Is it possible ?

Snodgey

After completing level 1 and halfway through level 2 of the City & Guilds BookKeeping and Accounts course at my local college I've been weighing up all my options as what to do next - They only run courses for AAT as far as I know from September and January and I really can't wait til September.

So I've looked into Distance Learning, Eagle education seems to be a decent one the only thing holding me back at the moment is funding as I am currently unemployed , although my wife says she will pay I can't bare to take the £700 total for the course and AAT fees.

Thing is after looking through these forums just now i spotted some interesting posts, Am I right in thinking that you can just buy the books for your selected course and take the exam in June/December ? I wasn't sure I read the posts right, sorry if I'm rewriting what others have asked already - maybe its just wishful thinking as most colleges I've looked into require you to do skills test aswell as the exam

CelticStar

You definitely can. I took the Diploma route and did this for Technician level and wish that I had done it for Advanced Certificate. I used the Osborne books - check here for the cheapest supplier: http://www.bookkoob.co.uk/ - as well as the Osborne 'Tutor Packs', which you are allowed to purchase if you are a self-study student. You can sit your exams at an exam centre that allows external/distance-learning entrants, details of these are on page 22 on this link: http://www.aat.org.uk/servlet/file/AAT%20UK%20List%202007.08pdf.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=2657&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=187

You will still need to make arrangements for your skills test though. I took mine through the learning provider that I used for Advanced Certificate, so I had tuition and marking through them but I think that some of the other learning providers allow you to purchase just marking for a skills test - I'm not certain about this though.

You will also need tuition and marking for your Unit 10 project, but most of the learning providers offer this as an individual unit as well.

I found this forum and the AAT main site really good for hints and tips and the exam papers were an absolute must for practice. I managed to pass every exam first time, but I am quite motivated and find it easier to concentrate on my own rather than in a noisy class. Self-study isn't for everyone but it is possible and it is a lot cheaper.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.