Tips to Overcome Anxiety during your ACCA Exam Study

Thank you to Amicus: Search and Recruitment for Sponsoring this episode. To find your next Finance or Accounting Role, head to https://amicus.ie/ and tell them that we sent you!In this episode, I’m joined by Andrea Stanley, who recently completed her ACCA exams after a journey that included failed exams, knocks to her confidence and some very real anxiety around sitting them.Andrea very generously shares what that experience was like, why exam technique and time management became so important for her, and how working on her mindset helped her move away from constantly expecting to fail.We also talk about the support she received along the way, the value of doing mocks under proper time pressure, taking breaks instead of studying yourself into the ground, and why a failed exam absolutely does not mean you won’t get there.It gets a little emotional towards the end — but I think Andrea’s story will be a very useful listen for anyone whose confidence has taken a knock during their ACCA journey.And most importantly: if you’ve had a setback, keep going. Andrea did, and she got there.Thank you for listening to Study For Tax in your Coffee Break! If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to leave a rating and review on your Podcast platform and share it with others to let them know you enjoyed the podcast.To improve your study for the ACCA ATX Exams this year, head to Paula Byrne's website to purchase the Tax Conditions - the Spoken Word for audio-based revision (updated for 2026).Thank you to Matthew Bliss for editing and production of this episode. If you'd like him to edit your podcast, send an email to [email protected] or head to https://www.mbpod.com/.Chapters:(00:00) Sponsor: Amicus Search and Recruitment(00:27) Andrea’s ACCA Journey(01:33) Exam Setbacks and Losing Confidence(02:19) Time Management and Exam Technique(03:09) When Everyone Believes in You Except You(04:03) How Mindset Coaching Helped(05:26) Becoming a Fully Qualified ACCA Accountant(06:29) Advice for Students Dealing With Anxiety(06:44) Taking Breaks and Practising Under Time Pressure(07:10) Learning to Rise After Failure(07:39) An Emotional End to Andrea’s StoryMentioned in this episode:Get your Audio Revision for the 2026 ACCA Exams