Management Accounting: Decision and Control (AQ2016) Exam

Mike Webster

Just putting this out there (not suggesting anyone was underprepared): A good way to check that you're ready to sit your assessment is to take the unit standards (published by AAT) and check that you can say, with confidence, that you are able to tackle a range of questions for each assessment criteria.

So, for example, if you were to look at MDCL Assessment criteria 3.1 in the unit guide, can you honestly say that you can:

• calculate index numbers, moving averages, seasonal variations and trend information and use the regression equation
  
• calculate the outputs from various statistical calculations.
  
  I always suggest my learners do this as part of their revision - it's a very good checklist and can highlight areas for development - particularly where a tutor may not have covered a topic completely because it is assumed knowledge from a previous unit.
  
  Please note that I use the word learner instead of student - this is because learning is an active process - I provide the tools but my learners learn how to use them.
  
  Personally, I think the AAT has dealt with this swiftly (albeit not to the satisfaction of some). Lessons will have been learned and I am awaiting the first AQ2016 assessment performance reports with interest as I think there has been a dramatic shift away from assessing people as competent because they've learned to pass the assessment to assessing people as competent because they are competent (it's so tempting to take practice assessments and work assuming everything will be the same in the live assessment - just with changes of figures).
  
  For those considering appealing, the AAT Appeals procedure is published but you can get full details and the form by contacting appeals@aat.org.uk.

AbbyCarr

2 hours before deadline, and my percentage has yet to be changed

NumberCruncher

I passed this exam first time. I personally do not think it is particularly hard exam. If you understand the topic inside out, then you can't fail.

NatalieSarantos

@NumberCruncher excuse me? To manage and offend me on a Saturday afternoon is a special accomplishment. What do you know about how well I know the topic? Some exams are harder than others and there are many reasons why an exam can be failed. So, here's a thought, congratulate yourself on being one of the few people who passed the exam, pat yourself on the back, give yourself a golden star sticker and perhaps stop number crunching and work on improving your grammar. You are missing a word in your second sentence. Have a very nice day.

scamp83

@NatalieSarantos I couldn't have put it any better! Along with grammar, I think social skills need working on!

NatalieSarantos

@scamp83 I completely agree! Disgraceful!

scamp83

Try and ignore such trollish comments, enjoy your weekend :-)

NatalieSarantos

@scamp83 very true! You too!

hertshornet

so what are people doing about resit? Has anyone resat yet what was exam like changed at all? Does anyone know the over all pass rate compared to other exams for this level since september?

scamp83

I've put it on the back burner for now....will probably do it soon after the synoptic as it will be part of my revision for that. Yeah I'd be interested too what people's thoughts are on the exam the second time around.....

andymeadows66

I am also due to do a re-sit in April but don't know whether to appeal or not or on what grounds. I got 69% and got borderline in the written question 10. This is the first time I have failed an AAT exam, and I thought I knew the subject inside and out but got confused with the style of questions. Any thoughts on whether it is worth an appeal given that I believe 'not yet competent' markings were re-marked anyway. Anyone heard of any successful appeals yet? Thanks

hannahc18

I have just also found out that I have failed decision and control getting just 55% my first ever fail, found the exam so hard and couldn't even answer one question on extrapolation (task 5) which I think has been mentioned on here about it making no sense!!! I have credit management coming up in a few weeks followed by personal tax 2 weeks later, I feel this year has been a total rush with exams!! The AAT need to sort themselves out

scamp83

It's very disappointing and disheartening to hear that people are STILL failing this exam....I'm so angry about all of this, I'm going to get level 4 passed (as I started this whole thing almost three years ago and I'm determined to finish) then I want absolutely nothing to do with them. I will not be using any kind of letters after my name other than the letters I have gained previously from another instituition in a fair and hard earned manner. I always thought the AAT were so credible, quite clearly not!

hertshornet

has anyone sat synoptic yet? How was that exam, what sort of pass rate and how were the elements linked to decision and control

lannieloo

Hey all, sorry for not commenting sooner as I've followed this chat from the start. I first looked for such chat after the horror after sitting the awful exam in December... usually myself and a few others leave the exam in half the time and get 100% but this was the first one that the exam actually timed out on us... I turned around to see a sea of horrified faces!! I then looked for such a chat for comfort and thank you for not letting me feel alone! Somehow I actually passed, I have no idea how!! Only 3 out of my class did and I got the highest result (74%) which is shocking!! So I just wanted to share in your horror and unfairness and feel you pain!

lannieloo

Oh forgot to add... the first sitting for the synoptic is 31st march... not looking forward to that one either.

summerbelle86

Well done @lannieloo! I'm due to sit MCDL for the first time in 2 weeks. Did you notice any differences in particular, between the actual assessment and the practice ones? I'm interested to know what I should be focusing on, if the assessment is different to that of the resources that I have? Thanks in advance...

lannieloo

Hi @summerbelle86, I won't lie I was so shocked by the exam that I can't remember much about it! I do remember hoping q1 where I was hoping for a standard cost card to complete and I had an item and a list of costs and I had to calculate the prime cost, marginal cost and absorbed cost, which is similar to level 3 costing, nothing we can't do just I wasn't expecting it. The variance calculations I remember were filling in missing blanks. I remember I had a question about cost drivers too but all the questions were set out in tables I'd not been used to so it was trying to figure out what do they want from me.
My scores so far this year are 91% 93% and I only got 74% for this one, which I'm shocked is this high, I honestly felt I'd got 30% when I left!
Just revise you bottom off and go for it!!!! Good luck and let me know how you got on!! X

summerbelle86

@lannieloo thank you very much for the heads up. Maybe I'll have a quick look over some of the green lights on level 3 costing to help prepare! Did you find that the written questions were OK? x

ted_holmes

Hello. First time contributor here. I've never really thought about even looking on these AAT forums. But after taking this exam yesterday, i was interested to see the opinions of other scholars. As opinions varied drastically between classmates after we had finished.


Firstly, the exam was tough. In fact, i'm pretty sure i'm resitting this. However, its not like there was anything new thrown at us.
What was different, was the way the questions were structured and worded. Something that we should of been prepared for. And as far as our tutor is concerned, she did teach us how to solve these problems, working backwards etc. And we were warned that this could be how it was setup in the exam. As far as support from the college is concerned, i have no doubt that we were given every chance to be ready for the exam.
There are no excuses from myself. I put so much effort into my preparation. To be honest i was revising the wrong type of material. Which has brought me onto the reason i am posting.
The study material from the provider we use (i'm not naming them), does go into how the questions came at you to a degree, but not for every topic and most of the time pretty vaguely. Meaning to provide us with the ammo to tackle this exam, we would need to rely on our tutor to provide us with an example of how to solve these problems. Which she did, i cannot express that enough.
However, if the study material is vague on this, and to be honest it was, then we are relying on the notes taken in class time. Which is fine, but until now the majority of my revision aids have come from the book and online support which again provides you with little or no experience as to how the questions are going to come at you. I found that the Green light's especially were a fantastic revision aid for L2 and L3. In fact, i found them to be tougher than the actual exams. But for this exam they are NOT a relevant source of revision. I imagine they are useful when first getting to grips with the topic but their contents are nothing like what comes at you in the exam. People revising for this take note these will not help you unless you want a gentle reminder of the basics.
Again this is no excuse for me performing poorly.
My advice for people revising for this exam is by all means use the books and study support, but do not rely on them. And you should be fine.
I am quite confident that with my experience of the exam and using my notes taken from class, i will pass this comfortably next time around.
But for future exams, i must point out that the online help will not be used and there will be dust collecting on my books during revision. Because i have little confidence in these study aids getting you ready for the exam.
I'm just going to have to get my handwriting up to scratch for my note taking!!
Finally, there was nothing unfair about this exam. The persons on here that think it was, need to look back and think if they have seen anything on the exam that they haven't been taught. It's a logical topic, and if you are given the information then no matter how it is given to you, you have the tools to solve the problem.

ted_holmes

Myself and my classmates took this exam last Thursday. And to be honest, i'm pretty sure i'm resitting this one.
However, after sleeping on it for a few nights i'd like to put my point across.

Firstly, if i do have to retake this exam, its all on me. It was a tough exam for sure. Unfair? I don't think it really was. However, i'd like to put my opinion as to why i've probably failed this exam.

The fact of the matter is, i didn't prepare for the exam in the correct manner. By this, i don't mean i didn't try, i tried extremely hard. But what i hope i'm about to point out here, may help others who are revising for this exam.

My revision for all subjects so far through L2 and L3 has been from the book and the online study aids, backed up every so often by notes taken in lectures. This got me through every exam first time. However, this will NOT work for this particular subject.

The way the questions are set out on the exam are more complex than the majority of the book, and the online material provided. More complex ways of solving the problem are mentioned briefly in certain chapters, but it's hardly the staple of the text. And my experiences of the green lights being tougher than the exams in L2 and L3 have proven not to be the case in level 4.

Yes you should be able to answer the questions given if you have learnt the basic formulas or the bog standard way the problem is solved. However, as i had revised poorly, my solving of the problems in the exam took time. When your taking 30 minutes to solve one question in a 2hrs30mins exam, it kind of knocks your spirits.

So my advice is, by all means use your books/online support, but not to the extent as i did. Use your notes as the primary study aid, using your books to refresh yourself on the basics.
In the exam, do the written questions first. In my view they were the easiest to answer and are a big chunk of the marks given to you.

We were taught how to tackle the questions the way they came at us in the exam by our tutor. They were very clear on this, and all of the information i needed to pass the exam was given to me.
So i have no excuses, just need to improve my handwriting on my note taking now!

I have no doubt that i will pass this second time around.
If i prepare correctly, i will be able to identify the information needed to solve the question quicker, and will hopefully be leaving with time to spare. Not sat there with a minute to go frantically typing, sweating and watching the red timer in the corner (i didn't even know that existed till last week!)

SC1234

Are people still failing this exam even after the AAT took it down?

summerbelle86

@SC1234 I sat it yesterday, and after reading all of the comments on the module, was pleasantly surprised that the exam was much more straight forward than I had been expecting. I managed to attempt questions without a problem. However, I did run out of time and only answered half of the final question. I have absolutely no idea whether I've passed or not, but didn't leave feeling as worried as I had prepared myself feel.

ted_holmes

SC1234 said:

Are people still failing this exam even after the AAT took it down?

I think i probably have. We get the results at Easter, but i'm pretty sure i'm resitting it. However, i have no doubt i will pass it second time around now i know what to revise.

SC1234

@summerbelle86 Ah that's great, thanks! I am sitting it tomorrow but have been so worried about it to the point I feel sick. But now you have said that I feel a bit better about it! I ran out of time on the last one so I know this time to be more careful with timing. You can only do what you can I suppose! Good luck with your results

@ted_holmes Thanks! At least you know what to expect next time round if so. If I fail hopefully i'll get it the second time then! Good luck!

summerbelle86

@SC1234 I was exactly the same yesterday morning, feeling so sick and nervous! If it's any help for your nerves, myself and all of my classmates found it wasn't as difficult as expected. But we will just have to wait for the results now. There wasn't a lot on performance indicators at all, plenty of variances. One written question to explain the relationship between variable overhead variances, expenditure, capacity, efficiency and volume. The question wasn't difficult, but the marks available were 6 for each of the variances and the calculations were already done. So I'd definitely make a list of as many possible reasons why the variances inter-relate as possible. Good luck

Mike Webster

@ted_holmes It is so refreshing to see someone admit that, whilst they've worked really hard, they could have done things better/differently. I am sure that you did better than you think but, if the worst happens, you are in a much better position to prepare because, as you quite rightly say, you have learned a valuable lesson.

I do hope others read your tale and take note of what you say and get some extra revision/practice in. It was also good to see that you're not bashing the AAT, publishers or other students/tutors - in my experience, it's far too easy to blame those tasked with trying to facilitate learning (notice I don't say teach).

Good luck Ted - I am sure you won't need it though!

ted_holmes

Mike Webster said:

@ted_holmes It is so refreshing to see someone admit that, whilst they've worked really hard, they could have done things better/differently. I am sure that you did better than you think but, if the worst happens, you are in a much better position to prepare because, as you quite rightly say, you have learned a valuable lesson.

I do hope others read your tale and take note of what you say and get some extra revision/practice in. It was also good to see that you're not bashing the AAT, publishers or other students/tutors - in my experience, it's far too easy to blame those tasked with trying to facilitate learning (notice I don't say teach).

Good luck Ted - I am sure you won't need it though!

Thank you for your kind words Mike. I must admit, although it wasn't exactly bashing AAT/Publisher, i did have a couple of points as to the relation between the information available and the new syllabus in my original post.
I do feel that even though you are given a certain amount of information, the text book we were using had little or no prep for how the question would come to you. Maybe a bit at the end of the chapter if you were lucky. I don't know if this was just the publisher's material we used, but it was limited at best.
The same goes with the online material.
I'd like to point out i am not making excuses. I was expecting this year to be similar to the previous levels, where you could rely on the information given in the text book and online for revision material. This apparently isn't the case.
I was just pointing out that students yet to do this exam, should base their revision mostly on their notes taken in lessons.
We are very lucky and have a great tutor who gives us more than enough information to pass. This is certainly what i will be doing for my impending resit.

Seeing as you are a tutor Mike, i was wondering if i could bend your ear and ask for your opinion on some things.
Since taking the MDCL exam, i went to talk to my colleagues at work, who had previously passed AAT.
When describing what the questions were like to them, they felt that the standard had been toughened up. the majority of them who are either now doing ACCA or have already completed ACCA, have mentioned that this is more of the type of standard they'd expect at ACCA. Firstly do you feel this is the case? And if so, do you think it's because the structure of level 4 has changed? Have AAT decided to toughen up the individual areas now there isn't a Dissertation at the end?
Also, if what my colleagues are saying is correct, and the standard is similar to ACCA. Then does that mean that AAT has no place as a stepping stone for ACCA anymore. This is what i've used it as. But seeing as you only get 3 exemptions for completing the AAT, if the standard is similar then is there really any point in doing AAT at all?

Adele69

summerbelle86 said:

@SC1234 .... There wasn't a lot on performance indicators at all, plenty of variances. One written question to explain the relationship between variable overhead variances, expenditure, capacity, efficiency and volume. The question wasn't difficult, but the marks available were 6 for each of the variances and the calculations were already done. So I'd definitely make a list of as many possible reasons why the variances inter-relate as possible. Good luck

Isn't discussion of live exam content banned/forbiidden/whatever?

I've really had to resist the urge to post stuff where I think I may have gone wrong just after an exam purely from being told that it is not allowed

nala

Hello everyone, I had this exam today and from my perspective it was very hard.... writting questions were pretty easy. Calculations had additional information I have never seen before. I spent a lot of time to understand what exactly the question ment and which data I should use and in most cases I gave up... Tasks had a) b) c) and I had to calculate b) on the a) basis and c) on the a) and b) basis soo .... I felt I did a) wrong and there was no sense to do b) and c). A lot of tasks had different form than from the book. I am so disapointed as I spent one month for intensive learnig and at the end of the day I realised I can do nothing...

I am sorry for any grammar mistakes. I am not native speaker.