Cost increase from L2 to L3

boxoctosis

Hello.

I studied and passed AAT2 at a local college during 2012/13 (for approx £800). At the time of starting, I seem to remember the brochure saying that AAT3 would be approx £200 more. I thought this seemed reasonable, given the different level of tutoring and support that would be required.

Having now checked the 2013/14 brochure, the price for students over the age of 24 is £1900. Can anyone explain such a dramatic increase? Incidentally, this seems to be tied into this "24+" loan scheme but the price remains £1900, even if I choose to pay in one go.

Would one of the distance providers be more cost effective?

Thanks.

Vlee

Hello

The cost increase is quite steep and even more so to L4. I'm self studying L3, so I pay for exams, books and for a distance provider for spreadsheets. It is costing about £650 including AAT membership. Distance learning was around £800 (tution if needed and books) plus £300 for the exams (all aproximate) and £120 for AAT, costs vary between providers. The most common and popular providers seem to be Kaplan, BPP, Eagle and Premier.

I think I read a post a while back that said their college was no longer getting government funding for the AAT course so the costs were much higher. The college I looked at was about £1300 last year but this was subsidised.

boxoctosis

Useful information. I'll have a look at some of the providers. Not sure if I have the discipline for the self-learning.

Vlee

You could try one module with a provider as a distance learner to see how you get on. But the only difference between self study and distance learning, in my experience (I used Kaplan), was that you can contact a tutor if you need help, who h I didn't need. There are options to use live classrooms via the internet as well as recorded, these are a bit more expensive but more structured I imagine.

boxoctosis

It turns out - as you suggested - that the subsidy has indeed been pulled. I have to say I didn't know it was subsidised; £800 seemed a fair price in the first place. So, an extra £1100 on top, courtesy of a government whim.

In a climate where jobs are scarce and the benefits bill is ever-increasing, I can't see the logic in penalising those who are training to try to mitigate the risk of unemployment.

I'd be very interested to see what impact this is having across the board. There must be a significant proportion of people who are now thinking of giving up.

boxoctosis

I must say it's been an eye-opener trying to make sense of Kaplan's offerings. They seem to be designed to force you to contact an advisor, at which point the hard-sell no doubt begins.

I think I'll need to re-think my reluctance towards the self-study approach. It would be a shame to stop now. I can certainly see that it should be feasible.

omega man

I think the govt subsidy has been pulled as there is now deemed to be an over-supply of people competent at accounting.
I would not be surprised if they had input from recruitment agencies on how many people are applying for roles.
The govt subsidy has achieved what they want and now those of us who are AAT qualified have a better chance of getting a job we have studied for.

SamiH

I had the prospectus sent through from my college this week, and there prices for Level 4 has more than doubled.