe Harare
　　Nigeria Lagos
　　China Beijing
　　China Guangzho
　　China Nanjing
　　China Shanghai
　　Malaysia Federal Territory
　　Malaysia Johor Bahru
　　Malaysia Kuching
　　Malaysia Pulau Pinang
　　Malaysia Selangor
　　This is an opportunity for you to think about how you use the new sessions – for example, some students say they will use the additional flexibility to take resits faster or to spread exams over the sessions, focusing on one exam at a time.
　　What is clear is that students will use the new sessions to maximise their chances of success in the exams. The September 2015 session is therefore an ideal opportunity for students in these Phase 1 markets to test some of their ideas for potential usage of the additional sessions.
　　If you are entering for the September 2015 session you will also be able to register for December exams, to ensure you can plan ahead and benefit from the added flexibility. To help in your planning, key dates for your diaries are as follows:
　　Results from June 2015 exams will be issued one week early on 1 August 2015
　　As September is a pilot, exam entry for the session will be different from our normal process and will open on 6 July and close on 10 August, to ensure those waiting on their June results can enter
　　Exams for the September session will start on Monday 7 September. The timetable can be accessed here
　　Results will be issued in October. December’s exam entry period will be extended to ensure that those taking exams in September can also register for December exams.
　　As we start to offer our new sessions in 2015/2016 we will be changing our exam entry and results issuing dates, to enable you to enter for the sessions that best support them and their chance of success. We will publish more information on this next year to ensure that you are fully prepared for the new September session and any changes to the exam process.
　　All main papers and the larger volume variants for Papers F5–F9 and the Professional Level will be available in the September 2015 session and throughout the four exam sessions in 2016, while lower volume papers will continue to be offered only in the June and December sessions. See 'Related documents' for more information on low volume papers.
　　A further benefit is that all ACCA exams will be offered in one week (a reduction from the current eight days), to allow for the earlier issuing of results. As we move into 2016 and the four exam sessions, results will be issued five weeks after the end of the exams, which is a reduction on our current timescale.
　　See the exam timetables for September and December 2015
　　The feedback we are receiving from students around the world is extremely positive. While we would encourage you to make the most of these new exam sessions, we are reminding you that the exams will continue to be as rigorous as ever and will still require the same amount of planning and preparation.
　　The maximum number of different exams you can take over a year remains at four in one session or eight across the year (excluding resits), so this is not a way for you to rush through the qualification. Instead, we would encourage you to use the new sessions to maximise your chances of success in your exams.