NVQ Confusion

rayo51

Hi everyone,
Recently, I have applied to a course with a local college to begin studying AAT Level 2. The wording on their website, with regards to the course information, is a little confusing, and they have since sent me an email stating that to study AAT, you must be in employment as it is an apprenticeship. They have also stated that if I am NOT in employment in an accounts setting (which I'm not), that I will be considered instead for the NVQ in accounting; the qualifications achieved through which are as follows:
Edexcel NVQ Level 2 in Accounting
OCR Level 1 in Bookkeeping - additional fee may be required
Sage Accounting

Now, there are a couple of things I'm confused about here. Firstly, is this NVQ any sort of route into studying AAT? Secondly, I would have surely thought I would have to be employed in order to study an NVQ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

charlotte224466

If you are self motivated I'd suggest home study! You don't need to be employed within an accounts role just have an interest in it! you can study at your own pace and a lot of the time home study can work out a lot cheaper than college courses. Your college must just be running that course for local business' who are training up their staff. I wouldn't do the edexcel course because im guessing you'll be paying for that and then have to pay for AAT afterwards.

I started home study in Jan this year and Im looking to sit my last exam within the next month. I found level 2 easy enough to do by myself and my college tutor was great answering questions whenever I needed help.

If you are set on AAT I would definitely look into home study! There are some great companies out there, maybe give them a call and they could advise you further.

charlotte224466

oh I used Eagle Education, they were great. I've decided to stick with them to do my level 3.

rayo51

Hi Charlotte, thanks for your reply.
So how much roughly has it cost you so far? Also, do you HAVE to start at level 2? I wouldn't jump ahead anyway, just curious. The distance learning thing is definitely a route I've been considering.

charlotte224466

No by no means do you have to start at level 2 but they do suggest to, there's a test on the AAT website and that is a basic test and the results will tell you where you should start. I've heard of some people buying level 2 books and learning everything then actually studying level 3 to save money. Well level 2 cost about £650 for the course which I paid then I got into an accounts job and they paid for my exams which are about £50 a time and my AAT membership which was £130 so your looking at about £1200. Yeah it's well worth considering due to the flexibility of it. It's taken me 6 months so far and I'm thinking I will be finished in another month where as if I'd gone to college I'd only be halfway through

rayo51

Ahh fair play to you for getting a start in an accounts job and getting through the course so quickly! Do you mind me asking how old you are?

charlotte224466

I'm 20