It is certainly true that both SA5 and most of SA6 feed in to the new SA7 exam. Most of the recent SA6 papers are relevant but only a few questions from past SA5 papers are relevant, so it is not double the workload you will be glad to hear. I have put a grid on the FAQ thread of the ActEd discussion forum showing which questions I believe are relevant from the past papers. It is useful to have a good idea of the big topics that have been in the economic and political press over the past 2 years but it is not necessary to browse through past press articles (or at least it has not been in the past). If you have been aware of the general economic environment and can argue on interest rate changes, QE, BREXIT, ... then you will be fine for SA7. The results for the April sitting have not been published yet so I cannot comment on how the exam compares to previous exams. I hope this helps.
Last edited: Oct 28, 2019