The 50% Club vs Kaplan: What's the Difference for ACCA Students?
Kaplan is a tuition provider that teaches the ACCA syllabus; The 50% Club is a supplementary practice tool that marks your answers like an examiner. Here's how they compare — and why most students use both.
If you're researching ACCA study options, Kaplan will be one of the first names you meet. It's one of the largest ACCA Approved Learning Partners in the world, and for many students it's the backbone of their study. So where does The 50% Club fit in, and how are the two different? The short answer: they do different jobs, and they work best together.
What does Kaplan actually provide?
Kaplan is a full tuition provider. As an ACCA Approved Content Provider and Approved Learning Partner, it delivers the teaching side of your studies:
- Structured tuition courses — live online, classroom and on-demand — that teach the syllabus from first principles.
- Official approved Study Texts and Exam Kits.
- Tutor support, revision courses and mock exams.
- A learning platform with lectures, progress tracking and question banks.
In other words, Kaplan's core job is to teach you the material and take you through the syllabus. That's exactly what a tuition provider is for.
What does The 50% Club provide — and what it doesn't
The 50% Club is not a tuition provider. We don't teach the syllabus from scratch, we don't replace your study text, and we're not an accredited learning partner. We're a supplementary resource that does one thing extremely well: it lets you practise real exam-standard questions and marks your answers instantly, the way an examiner would.
So instead of teaching you IFRS 15 or variance analysis, we tell you whether your written answer to a full exam question would actually earn the marks — and precisely which marks you dropped and why. That's the gap most students fall into: they've been taught the content, but nobody marks their practice answers before the real exam.
Kaplan vs The 50% Club at a glance
- Teaches the syllabus: Kaplan yes; The 50% Club no.
- Approved Learning Partner: Kaplan yes; The 50% Club no (we're a supplementary tool).
- Instant examiner-style marking of your written answers: The 50% Club yes; typically not the core of a tuition package.
- Cost: Kaplan is a full-price tuition course; The 50% Club is a low-cost add-on.
- Best used for: Kaplan to learn; The 50% Club to practise and get graded.
Do you have to choose one or the other?
No — and most students shouldn't. Think of it as learn then prove. Use Kaplan (or any tuition provider) to understand the syllabus, then use The 50% Club to practise full questions under timed conditions and get instant, marked feedback so you know you're above the pass line before exam day. Tuition gives you the knowledge; marked practice turns that knowledge into marks.
If you're already studying with Kaplan, The 50% Club is the natural complement: unlimited exam-standard practice, graded in seconds, showing you exactly where you'd pass or fail. Try it alongside your course and see how close to the pass line you really are.