Just finished level 3

wbauk2002

Completed my final exam today at level 3, heard level 4 is hard so i better get stuck in, let the fun begin!

Level 3 took a little over two months, passed all exams first time, and didnt find the exams too challenging, has anybody else had this experience? and how have you found level 4?

MWAUGH1983

Congrats!

What exam did you do for your last? I have tax and ethics on the 27th and 28th.

I did think some of the exams weren't challenging like cash mgt I only went over the study guide and did the workbook questions and still past. Though the walk from the exam to reception to get the result is a nervy one!

wbauk2002

lol yeh the walk to reception is a bit nervy, and even worse when theres someone else waitin at the desk

I was savin tax and ethics til last but turned out the 10days gap between exams was in middle of last 3 so moved cash managment to there,

I did, ap1, spreadsheets, ap2, cost and revenues, ethics, cash managment and tax today, finished tax in 20mins, its a bit of a pointlless exam, they could have mixed it in with ap1 and 2 easily

MWAUGH1983

yeah its a funny one when you get results. when I did exam at bbp manchester when the women came with the paper she had a look which I knew I had failed!

how did you find ethics - any pointers in your view?

Yeah but they want as many as exams as possible as they get more money through the entry fee.

zaf1987

Hi wbauk how did you do level 3 in 2 months?
did you do level 2?

wbauk2002

Ethics was just like practice exams, as long as you know the fundamental principles and the safeguards alot is common sense.

zaf i just got the kaplan exam timetable, and booked an exam at every available date which was roughly every 7 - 11 days, so did the harder modules when i had more time, i didnt do level 2, i used to own a ltd company so i knew the basics, took the test they had to see what level to start on

SarahJS

I did the entirety of level 3 in a month, from opening the first book to having sat the last exam. I self studied, and I was only working 25 hours a week at the time which helped. Mainly just involved being prepared to knuckle down and work.

As for level 4, I'm still self studying, although at a much slower pace as I have started a new full time job and have started college for ATT. I haven't actually found level 4 any harder, but I've studied for each exam longer due to the potential for written tasks on anything!

Good luck with level 4, don't be too intimidated! My top hint is to understand, not learn by rote, as the questions can be very different to practice ones!

zaf1987

wbauk2002 wrote: »

Ethics was just like practice exams, as long as you know the fundamental principles and the safeguards alot is common sense.

zaf i just got the kaplan exam timetable, and booked an exam at every available date which was roughly every 7 - 11 days, so did the harder modules when i had more time, i didnt do level 2, i used to own a ltd company so i knew the basics, took the test they had to see what level to start on

that seems really quick though, well done. Do you work at the moment, im thinking of quitting my job so i can get this done alot quicker.

Zaf

zaf1987

SarahJS wrote: »

I did the entirety of level 3 in a month, from opening the first book to having sat the last exam. I self studied, and I was only working 25 hours a week at the time which helped. Mainly just involved being prepared to knuckle down and work.

As for level 4, I'm still self studying, although at a much slower pace as I have started a new full time job and have started college for ATT. I haven't actually found level 4 any harder, but I've studied for each exam longer due to the potential for written tasks on anything!

Good luck with level 4, don't be too intimidated! My top hint is to understand, not learn by rote, as the questions can be very different to practice ones!

Wow that is really fast going, im working full time at the moment, have an exam booked for the 20th june and 11th july, im planning to get level 3 done by November. im trying to reduce my hours at work or find a part time job, as i want level 3 done asap.

zaf1987

wbauk and sarah how long did it take you to do indirect tax?

SarahJS

zaf1987 wrote: »

wbauk and sarah how long did it take you to do indirect tax?

I found it the easiest level 3 module as you were given so much info in the exam. I think I probably only took around a day on that module as it was small and predictable, and the others had way more to learn and I was on a deadline!

Is your current job relevant? I'd be wary of quitting a job without another lined up just to get the exams done quicker!

zaf1987

SarahJS wrote: »

I found it the easiest level 3 module as you were given so much info in the exam. I think I probably only took around a day on that module as it was small and predictable, and the others had way more to learn and I was on a deadline!

Is your current job relevant? I'd be wary of quitting a job without another lined up just to get the exams done quicker!

My job is not relevant at all, I work in a call centre and to be honest worst case scenario i dont think it would be too hard to find another call centre job if i needed to.

SarahJS

Hmmm... maybe not such an issue then! I'd still recommend keeping your job until you could get a part time job/relevant job though - studying full time would probably mean you could be finished in 3 months and is a huge drain on finances! Also, of you're looking for a relevant job it really would look just as good that you are studying for level 4 unless you have the work experience to be MAAT (all my opinion again!).

Finding a relevant job may be pretty difficult, and if you have passed the qualification then have a huge gap it may look worse!

Good luck with everything!

omega man

I now understand why wbauk may have had some difficulty answering some threads.
As he has not done level 2 and done level 3 too quickly imo,i get the impression he may not fully undersatnd the accounting principles properly and this may come back to bite him later.

SarahJS

omega man wrote: »

I now understand why wbauk may have had some difficulty answering some threads.
As he has not done level 2 and done level 3 too quickly imo,i get the impression he may not fully undersatnd the accounting principles properly and this may come back to bite him later.

If anything, I'd say and problems I have would be due to self studying rather than doing it quickly. With self study there is no one to point out little mistakes or clarify anything (obviously these forums are great!) which potentially means I think I understand something when I actually don't. On the other hand though, self studying means that I've really focused on random parts of the text in case questions come up on them!

wbauk2002

hmmm omega man, I have an A level in Accounting, A level business studies, BSc Degree in Business IT, and have run a ltd company for 3 years doing all the bookkeeping up until a year and half ago where i sold the company, I understand the principles fine thank you

I also worked very hard studying for hours everyday , so your opinion is a tad worthless

missm4ry4m

How did you tackle AP1? I'm really struggling.

wbauk2002

What are you struggling with? It's a tricky module but easily passable if you get your revision in

missm4ry4m

Mainly with adjustment entries and accruals and prepayments. It's a re-take and last one to do till I've passed Level 3. I really need to pass it this time around!