What ACCA Corporate and Business Law actually tests
Corporate and Business Law is 11% of the curriculum (Applied Skills level, English Law variant):
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Law of Contract | Offer and acceptance, consideration, terms, breach, remedies |
| Law of Tort | Negligence, duty of care, vicarious liability |
| Employment Law | Wrongful/unfair dismissal, redundancy, discrimination |
| Law of Agency | Creation of authority, duties and rights of agents |
| Company Law | Formation, constitution, promoters, pre-incorporation contracts |
| Shares & Debentures | Types of shares, loan capital, fixed/floating charges |
| Company Administration | Directors' duties (CA 2006), meetings, resolutions |
| Insolvency | Administration, liquidation, fraudulent/wrongful trading |
Why contract formation is the foundation of this paper
Nearly every other area — employment, agency, company contracts — assumes you already know what makes an agreement legally binding in the first place. Getting the four essential elements automatic (rather than half-remembered) pays off across the whole paper, not just contract-law questions specifically.
Sample question: Contract Formation
Corporate and Business Law · Easy-medium difficulty
Under English contract law, which of the following is NOT one of the essential elements required to form a valid contract?
A. Offer and acceptance
B. Consideration
C. Written documentation
D. Intention to create legal relations
The correct answer is C — Written documentation.
Most contracts under English law can be formed orally or by conduct — writing is only mandatory for specific contract types (e.g., land sales, certain guarantees), not as a general rule. A valid contract genuinely needs offer and acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations, and capacity — but not, by default, a written document.
Most contracts under English law can be formed orally or by conduct — writing is only mandatory for specific contract types (e.g., land sales, certain guarantees), not as a general rule. A valid contract genuinely needs offer and acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations, and capacity — but not, by default, a written document.