Short answer: some do, most don't. Passes at ACCA's Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills levels are permanent. Passes at the Strategic Professional level are subject to a seven-year time limit. If you are pacing your qualification around work, family or funding, that one rule is the thing to plan around.
Which ACCA exams never expire?
The Applied Knowledge exams (Business and Technology, Management Accounting, Financial Accounting) and the Applied Skills exams (Corporate and Business Law, Performance Management, Taxation, Financial Reporting, Audit and Assurance, Financial Management) do not expire once passed. You can take a long break between them and your passes stay on your record.
ACCA removed the old ten-year rule for these levels in 2016, which is why some older guides still describe a limit that no longer applies.
The seven-year rule for Strategic Professional
The Strategic Professional level is where the clock starts. From the date you pass your first Strategic Professional exam, you have seven years to pass all of the Strategic Professional exams you need (the two Essentials — Strategic Business Leader and Strategic Business Reporting — plus two Options).
- The seven years run from your first Strategic Professional pass, not from when you registered with ACCA.
- If you go past seven years without completing the level, the Strategic Professional passes that are more than seven years old expire and must be retaken.
- Passes that are still within the window remain valid — it is a rolling limit on individual results, not a single "you fail everything" date.
Because the limit only starts with your first Strategic Professional pass, candidates who are worried about time sometimes finish every Applied Skills paper first, then sit the Strategic Professional exams close together.
Does the Ethics module or practical experience expire?
The Ethics and Professional Skills Module and the Practical Experience Requirement (36 months of relevant experience, signed off by a supervisor) are separate from the exam time limit. They need to be completed before you can apply for membership, but they do not carry the seven-year exam clock. Do check ACCA's current guidance for the module, as its content is updated periodically.
What about your ACCA registration itself?
Your student registration stays active as long as you pay the annual subscription. Let it lapse and you would need to re-register before you can book any exam — so "do my exams expire" and "is my account active" are two different questions. Keeping the subscription current is the simplest way to protect the passes you have already earned.
How the exam calendar affects your plan
ACCA runs the Applied Knowledge exams as on-demand computer-based exams you can book year-round, while Applied Skills and Strategic Professional are sat in four sessions a year (March, June, September and December). If you are racing a seven-year deadline, that means at most four opportunities a year at the higher levels — and each session has its own entry deadline. See our guide to ACCA computer-based exams for how the on-demand papers work and where you can sit them.
Planning your Strategic Professional exams
- Count backwards from seven years. Note the date of your first Strategic Professional pass and diarise the expiry.
- Don't leave one paper hanging. A single unfinished Options paper is the most common way the rule catches people out.
- Use standard entry. Late-entry fees add up quickly across four papers.
- Book a venue early for session-based exams; popular London centres fill for the March and June sittings. We can arrange your seat at an approved centre.
Frequently asked questions
If a Strategic Professional pass expires, do I lose the whole level?
No. Only the individual results that are more than seven years old expire. Any Strategic Professional passes still inside the window remain valid.
Can I take a long break between Applied Skills papers?
Yes. There is no time limit at the Applied Knowledge or Applied Skills levels, so a pause for work or family does not cost you any passes.
Does the clock start when I register with ACCA?
No — it starts on the date you pass your first Strategic Professional exam.
Where can I sit ACCA exams in London?
At an ACCA-approved computer-based exam centre. We place candidates at approved centres across London — contact us with the paper and session you need and we'll confirm availability and fees.
Working towards a deadline? Book your next ACCA sitting and we'll handle the venue.
