50 days & counting since Skills test sent still not even allocated

pirate

Well its now 50 days since my Skills tests were received

When I phoned on monday I was told that one of them may be marked that week but end of week and still not heard.

Slightly concerned as they believe that they only have until 30th June to assess me despite me explaining they had until the end of the year. If I havent passed well so be it but if I have done 80/20 and need additional questions answered running out of time a bit.

Ah well just wish I knew, when you are told 4 weeks max and its now 50 days and still no sign its a bit frustrating

Rant over

uknitty

I know how you feel - my concern is I only had 3 weeks to study the whole of the cash management unit due to the April "deadline" imposed by PT - I went in to the skills test knowing I was underprepared due to time constraints and I am pretty much certain that the best outcome for me will be extra questions.

I am so angry because with just a few more weeks to get my head around the training material I would have been able to submit a skills test I was confident would pass.

I don't know what PT are thinking - all the other distance learning providers are allowing their candiates until the end of June to *submit* their work for marking.

pirate

uknitty

yep know how you feel re Cash Management that was a real toughie, paper being much tougher in some areas, than the assessement I sent in and the cash flow was remarkably easy (which worries me)
I've only really got myself to blame for the late stuff though as I did know last July that I had until June, but I did think I had until June and had mapped everything out according to that deadline, but orginally was going to do the study for the skills test last summer so that I could spend Jan-June doing the project but by Xmas still hadnt done them so there you go.

When did you do your cash Management in the end then and when did PT receive it

columbia

Hi

Premier emailed me, and I failed!!

Feel the same, tried to cram to fit into their deadline. However I spent a lot of the time studying pev for the exam instead.

Now got to pay to do computer based one, I asked for feedback and got none.

Suppose it's my own fault for leaving it to the last minute, but some hints as to what I need to brush up on would have been helpful!

pirate

Hey Columbia

thats a shame what were you studying

have you done PEV yet

columbia

Hi Cash Management, yep done PEV this morning.

What you waiting on?

uknitty

I have just spoke to the AAT assessment team who very kindly sent me this via emai

"Dear Ceris,



I can confirm that the AAT deadline for sitting paper based skills test on the old standards (nvq or diploma) is 30th June 2011 and the deadline for reporting these results is 31st December 2011. Thank you.



Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries.

Kind regards,


Assessments Team
AAT

The more I talk about this the angrier and more upset I get. I have been put under so much pressure to try and finish this course when pregnant/with a new baby in the house. I was offered no advice or guidance re transferring to new standards and to top it all of I have been repeatedly told I had to submit the skills test no later than April because of the AAT deadlines. The above email clearly states this is not the AAT's position and that the AAT are allowing students until the 30th June to SIT the papers.

Premier Training have at best imposed the April deadline as they have not understood the AAT's submission dates. At worst they have deliberately given incorrect information in order to manage the marking of papers to a timescale that suits their business needs and not the needs of the students who have been placed under a
additional stress by the imposing of an earlier deadline.

I will be emailing this information to PT - and asking them why they have chosen to impose an April deadline, when the AAT will allow until the end of June for students to sit skills tests.

I just phoned PT and it was a very unpleasant call to say the least Tutors are all having a minor meltdown as they are not able to keep up with the volume of work that has been submitted and are working around the clock/evenings/weekends. Apparently the partners have had to come out of retirement to mark papers as well.... PT's official position is that the AAT have only recently (Friday 10th June) advised that they would be allowing an extension to December and it is the AAT's who have changed the deadlines not PT. Hmm

columbia

Just spoken to Premier Training, and the deadline for the Skills Tests has now been extended to 30th September, with end of August being the deadline for submission of the skills test.

This is great news for me as it means I can re-sit the one I failed terribly without having to transfer to the new standards!

pirate

That's codswallop re PT and not knowing that re timescales,I enquired with AAT in march and was told this about december deadline then they haven't only just found out. Personally I think they assumed this a while ago and didn't check and so made plans for end of April for submission by their students. I know they had 1000 Skills tests that had been sent out from around middle of march until the last day for sending them out. Really annoyed about this as I asked and asked and asked I came back from a holiday to do a skills test to meet the deadline and I certainly rushed . And i still dont know how I have done. But their extension surely just means for marking as as students we only have until 30th to get them submitted so all thesestudents have just lost 2 months of time to get them done. Grrrrrr

columbia

Hi

I remember you saying about December. Premier have said that I can re-do mine and get it to them by the end of August, so I am just going to study properly this time as I won't have the PEV revision to do as well, and sit it after I come back from holiday in August.

It is frustrating to think that so many of us rushed to meet a deadline which in effect did not exist, but I am just happy to concentrate on getting it done in a few weeks, which will allow me a decent amount of time to get it right.

uknitty

I'm just annoyed at the potential cost implication of a resit. When I said this to my tutor he actually shouted at me and said "listen don't even talk to me about money - insert long explanation about his circumstances that was completely inappropriate to share with a student here - and your moaning about a £30 skills test?"

Hmm its "only £30" to you maybe, but my only income at present is Maternity Allowance, our household budget actually runs £100 short each month (and its only thanks to the e-bay fairy I am meeting all my commitments right now - the cost of my course books is actually paid for by completing online surveys and claming amazon vouchers....) So yeah, a £30 resit is actually a big dent in my income.

Huge relief about the skills test extension though - although PT are impossing a submission date of 30 August when the AAT are allowing until 30th September. I've just been left very disappointed in PT and their ablity to cope and offer a consistantly good service to their students - and to think one of the first units I sat with PT was all about "planning your workload" *amused*

date15 June 2011 12:04
subjectRE: Submission Deadlines - ET reply - email reply
mailed-byaat.org.uk

hide details 12:04 (1 hour ago)


Dear Ceris

Thank you for your email

I can confirm that originally the deadline was the 30th June to hand in any NVQ or Diploma pathway simulations and then the college would have until the end of the year to report these to us.

However this deadline has now been extended to the 30th September to hand in any work and the end of the year to have them reported to us by the college.

Please note that most colleges have set there own dates due to marking the papers and forth coming holidays.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Membership Support Advisor
AAT