PETH or SDST?

Henna

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone could let me know what they thought was the easier one out of the two? I am resitting Indirect Tax next month and I want to do another one in the same month so I stay on track. I feel like Spreadsheets has more content but might be easier, but that's just by flicking through the books. Any help is much appreciated.

N4T

Hi Henna,

Definitely SDST for me. I found PETH to be the hardest paper on L3 because it's the first paper you'll come across that is completely written, no multiple choice. However if you are good at written exams then you may not find it difficult.

I have a solid knowledge of spreadsheets anyway although there were things new to me. It depends your level of existing knowledge. If you do all the questions available to you I think SDST is easier of the two. There were no surprises in the exam. I think pass rate for PETH is lower.

Good luck.

Adele69

I would agree with N4T, but it depends on your Excel experience. PETH was the most difficult L3 paper imo, the only exam I stayed upto the last 15 minutes.

Whereas the only tricky part of SDST can be Q1 and only because the format changes. If you don't pick up on the ideal layout from the question it can be time consuming redoing the work, which is only awkward as a lot of marks are simple attention to detail stuff, not difficult if you're familiar with the program.

Henna

Thank you! I do have previous experience with spreadsheets so that would be probably the best option. Also, how long did it take both of you to get the results for the CBP'S and the certificate? I'm going abroad in March for two months providing I pass these exams and just wanted to know in advance. Again, thank you for the help.

N4T

My result for the SDST was really quick. Took it on Wed and my training provider gave me feedback and results the following Tuesday. But this turnaround hugely depends on who you take your exams with. My PETH results took 6 weeks.

Certificates takes up 6-8 weeks.

Adele69

The following week for both, but did L3 with an FE college. The certificate took 6 weeks for the L3, marginally quicker than the L2 certificate.

zebra246

Definitely SDST.