Who to study with (if any)

Darron24

Hi,

I am looking to commence study of the AAT qualification asap and am undecided as to who to learn with. I have ruled out HLC after reading every post on 'sebastians thread' but if i give you a bit of info hopefully you can assist me..
I am 24 in a job with a bit of accounts involved but only very basic watered down stuff which i am certain is not good enough to allow me to do the NVQ so i will have to do the Diploma. Now money is tight (i have a 2 year old (named Sebastian funnily enough) and another one on the way) so i guess cost will come into it. I live in Dorset and my decision will also be based on whether there is a centre near me to take the CBEs (as an example i tried to book one online with BPP and only had the option of Nottingham which is no good) so does anyone know if i can take the tests near Dorset/Hampshire and if this is with any provider?
I appreciate that i could just buy the textbooks but tbh i wouldnt know where to start with that and i think if i did it that way perhaps the motivation won't be as strong?
I probably have more questions but i've asked enough for one post so thanks for reading and thankyou in advance for any advice given.

Regards,

Darron

SandyHood

I recommend colleges
in Dorset there are:
# Bournemouth and Poole CollegeThe Lansdowne
BOURNEMOUTH
BH1 3JJ
# Weymouth College Cranford Avenue
WEYMOUTH
DT4 7LQ
in Hampshire
# Highbury College Dovercourt Road
COSHAM
PO6 2SA
# BPP SouthamptonGrenville House
Nelson Gate
SOUTHAMPTON
SO15 1GX
# Totton CollegeWater Lane
Totton
SOUTHAMPTON
SO40 3ZX
# Alton CollegeOld Odiham Road
ALTON
GU34 2LX
# Andover CollegeCharlon Building
Charlton Road
ANDOVER
SP10 1EJ
# Basingstoke CollegeWorting Road
BASINGSTOKE

# Fareham CollegeBishopsfield Road
FAREHAM
PO14 1NH
# Southampton City BuinessCity Business
St Mary Street
SOUTHAMPTON
SO14 1AR
# Southampton City Training 28 - 29 St Mary Street
SOUTHAMPTON
SO14 1AT
# The South Downs College College Road
WATERLOOVILLE
PO7 8AA
# Eastleigh CollegeChestnut Avenue
EASTLEIGH
SO50 5HT
# Farnborough College of TechnologyBoundary Road
FARNBOROUGH
GU14 6SB
# Kaplan Financial - Southampton Broadcasting House
Havelock Road
SOUTHAMPTON
SO14 7FY

At Totton College the lady in charge is Nicola Antoni. We worked together at Chichester a few years ago. I recommend her.
Others will also be good, but I haven't had the same level of contact.
Farnborough have been at the vangard of computer based assessment and Joyce Marchant would be your contact. I have a lot of respect for Joyce.
Most colleges from this part of the country send lecturers to the regional meetings, and by all accounts we (in the South) have one of the biggest turn outs. There is a lot of expertise in this area.

Darron24

thankyou for taking the trouble to reply but are these distance learning courses? Should have stated i want to study from home

Rinske

Darron24 wrote: »

thankyou for taking the trouble to reply but are these distance learning courses? Should have stated i want to study from home

I know Eastleigh college offers the study online, otherwise Kaplan and Premier Training are also offering it online, but I don't know about the others, but that's usually listed on their websites. Last time I checked Bournemouth college didn't offer it in home study, but I don't know if that has changed since I checked.

The other alternative is to buy the books directly and do it yourself, you can then buy the exams via the AAT and you will have to buy the skilltests from a provider, I think.
Usually you can find some support and ask questions in these forums, so if you feel secure enough that you can do it yourself, that might be an option too.

Which might be the cheapest option, although you dont have the backing of a tutor you can ask questions to, so you might have to use the forums or search the internet. Does that make sense?

I would recommend checking the websites of the nearest colleges Sandy provided and check some other companies that offer it online, compare prices, but also consider what they offer in the price before deciding.

It's not all in the price, it's also where you feel happy to study and how you get along with the college/ tutor etc.