ACCA AFM 2026: The Nine Platinum Questions Strategy for Last-Minute Revision

If you’re aiming for a solid AFM score in the 2026 sitting, a tightly focused revision plan can be more effective than churning through dozens of questions you won’t fully absorb. In this approach, nine platinum questions are designed to traverse nearly the entire syllabus, giving you depth where it matters and efficiency where it counts. Here’s a concise, practical breakdown of what these nine questions cover, how to tackle them, and how to use them to maximize both technical and professional marks.

What the nine platinum questions cover

The core idea is to build a compact, high-coverage revision set. The nine platinum questions are crafted to touch on the central topics that commonly appear in AFM exams, including:

Interest rate risk management: understanding how interest rates impact the value and risk of financial decisions and how to price or hedge rate exposure.
Forex risk management: addressing currency risk, hedging strategies, and the impact of exchange rate movements on international transactions.
Adjusted Present Value (APV) and international investment appraisal: evaluating projects with consideration of financing side effects and cross-border investment considerations.
Basic investment appraisal: standard techniques for evaluating capital investment projects, such as payback, net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR).
Reconstruction and its links to business valuation: exploring restructuring scenarios and how they influence valuation, including links to broader financial decisions.
Calculation and use of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC): adjusting WACC to reflect risk, financing mix, and project-specific considerations.
Business valuation and related topics: assessing enterprise value, equity value, and the implications of corporate decisions on valuation.
Dividend policy and general corporate finance concepts: understanding how payout policies affect value and how to model related financial outcomes.
Miscellaneous risk and derivative topics: this includes the evaluation of derivatives (futures, options, swaps) and related pricing considerations, as well as how these topics fit into broader AFM scenarios.

In addition to the core topics above, the nine questions are designed to include a realistic exam scenario, such as a company case that we’ll call Sunset Company for illustration. The aim is to replicate the mix of theoretical knowledge and applied problem-solving you’d expect to encounter in a real paper.

Why this nine-question set is effective

Coverage over quantity: Rather than chasing lots of individual questions, this approach emphasizes mastery of a compact set that spans the syllabus’s major themes. This helps you consolidate core concepts and apply them across different contexts.
Balanced emphasis on technical and professional marks: The plan isn’t just about getting the math right. It also stresses how to structure your answers, show reasoning, and present professional judgment—elements that AFM exams reward through professional marks.
Practical problem-solving techniques: The material highlights working methods, including mnemonics and systematic answer-building, so you can tackle questions with a repeatable, defensible approach rather than ad-hoc guessing.
Derivative evaluation: A specific focus is placed on how to evaluate derivatives in exam settings, which is a common source of both technical marks and, importantly, professional marks in AFM. The goal is to show your reasoning and the basis for your conclusions, not just the final numbers.

A closer look at the Sunset Company example (Question 1)

A concrete example used in the training is the Sunset Company question, which serves as a microcosm for how the nine-question approach operates in practice. Here’s what this example covers, and why it matters for your exam strategy:

The topics included mirror the syllabus elements you’re expected to know: interest rate agreements with banks (the mechanism by which interest rates are fixed or referenced in lending and hedging), futures, options (including over-the-counter or OTC variants), and other derivative instruments.
Collateralized asset securitization and swaps pricing appear as part of the discussion, illustrating how complex financing arrangements and derivative pricing principles come together in an exam scenario.
The question set demonstrates that past papers often parallel the nine-platinum-question framework, reinforcing the value of mastering these core concepts rather than chasing a larger volume of disparate questions.
Beyond the raw solutions, the approach shown emphasizes a method for tackling these questions—using a mnemonic-based system to organize your answer, justify each step, and articulate both technical calculations and professional reasoning.

Tackling the nine questions: a practical approach

Start with a clear answer structure: for each question, outline the objective, the main calculations, the interpretation of results, and the implications for decision-making. This helps ensure you capture both the numerical work and the narrative that demonstrates professional judgment.
Use mnemonics to organize derivative evaluation and risk analysis: the video stresses developing a personal mnemonic to recall the critical steps in evaluating derivatives and applying risk management concepts. A reliable mnemonic can keep you organized under exam pressure and ensure you don’t miss key components.
Show the workings and the interpretation: AFM rewards not only correct values but also clear explanations of why a result makes sense, how a model reflects real-world risk, and what a decision-maker would do with that information.
Practice the entire derivation process: you should be comfortable deriving values from first principles, interpreting outputs in the context of a business scenario, and explaining how different financing or hedging arrangements affect project viability and risk.
Focus on both technical and professional marks: the nine-question approach doesn’t stop at numbers; it emphasizes communication, justification, and a structured reasoning process that demonstrates professional competence.
Anticipate exam-style requirements: the Sunset Company example shows that questions often require integration of multiple topics (eg, risk management, valuation, and funding decisions) into a cohesive answer. Practice this integration so you can present a well-argued, fully supported solution.

Last-minute revision mindset and why nine questions work for you

If you’re near the exam and worry you haven’t explored every nook of the syllabus, the nine platinum questions provide a targeted

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