Spreadsheets practice assessment

Devlin

Hi, I've got my SPSW exam on Monday and have just had a go at the mock exam.

Part 2, Task 1.7 asks you to Rank the spreadsheet by total sales revenue from the lowest value to the highest value. In my mind that means it wants you to use the Rank function of excel, but from looking at the model answer, all they've done is data sort it, to put the table in ascending order.

I'm fairly confident with excel from using it every day, but not confident at all about this exam as not sure if I'll be able to interpret what they want. I also would do my some of my formulas different from them, especially the IF function one, but I'm not sure how much that really matters as long as it gives the correct answer.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Ranking question, maybe I'm just reading the question wrong?

Vlee

I've not actually started or done this yet but from reading up, this exam is marked by an actual human being because there are so many ways of doing the same thing. So there are lots of right answers/ways to do things.

From a non AAT perspective my excel expert husband agrees the question is ambiguous but would rank by sorting if asked to do so in his work.

I hope this will be confirmed or explained by someone who has done it.

Nps

If I remember correctly, then yes, they are just asking you to re-arrange the spreadsheet using the 'sort' function rather than 'rank'. I think the use of the work Rank is just unfortunate.

MarieNoelle

Vlee wrote: »

I've not actually started or done this yet but from reading up, this exam is marked by an actual human being because there are so many ways of doing the same thing. So there are lots of right answers/ways to do things.

Hi all,
this thread suggests that there are indeed many ways to get to the correct answer - scroll down to Stuart's post 7.

'These are all alternative ways of showing the correct answer and none is necessarily more correct than the other. The exact same argument can be used for the second example. As these are all alternatives, they are merely variations on the same theme but all provide the correct answer. None are incorrect.

'It should be noted that the answers available on the AAT website are suggested answers and, provided they use a formula that works, candidates should be given due credit. Just because different people work with formulae in different ways does not render the approach incorrect. The fact that formulae can be used in different ways to arrive at the same correct answer is precisely the reason why this unit is internally assessed, so that assessors give credit where it is due. The suggested answers should provide a range of alternative ways of using formulae in order to demonstrate the variety of valid approaches and, therefore, the argument about consistency of use is not valid.

'The student is allowed to use any formulae they wish, as long as it works. Everyone applies logic in different ways, and there are different ways of expressing the same idea. The guidance does state that the formulae can be expressed in any way, as long as the answer is correct.'

So I would not worry too much if you get to the right answer using a different formula.

Devlin

Well it's time for me to settle down for a final study session before the exam tomorrow. It's good to know it's not so important how you write down the formula as long as it gives the correct answer. Here's hoping the exam will be well written so there's not too much time wasted trying to interpret what they mean.