ICAN May 2018 Pathfinder: Past Questions PDF

The ICAN May 2018 Pathfinder is available below for all three levels — Foundation, Skills and Professional. Each pack holds the Institute’s actual examination questions for the diet plus its suggested solutions, free to download as PDF. The May 2018 diet was examined under the 2014 syllabus, a 16-paper structure split five, six and five across the levels. For the exact sitting dates and the current schedule, see the ICAN exam timetable.
Download the May 2018 Pathfinder (all levels)
| Level | Subjects | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | 5 papers | Foundation May 2018 (PDF) |
| Skills | 6 papers | Skills May 2018 (PDF) |
| Professional | 5 papers | Professional May 2018 (PDF) |
Each file is ICAN’s official Pathfinder for the diet: the question paper as sat in the hall, followed by the examiners’ suggested answers and marking commentary. Use them to see how marks are actually awarded, not just whether your final answer is right.
Subjects examined in May 2018
Sixteen papers were examined in May 2018 under the 2014 syllabus. Match them to current names before you plan revision around them — Corporate Reporting became Strategic Business Reporting, Quantitative Techniques in Business is gone, and Taxation no longer sits at the level it did here. Use these packs for technique and topic patterns, and take your subject list from the current syllabus.
Foundation (5 papers)
- Financial Accounting
- Management Information
- Quantitative Techniques in Business
- Business and Finance
- Business Law
Skills (6 papers)
- Financial Reporting
- Taxation
- Performance Management
- Audit and Assurance
- Public Sector Accounting and Finance
- Management, Governance and Ethics
Professional (5 papers)
- Corporate Reporting
- Advanced Taxation
- Strategic Financial Management
- Advanced Audit and Assurance
- Case Study
How to study with the May 2018 Pathfinder
Work each Pathfinder as a timed mock, then mark yourself against ICAN’s suggested solution. Three habits separate a pass from a near-miss:
- Time yourself to the real paper. Sit each question in the minutes the marks allow — roughly 1.8 minutes per mark in a 3¼-hour paper.
- Read the examiner’s comments, not just the answer. The Pathfinder tells you where most candidates lost marks. That is your revision list.
- Cover the last four to six diets per subject. ICAN reuses question styles and topic weightings, so patterns show up fast across diets.
Other diets and study resources
- Full ICAN Pathfinder archive (2011–May 2026)
- March/July 2020 Pathfinder
- November 2019 Pathfinder
- May 2019 Pathfinder
- November 2018 Pathfinder
- November 2017 Pathfinder
- May 2017 Pathfinder
- November 2016 Pathfinder
- May 2016 Pathfinder
- ICAN Foundation syllabus and Skills syllabus
- ICAN exam timetable and diet dates
- How to check your ICAN result
- How to become a chartered accountant in Nigeria (ICAN)
Frequently asked questions
Is the May 2018 Pathfinder free to download?
Yes. All three level packs above are free PDFs, each containing ICAN’s questions and suggested solutions for the May 2018 diet.
Does the Pathfinder include answers?
Yes. Every Pathfinder pairs the examination questions with ICAN’s suggested solutions and examiner comments — so you can see the model approach and where marks are gained or lost.
Which syllabus did the May 2018 diet follow?
ICAN’s 2014 syllabus, with 16 examinable papers. That structure ran until the 2019 syllabus took over, and the current syllabus dates from November 2025 — one of its changes renamed Management Information to Management Accounting.
How many subjects are in each level?
In the May 2018 diet, the split was 5 + 6 + 5 papers across Foundation, Skills and Professional — 16 papers in total.
When is the next ICAN diet?
ICAN sits two diets a year, in May and November. See the exam timetable for the current diet dates and registration windows.