How long did it take you guys to pass aat level 4?
salih
Registered Posts: 81 Epic contributor 🐘
Hi im still retaking exams for level 4, which are statements, personal tax and performance, also still waitting for my icas project result to show on the site. I failed tax 3 times, and performance 4 times and statements twice. Reason is im not getting help from my tutors and im doing the revison all by myself and every exam i done i get the hard questions while everyone has the easy ones.
My question is how long did it take you guys to pass level 4 and which paper do you have to retake more than once (how many times)? Also what each of you are doing now still studying, working or both?
My question is how long did it take you guys to pass level 4 and which paper do you have to retake more than once (how many times)? Also what each of you are doing now still studying, working or both?
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Hello Salih
I think level 4 was about 6/7 months maybe a little longer with ICAS included as I completed it over 12 weeks which was great. I was fortunate in that I worked hard (like I'm sure you do) and passed all my exams first time. Do you know what areas you are falling down on in each of the papers you are marked as not yet competent? Do you ask and receive feedback reports?
I am currently working and was also working whilst completing AAT. I am looking to continue my studies but need to save some pennies first.
Have you spoken to your tutor/s about the difficulties you are facing? Are you studying at a FE College or a training provider?
Good luck with your resits.
JC~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
You are getting the hard questions, while everyone else gets the easy ones?? So when I passed, I only passed because I was given easy questions.. ahh I thought I'd worked very very hard and was given the same opportunity to get a mixed bag of questions as everyone else.. silly me.1
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I'm glad i'm not the only one that thinks this Becca.
I can't believe how easy it was for us to become AAT qualified lol.
I must remember to start doing the lottery if my luck is this good!0 -
BeccaLou has summed it up nicely.
I am going to be brutally honest with you, but purely in the interests of helping you to see where you are going wrong, not just to be brutal.
I have helped you with a lot of questions from AAT's practice questions, and it has been quite clear that you are not adequately studying the syllabus before attempting questions. Even a well respected tutor has pointed this out to you. I have to be honest, that I stopped answering your posts as I just felt I was doing the exams for you. I'm not saying you don't have the ability to pass the exams, I don't know you, I just know that you are trying to run before you can walk. There is no easy way to pass AAT, you just have to get your head down, do the work, learn the information and then use that knowledge to pass the exams. Quite frankly, claiming that you only ever get the hard questions and everyone else gets the easy questions is not being very realistic or honest with yourself (plus you run the risk of offending everybody who has worked hard to pass, as BeccaLou has very reasonably pointed out).
If you are being forced to self study and it is not working for you, I'm afraid you need to bite the bullet and discuss this with your tutors (if it comes to changing tutors/providers, then so be it). I self studied and I worked hard to pass my exams on the first attempt. There was no magic answer, I just worked hard. I appreciate that just because I self studied, it doesn't mean that everyone can, but again you cannot blame failures on the fact that you are self studying.
Now for my advice, don't even attempt practice exams until you are sure you have an understanding of the syllabus. When the time comes, the practice assessments are useful to show you how the exams are set out and to help you put your new knowledge into practice. Using exams to learn the syllabus is never going to help. Don't even think of booking exams until you are confident with all the practice assessments and fully understanding how the answers have been calculated. It must be costing you a fortune to keep paying for those exams, stop booking them until you are happy that you have a realistic chance of passing them.
I really don't want this to sound negative but your post does come across as though you are blaming everything else for fails rather than the fact that you maybe just aren't ready to take the exams. AAT isn't meant to be easy, there would be no point if it was.
As you know there is so much help available on this forum, so please do take advantage of it, but ultimately whether or not you pass or fail comes down to you.0 -
No one is saying the questions aren't challenging- that is the point, it's an exam! You are just being rude to say that everyone else's passes are somehow worth less than if/when you pass, because you got harder questions. The examiner didn't choose you and say 'let's give him/her a really difficult one, just to make it hard'.
I passed my exams and now have MAAT after my name and my questions were as easy/difficult as everyone else's were.
And yes the above question is answerable. Your Q makes no sense, you are given actuals.0 -
look the reason im self studing because my tutors know nothing they don't even help including i go to them for help on a certain question it's probally that i went to a **** college that where you can see people cheat and teacher do ******* nothing about it. I report to the teachers about the cheating during the exam they look at the person clearly cheating they do nothingi report to the aat they said give the persons name we didn't know the person name.
I passed my other exams self study i go through the book, pratice papers, osborne elearning, one of my exam when i was doing it it was complete different from the rest never seen it before, and the question came up wasn't even part of the exam wasn't in the book either i reported to the aat they said check your report, i did check it, it doesn't show the question only the heading that didn't help. When i do feel like i can pass them with confidents i book i don't do it straight away i hate wasting money on the same exam, including that i do it twice i truely felt i passed the exam answered the question had no problem and then it says i failed which i was really confused, and the report doesn't even help doesn't show the question just the sub heading which is useless.
Sometimes i come on here because theres a question on the practice paper which is not in the book or anywhere so i ask to see if anyone knows it thats all or i forget something and cant find the notes i had from class0 -
The answer is a.0
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lol0
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Sorry
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How do you have time to write down the exam questions in the 2.5 hours allocated rather than actually completing the exam? Also, not wanting to seem harsh, I do believe that it has been raised before that these are live exam questions and therefore should not be discussed in a public forum... I could be wrong :huh:~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0
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And how do you get the information out of the exam room as all paper and workings must be left there.0
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Thanks, that's what I worked it out to be (without looking at the formula posted), but i'm only studying lvl 2 at the moment so hadn't heard of the Labour efficiency variance. The £29,000 confused me a bit but neither 4,700 or 5,150 were listed in the answers.
I agree with NPS that the answer is a. Well done steve2008
~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
National Statistics
Hi
Easy questions? Maybe. Hard work paying off? Definitely
I have just been looking at the most recent success rates for Level 4 and it really does make interesting reading. Basically, Level 4 completion within 12 months is 32.6% with a much better 77.5% taking up to 24 months.
What does this tell me? Very simply, people cannot succeed just by rote learning (i.e. banking on the same type of question for each task). Assessments are challenging, yes, but if you're prepared to put in the hours of study, you will be in a much better place when it comes to assessment time. I have seen a number of people come out of assessments telling me - that was a tough assessment, whilst others tell me how easy it was. Two different reactions yet, when results come - often it's the ones who say how easy it was are the ones who are failing because they're not reading and understanding what's required of them, they're assuming a lot and they shouldn't be. A Level 4 assessment should be 'hard', it should challenge you - after all Level 4 is equivalent to first year degree level isn't it? If one expects to stroll into an assessment and be able to predict the questions, you're in the wrong place - you should still be at home building your skills and knowledge.
Incidentally, Jo, you shouldn't be able to take questions out of an assessment environment and you certainly shouldn't replicate in an open forum - the question may still be in the live set!0 -
your right it is not allowed unfortunately :How do you have time to write down the exam questions in the 2.5 hours allocated rather than actually completing the exam? Also, not wanting to seem harsh, I do believe that it has been raised before that these are live exam questions and therefore should not be discussed in a public forum... I could be wrong :huh:
"Further to this, and in response to a couple of recent incidents, I'd like to ask for regular users' help when it comes to flagging dubious content.
For instance, please use the Report Post function beneath a post if:
users conduct conversations around live assessment material. This is strictly forbidden. Users can discuss areas of the qualification, practice assessments, accounting concepts, and so on - but not material within live assessments
you think someone is posing as someone they're not - for example, a recruiter pretending to be a student, or similar.
The number of people using AAT's discussion forums grew considerably in 2012, and lots of prospective students use them to help them make what is a huge life decision. Thanks for helping ensure they remain a trustworthy and an invaluable resource for members and non-members alike."
http://forums.aat.org.uk/showthread.php?35589-AAT-s-online-community-rules0 -
You seem to have got yourself really angry. People do cheat I have seen it too. But, its not you, so dont worry about them. I am probably a lot older than you and maybe I find it easier to just let it go, and you will have to.
The question you stated is really quite clear, if you concentrate and think about it, you obviously lost your focus worrying about what everyone else was doing. It gave you the info in the question. It is a hard subject I am studying it now taking the exam in a couple of weeks. AAT expect you to know the subject so no matter how they ask the question you will know the answer.
Stay focused and ignore the rest of the class in the exam. As for you college and tutors, report the college to AAT and if it is the case AAT will withdraw from that college. Or, maybe you just need to assume the tutor does know the answer and ask him/her with a bit more respect.
Think 5300 x 0.5 = 2650 hours @ £9 = 23850. 23850 minus 24300 = 450 A1 -
This is not just an issue about the students conduct themselves, but also about how assessment venues/centres conduct assessments. There is no way I would allow anyone from our centre to walk out with a question written down like this.
Looking at the task the poster put up, it's clear that RTFQ comes to mind - Read The Full Question - as I can clearly see the information he/she says is missing.0 -
I assume it is from a practice assessment as surely there's no way he can remember all the questions in an exam.
It never crossed my mind that he could be bringing questions out of the exam as there's no way I would have been able to do that in mine. All my exams have been taken with only a handful of other people in the room and all paper is collected at the end. The invigilators would have noticed straight away if the paper provided for my workings 'disappeared'. Perhaps not all exam centres are robust?0 -
he didn't remember all the questions.. just this one... or wrote it down. I must admit the exam centre where I go to probably wouldn't realise if I carry something out with me if I wanted to..0
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Hi Salih,
Wherever you are studying, it is in the tutors interest to ensure that you complete and are successful in your exams, and from my experience, tutors have been very supportive, their success results are crucial. If you are not getting the support you need, take it up at a higher level.
Level 4 is tough, and at this stage, you have to go that extra mile with the effort you put in.
For the record, I completed level 4 in just under a year, whilst working full time, however during that year, I fell ill, and lost nearly 2 months attendance at college, and studying. It was very hard work, especially Financial Statements & Performance. I was very tempted to drop out, but I was determined, and am so pleased now that I persevered.
Good luck, GP0 -
thanks i have reported the issue to aat they asked for the person name who was cheating i didn't know there names, through level 2 and 3 intensive i had two great teachers they were helpfully, made sure i understood the question but they moved to another college which was too far for me. As for level 4 teachers only have 1 good teacher but even him doesn't fully explain it to me including i said can you expalin it to me. After reading the forum i'm going to take my time even more and make sure i understand the subject before i take the exam0
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Good luck Salih, think positive and I am sure that you will be fine. When I came across areas that I found especially tough to understand, I looked for more information to help, and worked through lots of examples, until I could work it all out.
GP0 -
Honestly, I don`t think there is an easy question in Aat exams. You might not be prepared for it. Sample assessments are great for sure. During study I go over my books and take notes in a very thick notepad. Not copying and pasting in my computer. I have already filled like 3-4 inch thick notepad for level 2 -3 Diploma. I don`t go to school or work at some firm to easy my need. Everything I do on me! I read my books like at least 8-10 times after done taking notes. You have understand in accounting you don`t do mistakes at all. So our study contains verses makes you feel competent and drive you to make mistakes. I noticed that as I started to feel confident about it when I knew I was not! So you have to make sure you do not understand a word what the book say and put the puzzles together at once. Like the Da Vinci code. You have to see the subject from many ways. Like an accountant , like a thief , like a HMRC and like the chartered one. I read many books and the most helped me was the following. http://www.amazon.com/The-Accounting-Game-Basic-Lemonade/dp/1570713960
This book put you into the mood to pass because it take you the point where you can`t take it anymore and you just pass. Seriously. Ask anyone who hasn`t read this book!0 -
How can somebody finish the whole AAT in 6-7 months? I don`t understand? I`m not stupid or anything but still.
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In answer to the original question, I did Level 4 in around 10 months from start to finish.
In answer to Short ASSET's question, my guess is that these are the people who study levels 2, 3 & 4 simultaneously and do the exams in the same way. I also suspect these are people who know a lot of syllabus any way through work or previous studies.0 -
Don't you need to complete ISYS? It could take at least a month, I suppose? 10 month is pretty good.0
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ISYS/ICAS took me around 3 months from start to finish. A fair amount of that 3 months was waiting for replies from my assessor. I studied other units whilst waiting.aatstudy said:Don't you need to complete ISYS? It could take at least a month, I suppose? 10 month is pretty good.
In some ways, ICAS was the most challenging module. I would recommend "mixing" it in with other units. e.g. Do the first couple of sections, do some FSTM, do some ICAS, study another couple of chapters of FSTM, wait for assessor's feedback, do some more FSTM, etc.
It helped to break it (ICAS) up.
Just my thoughts. Different methods work for different people.0
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