Think twice:Is Accounting really for you?
talinka
Registered Posts: 45 Regular contributor ⭐
I don't understand it. It either students are exaggerating in a stress situation or they are simply not prepared well enough. Any exam is a test of a syllabus learnt!! It is not an adequate way of learning if same subjects would come up in the exams every year. Sometimes students retake the ECR exam 3 times, which I find ridiculous. And it's the time to take a step back and to think if AAT is really a qualification to pursue.
AS for me I am a distance learning student. I started to study ECR in november (just one month before the exam) and I have a full time job. I finished todays exam in 1,5 hours. I do agree the paper was not straight forward, all what was needed however -attention to detail and common sense. English is not my native language but I haven't had any issues with the way tasks were set. That's my opinion anyway. Any comments are welcomed.
AS for me I am a distance learning student. I started to study ECR in november (just one month before the exam) and I have a full time job. I finished todays exam in 1,5 hours. I do agree the paper was not straight forward, all what was needed however -attention to detail and common sense. English is not my native language but I haven't had any issues with the way tasks were set. That's my opinion anyway. Any comments are welcomed.
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And I do not work in accounts. And never had.0
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i have not worked in accounts either, i also have a full time job two kids and a house to run on my own, but you can only go by what the tutors have taught you and what they have told you to revise, i can assure you no one worked harder than me for this exam, i can only asume your distance learning was better than our fast track day relese.!.0
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No, I got no tutor to support me, and being the only one responsible for my studies I am reading every page of the study text; Maybe it's just my nature. I want to know it ALL no matter whether it will come up in the exams or not. AAT texs are well enough explained in comparisson to ACCA texts. I prefer BBP and Osbourne books, Kaplan publishes texts full of spelling mistakes and overcomplicated.
The thing is to be able to think for yourself while taking the tutor's advice into accounts.
Someone mentioned today - EOQ was not explained in my study texts. I wonder what books he was using??!0 -
I agree maybe we were not prepared for this exam, thats down to the tutors, because alot of it we hadnt been taught, we can't all be wrong, we are all saying the same thing, we did every thing right, put in the hard work, but that wasn't what was covered in the exam.!. maybe the tutors arn't covereing the whole syllabus, being lazy.!.0
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I take into account what you are saying, we only have the books the college have sold us, i fink they are the ones that have let us down.!.0
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I don't understand it. It either students are exaggerating in a stress situation or they are simply not prepared well enough. Any exam is a test of a syllabus learnt!! It is not an adequate way of learning if same subjects would come up in the exams every year. Sometimes students retake the ECR exam 3 times, which I find ridiculous. And it's the time to take a step back and to think if AAT is really a qualification to pursue.
AS for me I am a distance learning student. I started to study ECR in november (just one month before the exam) and I have a full time job. I finished todays exam in 1,5 hours. I do agree the paper was not straight forward, all what was needed however -attention to detail and common sense. English is not my native language but I haven't had any issues with the way tasks were set. That's my opinion anyway. Any comments are welcomed.
Everyone is entitled to there point of view but yes some people do struggle to understand accounting it is a complex area of study, doesnt mean that they dont put in the work or make them lazy at all, basically you have just put down almost everyone in the aat by saying its easy and you shouldn't complain, ok you found the paper easy but be warned trying to transfere this in to accounting is twice as hard (yes i do work at an accounting practise like many people on here do also).
sorry but reading your thread made you come accross as arrogant and to a point rude.
Vic0 -
Thank you A-Vic in glad i wasnt the only one that had my back put up by Tilanka's comment.!.0
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I don't understand it. It either students are exaggerating in a stress situation or they are simply not prepared well enough. Any exam is a test of a syllabus learnt!! It is not an adequate way of learning if same subjects would come up in the exams every year. Sometimes students retake the ECR exam 3 times, which I find ridiculous. And it's the time to take a step back and to think if AAT is really a qualification to pursue.
AS for me I am a distance learning student. I started to study ECR in november (just one month before the exam) and I have a full time job. I finished todays exam in 1,5 hours. I do agree the paper was not straight forward, all what was needed however -attention to detail and common sense. English is not my native language but I haven't had any issues with the way tasks were set. That's my opinion anyway. Any comments are welcomed.
Whoop di do for you!
The exam was tougher then usual, and I agree that common sense and close attention to detail would see you through.
However, what most people have a problem with is the use of new terminology and poorly written questions. In addition to this, this paper bore little resemblance to past papers, which is what college revision is based upon. You expect it to be similar in nature, so don't blame people for being annoyed that the format employed for the last 5 years changes.
Imo, a lot of people who did a lot of past papers almost set themselves up for a fall as this paper was quite theory heavy. I am lucky in that I revised from my notes which meant I has most of the theory fresh in my head.0 -
How dare you Talinka,
i have studied extremely hard for the ECR exam, ive read through, highlighted made notes and done every single activity question in my BBP course companion AND the revision companion not to also mention completing all homework set and i found the exam really hard.
I agree with A-Vic, you are arrogant.0 -
How dare you Talinka,
i have studied extremely hard for the ECR exam, ive read through, highlighted made notes and done every single activity question in my BBP course companion AND the revision companion not to also mention completing all homework set and i found the exam really hard.
I agree with A-Vic, you are arrogant.
Go easy, remember English isnt her first language, I don't think she means to come across as arrogant. She is just making a few points, rather directly.
I had posted in the ECR thread before it was deleted that I think AAT are moving towards exams that get you to make judgements and think more about why you are doing something and what you are doing it for rather than leading you with a big carrot to the answer which I feel they have been guilty of in previous exams0 -
How dare you Talinka,
i have studied extremely hard for the ECR exam, ive read through, highlighted made notes and done every single activity question in my BBP course companion AND the revision companion not to also mention completing all homework set and i found the exam really hard.
I agree with A-Vic, you are arrogant.
Yeah that, I studied everything I was told to by my BPP tutor, and hardly any of it came up in the exam, not our fault we were told the wrong things to study.0 -
True, English isnt her first language, however her thread wasnt exactly 'pigeon english' infact it is quite fluent.
i just dont like the way she made out that everyone is either exaggerating or just being lazy or just the fact that she is labelling people.
I do agree that the exams should get people to use their common sense and to really think about what they are doing though. (i didnt get a chance to read that far into the thread.)
However, there was one question about relevant and irrelevant costs that is not in our course notes or course books and although i took an educated guess i thought it was highly unfair.0 -
SiameseJesus wrote: »Yeah that, I studied everything I was told to by my BPP tutor, and hardly any of it came up in the exam, not our fault we were told the wrong things to study.
Really? do you think that is AAT's fault that a tutor (there was a lot of this in the ECR thread) told you what to revise & what not to revise. There was a link from an e-mail AAT sent out before the exam...10 tips for exam study, I think it made it clear in there, and other places ive read the same thing ie: chief assessors reports, that trying to guess what is going to be in the exam is at best risky and you would be far better ensuring you had good knowledge of the whole syllabus.
I study with BPP on distance, no tutor involvement. I can honestly say the only thing not in the course guide & revision guide was relevant & irrelevant costs, instead they imply this is the case by talking about contribution, which involves variable costs being more relevant to business managers in making decisions
I feel your anger is pointing in the wrong direction0 -
I thought the exam was tricky and more complicated than previous ones. I felt the question about irrelevant costs was obscure since we aren't taught it anywhere and the best we could do was make an educated guess.
However I didn't study horrendously hard for ECR, I was still undecided whether to sit it a fortnight ago so I can't blame the AAT or the examiner for the fact I looked at the paper and went eh? at first.
I do feel for everyone that did try very hard and still found the paper awkward, there obviously is some issue this year with so many people upset about it.0 -
I think to study what your tutor said is not enough to pass the exam.
I studied all by myself with kaplan book. I did not understand many things from that book. And activities were very simple. I was short of brain teasing tasks (that would definatly help to pass). I am experienced in financial accounting and that costing accounting is not very clear0 -
I did find the exam tricky, however, on reflection, when I came home I thought, well if I have to re sit it, so be it.
Our tutor also advised us there were some areas we didn't need to know in the books and some areas we should revise, as it was, some of the areas we didn't need to know, did come up.
For me personally, I decided its up to me to put more effort in. I've got the books, and I don't blame the tutor. I have simply decided to carry on studying, put yesterday behind me and focus on the coming devolved and FRA exam. I know in my heart that I probably didn't do enough revision, so for me, its given me a shake up and made me realise I need to do more.
For those of you that struggled, if you pass, you will feel great because you know it was difficult, but you succeeded. If it was simple, would you feel you have acheived as much?0 -
I study distance with Kaplan with no tutor support either and I finished the exam in an hour and a half as well.
I did find some of the questions a bit out the right field - relevant and irrelevant costs.
The bit I struggled on was the limiting costs tasks as I did not know whether to allocate hours to the route that we only had half the hours available for, so I played safe allocated hours and calculated it out with notes marked as to whether it was feasible to shorten that route or not and then giving the recalculated answer if it was not.
I don't know if I found it not too bad as I cost jobs and contracts regularly in my work.
I have had a look at technician level and that is where I am eally going to struggle as I don't work in a practise drafting final accounts (truthfully have no interest in it either) but work in industry processing all accounts and payroll to year end and pricing contracts.
Each of us have areas we will find harder than others and yesterday's exam I felt was hard for those of us with more an accounting practice bent than costing bent.0 -
Just wait for the exam result, you dont want to get ahead of yourself yet. Over confidence can be the biggest killer. I suppose you have to ask the question - was it the school who did not provide us with the relevant information in the first place or was it AAT changing the exams without notifying the schools in regards to certains techniques or questions?
Hey also dont forget, they had to make a correction in the paper last year (I think last year) cause it didnt read right. I dont envy the people who writes these exams.0 -
Yes, I do think accountancy is for me... I have been working as an accountant in practice since 1991 and have over 17 years experience. However, the ECR exam was possibly the hardest paper I have come accross and I very muched struggled to answer a few of the questions.
Just because alot of people found the ECR paper very hard, it does not mean that they cannot go on to be good accountants.
Chin up everyone. :thumbup:
P.S. Where did the ECR thread go !!!0 -
Talkina I think there are also factors outside of someone's control that nay affect their exam performance. All it takes is for something like your train to the exam to be late and you end up feeling a bit panicky on top of what is already a stressful situation for a lot of people....
I'm a distance learner too and it is hard when you are studying alone but there is no shame in re-siiting if need be.
I found ECR in June to be relatively straightforward but I am happier with this side of accounts than Financial Accounting - I am sitting FRA tomorrow, I'm not confident but I will do my best and if I have to re-sit then so be it.
Bear in mind some people strong areas are other people's weaker areas!!0 -
Really? do you think that is AAT's fault that a tutor (there was a lot of this in the ECR thread) told you what to revise & what not to revise. There was a link from an e-mail AAT sent out before the exam...10 tips for exam study, I think it made it clear in there, and other places ive read the same thing ie: chief assessors reports, that trying to guess what is going to be in the exam is at best risky and you would be far better ensuring you had good knowledge of the whole syllabus.
I study with BPP on distance, no tutor involvement. I can honestly say the only thing not in the course guide & revision guide was relevant & irrelevant costs, instead they imply this is the case by talking about contribution, which involves variable costs being more relevant to business managers in making decisions
I feel your anger is pointing in the wrong direction
Firstly I apologise if I come across arrogant. It's just me being straight-forward, blame my mentality. DaveIOW said exactly what I meant to say: trying to guess what is going to be in the exam is at best risky and you would be far better ensuring you had good knowledge of the whole syllabus.
Students who believe they have an advantage over the distance learning students are mislead to think they need to know just as much as they are told.
And I am being realistic, as many people as many approaches to learning. I am not overconfident, I know I made silly mistakes. It just everyone is panicking. And I am just confused why everyone seems to blame AAT for changing the standarts? Am I missing the point here? Aren't the students supposed to adjust and to use their mind? Not just blindly copycat the past papers.
P.S. I am amused: SO many can't even get my name right! No surprise they found the tasks tricky. Lack of attention?!0 -
Firstly I apologise if I come across arrogant. It's just me being straight-forward, blame my mentality. DaveIOW said exactly what I meant to say: trying to guess what is going to be in the exam is at best risky and you would be far better ensuring you had good knowledge of the whole syllabus.
Students who believe they have an advantage over the distance learning students are mislead to think they need to know just as much as they are told.
And I am being realistic, as many people as many approaches to learning. I am not overconfident, I know I made silly mistakes. It just everyone is panicking. And I am just confused why everyone seems to blame AAT for changing the standarts? Am I missing the point here? Aren't the students supposed to adjust and to use their mind? Not just blindly copycat the past papers.
P.S. I am amused: SO many can't even get my name right! No surprise they found the tasks tricky. Lack of attention?!
Talinka i think you need to preview you posts before you send them like the p.s comment you really do seem to have issues with people who do find studying difficult, answer me this, would you make the same comments to someone with learning difficulties?0 -
Talinka i think you need to preview you posts before you send them like the p.s comment you really do seem to have issues with people who do find studying difficult, answer me this, would you make the same comments to someone with learning difficulties?
Once again, everyone is entitled to his own opinion. To spell the name correctly would not take much effort (or to paste© it at least). It's not about the name, it's about being precise and taking care, and yes, previewing the message before posting it as well, thank you A-Vic!0 -
think twice
admittedly there was an element of stress added to the problems
of large class sizes and not good teaching. accounting may not be
realistic for me as this exam has taught but the knowledge is still
useful for those who wish to have their own business of any nature. I am afraid
if i dont get through this level I will be denied the opportunity of continuing
study to a level that is useful. exam certificates arn't every thing and even
thou I failed, what i have learned from the aat is out of this world.0 -
Once again, everyone is entitled to his own opinion. To spell the name correctly would not take much effort (or to paste© it at least). It's not about the name, it's about being precise and taking care, and yes, previewing the message before posting it as well, thank you A-Vic!
However you managed to avoide my question ????0 -
I never had an issue with any learning techniques. As I have mentioned before: different students different methods of learning and different barriers they have to overcome including learning difficulties. Back to your question...I did answer that. How hard is it to copy a name? write it down? I mean it's not as difficult as to be able to list all of the accounting concepts? Or to be able to explain a term? Misspelled name was never an issue, it just leads to certain conclusions (including lack of attention), which are obvious to me and obviously might be not so obvious to you. I hope I explained it well enough not to be misunderstood again.However you managed to avoide my question ????0 -
i know its not really an excuse to say failed due to bad tutition
but it makes it twice as hard and they are paid to teach and get you throu
a lot of money per hour. a lot of students employers paid for the tuition. a large class size and a wait untill after christmas attitude when half will drop out. I hope any one reading that didnt turn up for the exam or is thinking of leaving does the exactly the opposite.0 -
How Rude!!!
I think what has been said at the start of this thread is bang right out of order!!! Some students who actually want a career in Accounting, will struggle with some parts of the learning!! Myself included, you can never be prepared enough for exams no matter how much hard work you put in to your revision and learning. When you struggle with something, you will in my case always find it difficult.
Putting comments like that on here on a day of all days where students are re-stitting exams and giving things another go...i find quite appauling!!
I hope you are pleased with yourself to be honest, making alot of students feel like there is no hope!0
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