Does the aat qualification get harder as you progress through it?

alexmitchell

Im only a noob but have completed unit 30 and am now doing unit 31 (ratios bit). To be honest im finding it pretty tough but I am getting through it, albeit slowly.

I know whats hard for some people is easy for others but generally speaking, have you guys found it has got harder and harder as you have gone through the qualification or maybe found say foundation quite easy compared to intermediate level..?

any thoughts?

A-Vic

i dont know if you could call it harder but you do build on your knowledge at each level and the work load gets a lot more intence (currently doing dipolma level

A-Vic

And to me maybe others found foundation level has been the most difficult to get my head round double entry is a killer to learn

jewels.p

Dont mean to freak you out but I have just started Diploma Level and it definitely gets harder as you progress but as A-Vic says each level helps you progress on to the next so good luck you can do it!

alexmitchell

Hmm thanks guys.

True a-vic, that double entry was a killer. Now im doing ratios and ive got that same grinding feeling! I am learning it tho (albeit very slowly!)

I guess I just gotta keep on it!

Miss_HJ

evilaleksander wrote: »

Hmm thanks guys.

True a-vic, that double entry was a killer. Now im doing ratios and ive got that same grinding feeling! I am learning it tho (albeit very slowly!)

I guess I just gotta keep on it!

It most certainly gets harder as you go on, but then if it was easy the qualification would be worthless, one thing my tutor said to me is that at foundation and intermediate you get alot of people fail and drop out, once on technician those drop outs are long gone and u are up against good, strong candidates. It makes sense to me as the failures help keep the pass rate lower in the early days.

I have just done my final exam, DFS and I have to say MAC and DFS were the hardest of the lot, both have a lot to them, lots of ratios and knowlege needed!! they run along side personal tax, business tax or audit for a reason as these are slighly easier to digest.

My advise would be keep ur head down and keep on top of the work load and you will be fine, if you think you are above it and revision will be enough then prepare to struggle!!

jewels.p

Miss_HJ wrote: »

It most certainly gets harder as you go on, but then if it was easy the qualification would be worthless, one thing my tutor said to me is that at foundation and intermediate you get alot of people fail and drop out, once on technician those drop outs are long gone and u are up against good, strong candidates. It makes sense to me as the failures help keep the pass rate lower in the early days.

I have just done my final exam, DFS and I have to say MAC and DFS were the hardest of the lot, both have a lot to them, lots of ratios and knowlege needed!! they run along side personal tax, business tax or audit for a reason as these are slighly easier to digest.

My advise would be keep ur head down and keep on top of the work load and you will be fine, if you think you are above it and revision will be enough then prepare to struggle!!

Hiya,

I have just started Technician Level and know from the first couple of Chapters that DFS is gonna need a lot of concentration to make it stick and am expecting this year to be the greatest challenge yet. I just hope working full time and studying this year is gonna be possible. Hoe many hours a week do you reckon you need to study at Technician Level to manage it comfortably?

RichardK

Hi,
The advice everyone has given so far is really good. I passed the Technician level by the NVQ route in 2009, so I will try to offer some advice here.

You all know by now that things are getting harder and that each level builds the foundation for the next level.

When you take DFS you think it is difficult but later in the year you will look back and find it quite easy. This is because the concepts involved in PEV and PCR are much more difficult.

The idea is to keep chipping away and eventually you will get there.

You need to spend about 20 hours a week (3-4 hours an evening for example) at technician level doing case studies from the books and later the past exam papers.

By engaging in case studies etc these concepts will become "old friends" and help you in the exams.

My advice to those taking Technician is to buy a book called "Accounts Demystified" by Anthony Rice from Amazon and it only costs about £10 . You will find that reading this book will greatly help you understand some of the important concepts of accounting. Although it does not contain double entry examples, it does contain great explainations of the theory behind it which means if you still have any "demons" from your ealier studies, this book should help.

I hope this advice helps.

Criggers

It definately does get harder I am afraid. I feel that the step up from foundation to intermediate is minor in comparison to Intermediate to Technician. As has been said, a lot of people will give level 2&3 a crack and then decide it is not for them and drop out at Technician stage.

I do slightly disagree that the concepts in PEV and PCR are harder than that of DFS as it is simply a case of someone finding one area of study harder than another. Some people are good at Trigonometry others are good at simultaneous equations, so to speak.

Revision wise, I think repetition is the best way to study AAT, seeing as everything is always the same. Take the previous 5 or 6 exam papers and complete the same questions one after another. Do 5 journal questions from papers, then do 5 consolidated balance sheets, 5 cash flow rec/statements.

Things such as goodwill and minority interest as well, just keep calculating them one after another on different examples. You have got all the information required in exams to calculate these before you were to do anything else. Personally I like to do the exams in order (it is logical) but I know a lot of people that actually did goodwill calculations first thing in the exam before they concentrated on other things and had a mental block!

jewels.p

Does everyone feel that twenty hours per week is the amount of time you need to spend on Technician Level as I dont know if this is possible for me with working full time?

messedup89

jewels.p wrote: »

Does everyone feel that twenty hours per week is the amount of time you need to spend on Technician Level as I dont know if this is possible for me with working full time?

It depends if your doing it diploma or nvq in my opinion. Im doing NVQ so i go college a few days a week every couple of weeks. Thats the bulk of my 'studying'. Aside from 'homework' the only other bit of studying i do is 2hrs per night a week or 2 before the exams. And most of the 2 weekends before the exams doing nothing but past papers

jewels.p

I am doing it Diploma Route why do you think it makes a difference what route you are taking?

RichardK

jewels.p wrote: »

Does everyone feel that twenty hours per week is the amount of time you need to spend on Technician Level as I dont know if this is possible for me with working full time?

It will make passing a lot easier. Ask yourself are your evenings and weekends that busy?

Time management skills are important here.

messedup89

jewels.p wrote: »

I am doing it Diploma Route why do you think it makes a difference what route you are taking?

sorry i meant if your going to college or home study

jewels.p

I have started a new thread on this to see how others are doing it. Thanks for your help

Julie