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ACCA ATX exam guide: format, syllabus and how to pass
ATX takes the taxes of TX into planning and advice, where the marks are in spotting interactions and communicating clearly. Here is exactly what the exam looks like, how the marks fall, the pass rate, and how to prepare for the parts that decide results.
Updated August 2026 · 10 min read
The ACCA ATX exam (Advanced Taxation) is a three-hour and fifteen-minute computer-based exam with two sections and a pass mark of 50%. This guide covers the United Kingdom variant, ATX-UK. It is one of the Options papers at the Strategic Professional level, and it moves from computing tax to advising on it.
This guide covers what the exam looks like on screen, the two sections and how the marks fall, the syllabus, the pass rate, and how to prepare for the planning and advice that decide most results.
What is ACCA Advanced Taxation?
ATX is one of the four Options papers at the Strategic Professional level; you choose two of the four. It builds directly on Taxation (TX), taking the same taxes into more complex situations, their interactions, and the giving of tax planning advice. If you are mapping out the whole qualification, our guide to the ACCA exams in order shows where it fits.
Older materials call it ACCA P6, or Advanced Taxation. It is the same paper at the same level; ACCA simply renamed it when the old paper codes were retired. This guide covers the United Kingdom variant, ATX-UK.
ATX is a session exam, sat in ACCA's four sessions a year. As with TX, the exam is based on a specified Finance Act and provides a tax rates and allowances sheet, so the focus is on applying the rules, not memorising them. You can confirm the arrangements on ACCA's exam pages.
The ACCA ATX exam format
The exam lasts three hours and fifteen minutes, is computer-based, and every question is compulsory. There are 100 marks available and you need 50 to pass. There are no objective test questions and no optional questions: the paper is written throughout, in two sections.
Section A is one compulsory 50-mark question, split into 40 technical marks and 10 professional skills marks. It is a large, integrated scenario, usually covering several taxes and a taxpayer’s situation in depth, requiring you to identify the issues, do the computations, and advise on the planning.
Section B is two compulsory questions worth 25 marks each, each split into 20 technical marks and 5 professional skills marks. They are drawn from across the taxes, for individuals and companies, and typically ask for advice as well as calculation.
Twenty of the 100 marks are professional skills marks, spread across the paper. They reward how you communicate and apply judgement, not just the technical content. Structure your answer well, address the specific scenario, and those marks are there to be won.
The ACCA ATX syllabus at a glance
ATX extends the taxes you met in TX into advanced, advisory territory. Here is what the syllabus covers and where candidates tend to lose marks.
Notice that ATX is a planning-and-advice paper, not just a computation paper. The step up from TX is spotting how the taxes interact and communicating a recommendation, which is exactly where the marks are.
The ACCA ATX pass rate
ACCA's published pass rates put ATX at 50% for the December 2025 sitting, so about half of candidates pass, a solid result for an Options paper. It rewards candidates who know the taxes cold from TX and can then plan and advise.
Where the failures cluster is predictable. The first is a weak TX foundation, which shows immediately at this level. The second is missing the interactions between taxes, which is where the planning marks are. The third is giving computations without the advice the question asks for. Shore up all three and ATX is very passable.
If you want the wider context on how the papers compare, our breakdown of which ACCA exams are the hardest puts ATX's numbers alongside the rest of the qualification.
How to pass ACCA ATX first time
ATX rewards two things above all: a solid command of the taxes from TX, and the ability to spot planning opportunities and advise clearly. The computations are assumed; the advice is the exam.
Know the taxes cold, then practise planning
ATX assumes you can compute each tax; the marks come from applying them together. Practise scenarios that span income tax, capital gains, inheritance tax and corporation tax, and look for the interactions and the planning opportunities the situation offers.
A quick self-test for ATX: given a client selling a business, can you identify the capital gains, inheritance tax and income tax consequences together, and suggest a planning point, rather than computing one tax in isolation? That joined-up thinking is what ATX rewards.
Write structured advice, and bank the professional skills marks
ATX questions ask you to advise, often in a letter, note or report. Practise structuring advice clearly, tying it to the client's situation, and stating the recommendation. That structure is where the professional skills marks live.
The fastest way to build all of this is to work real scenarios rather than read about them. If you would rather learn ATX by doing, the whole free ACCA ATX course teaches the taxes and the planning inside real client situations, with instant marking as you go.
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A study plan for ACCA ATX
ATX is an advisory Options paper, and because it is session-based you are working towards a fixed date. Eight to ten weeks of steady study is a realistic shape for most people, weighted towards planning practice.
Weeks 1 to 2: refresh and extend income tax and National Insurance for individuals.
Weeks 3 to 4: chargeable gains and inheritance tax, and their interactions.
Weeks 5 to 6: advanced corporation tax, groups and overseas aspects, plus VAT and stamp taxes.
Weeks 7 to 8: tax planning across taxes, and writing advice, practised as full questions.
Weeks 9 to 10 if you have them: full timed mocks in the two-section shape, focusing on advice and the professional skills marks.
ATX is one of the four Options papers at Strategic Professional, and it builds directly on Taxation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the ACCA ATX exam hard?
ATX passed 50% in the December 2025 sitting, so about half of candidates pass, a solid result for an Options paper. The step up from TX is planning and advice: spotting how taxes interact and communicating a recommendation. Candidates with a strong TX foundation who practise planning scenarios generally find it fair.
What is the pass mark for ACCA ATX?
50%. The exam is marked out of 100, of which 20 are professional skills marks, and you need 50 to pass. Every question is compulsory.
Is ACCA ATX the same as P6?
Yes. ATX was previously called P6, Advanced Taxation, and was renamed when ACCA retired the old paper codes. It is an Options paper at the Strategic Professional level and builds on Taxation (TX, formerly F6). This guide covers the UK variant, ATX-UK.
How is the ACCA ATX exam structured?
It is a three-hour and fifteen-minute computer-based exam of 100 marks in two sections, all compulsory. Section A is one 50-mark scenario question (40 technical, 10 professional skills). Section B is two 25-mark questions (20 technical, 5 professional skills each) from across the taxes.
What is the hardest part of ACCA ATX?
Spotting the interactions between taxes and giving clear planning advice. Candidates who compute each tax in isolation, or who stop short of the advice the question asks for, are the ones who tend to struggle.