AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam

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  • DanielEvansSouthall
    DanielEvansSouthall Registered Posts: 26
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    Sounds like the exam was not fit for purpose and so the least we should receive is a free re-test, also compensation for the time wasted in having to re-sit the exam. If they are acknowledging their failings then they had better be working pretty hard to make this right.
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    @DanielEvansSouthall I doubt they'll swallow their pride. I just feel sorry for those who have sat in September if they fail as it's more wasted time, money and effort for what seems to be a lost cause.

    I sincerely hope you have passed this as it is very unfair to use their students just to make money.

    Fingers x-ssed! :)
  • MissHermansen
    MissHermansen Registered Posts: 103
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    What an absolute shambles! I am not happy to pay for a re-sit when they are at fault! Also I was meant to have completed my AAT by now, but a poxy 3% has held me back! I don't think they realise they are messing around with people's lives.. I am really really struggling to get motivated to revise for the synoptic re-sit!
  • jfrecker
    jfrecker Registered Posts: 24
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    I can't wait to see this letter or receive it through the post, i sat the exam for the 3rd time in September and if the exam is changed again what hope do I have?
  • DanielEvansSouthall
    DanielEvansSouthall Registered Posts: 26
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    If there is any sort of acknowledgement that this exam was not fit for purpose then I'll challenge them for a refund in a small claims court if I must.

    I have just sent the following email to AAT, will let you know if/when I receive a response:

    I would like to know when my results will be available for the below exam:

    27 September 2017: Level 4 - Professional Diploma Synoptic assessment (AQ2016)
    Kaplan Financial – Birmingham.

    I am also aware that there have been great deal of complaints about this exam given that it was in the large part unachievable. Can I ask how many complaints you have received about the level 4 synoptic exam? (if this is public record) and also, for those people who have failed, what compensation you will be offering given the disruption this new exam has caused to peoples’ lives who commit a huge amount of their personal time to study for these exams?
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    @DanielEvansSouthall Is it 6 weeks from sitting? Which would be Friday 10/11.
    I don't know what more we can do, perhaps I should seek legal advice but as they are a charity perhaps they fall under a different law. Either way no-one should get away with something like this.
  • DanielEvansSouthall
    DanielEvansSouthall Registered Posts: 26
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    I read I'll receive my result 6 weeks from the end of the synoptic window (whatever that is)...
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    MissHermansen said:

    What an absolute shambles! I am not happy to pay for a re-sit when they are at fault! Also I was meant to have completed my AAT by now, but a poxy 3% has held me back! I don't think they realise they are messing around with people's lives.. I am really really struggling to get motivated to revise for the synoptic re-sit!

    I agree, it has been so difficult to get my head focused and back into it. I am physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted and find myself short tempered and argumentative which is not me at all. It is causing me a lot of stress as I don't really know which approach to take yet I'm plodding along, practicing written answers.

    Perhaps we should find a way to compare written answers as one person may have a viewpoint different to the other and at the lack of study support it looks like they're expecting us to help each other. Just a shame I can't give you guys some of the money I've wasted on this course!
  • DanielEvansSouthall
    DanielEvansSouthall Registered Posts: 26
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    Who is the regulatory board for AAT?
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    I think it's Ofqual
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our inquiries, you may refer the issue in the first instance to the appropriate member of the AAT Executive team, depending on the nature of the complaint, or to the AAT CEO.

    As an awarding body, AAT is regulated by Ofqual, SQA Accreditation, Qualification Wales and CCEA. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint you may refer the issue to the appropriate regulatory body:

    Ofqual - Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
    England, Wales and Northern Ireland
    +44 (0)20 7509 5555
  • angelcbf
    angelcbf Registered Posts: 9
    edited October 2017
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    Got these letters from my training provider via email.
  • DanielEvansSouthall
    DanielEvansSouthall Registered Posts: 26
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    Thanks but nothing mentioned about the synoptic ?
  • GemGem17
    GemGem17 Registered Posts: 30
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    The second letter you have posted is the one I received in the post yesterday @angelcbf
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    I think they should change the practice assessments to reflect these "amazing changes" or am I correct in thinking it's merely changes to their marking strategy that they've made. As this is what I have been convinced of, marking is way too strict and questions are not detailed enough to compose a comprehensive, complete answer to. You can't ask for a fruit and then expect me to know which fruit (s) you want, then punish me when I gave you a banana as you wanted an apple, two oranges and a starfruit.....
  • mergen
    mergen Registered Posts: 112 New contributor 🐸
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    @Lindi I like oranges....
  • JayKallee
    JayKallee Registered, Tutor Posts: 92
    edited October 2017
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    :)

  • MissHermansen
    MissHermansen Registered Posts: 103
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    They're clearly admitting "teething problems" with the 2016 standards.. correct me if I am wrong, but as their guinea pigs shouldn't they LISTEN carefully to all our feedback and take it on board?! Also everyone knows when you pay for a half price hair cut from a junior stylist that there's a risk involved of leaving with a wonky fringe.. however where was our warning as we embarked on our final year of AAT?!

    The only way I can describe the way I am feeling right now is that I went to the hairdressers expecting to come out looking like a million dollars, what with paying full price and all for a quality service, but left with a well and truly botched up hair cut.. AND God forbid I should complain! Oh no that haircut is to an adequate standard, BUT if I want to try my luck again (at my own risk) I must pay full price again!

    I fear I may have to change "hairdressers" to get the end results I am after..

    Starfruits and Hair salons... it seems no other way to get our points across!
  • student
    student Registered Posts: 44
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    I sat the exam for the 3rd time in September, and i wish they do not change it again. 6 months have passed from my first sitting I don't know for how long AAT students are expected to remember the previous madules but to be honest my knowledge is fading adding to it constant changes to the exam,then you can find the depth of the disaster for students who where the victims of thsee changes (especially those who sat it first).
  • MissHermansen
    MissHermansen Registered Posts: 103
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    > @student said:
    > I sat the exam for the 3rd time in September, and i wish they do not change it again. 6 months have passed from my first sitting I don't know for how long AAT students are expected to remember the previous madules but to be honest my knowledge is fading adding to it constant changes to the exam,then you can find the depth of the disaster for students who where the victims of thsee changes (especially those who sat it first).
    >

    Couldn't agree more with this.. I sat it 17th may and I'm due to resit 5th December. That's almost 7 months apart.. I couldn't make the September resit due to a ore booked holiday but they've not exactly provided exam dates in an abundance.. strange when the demand is so high! I don't even know where to start now...
  • Multiplicator
    Multiplicator Registered Posts: 116
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    My dear Miss hermansen - good luck Dec 5th by the way
    My brother who has been monitoring all this ( I am making heavy weather of level 3 and this thread and the comments has terminated any lingering desire to do Level 4, if I could haha) commented on AAT's stance: they dont want to negotiate because they would have done so by now.

    Alison from Swansea - May 17 - they read all this and take it to heart! changes to: Oct 17- I dont think they can be reading any of this!

    Miss H glumly concludes; I fear I may have to change "hairdressers" to get the end results I am after..

    my answer is 'yes' - good luck - I am 5% off - of our class that started level 3 (16) two have so far passed.
    and to echo your point - would we have signed up for a course if we had been told 88% would fail? No
    They must have known this by the way - because they said later the system had been tested and was meant to work like this.

    Level 3 failures who started level 4 on spec ( that they would pass a retake) were told that if they failed and were chucked off the course then they would snaffle the whole of the years course fee ! No one signed up

  • steady88
    steady88 Registered Posts: 25
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    Have AAT published the overall pass rate performances on each exam? It'd be interesting to know how many have passed the synoptic first time in comparison to the rest of the exams. I'd imagine it's very low.

    I've finished 5 exams, so just waiting for this result in two weeks, but pretty sure I'll need to do it again. Sounds like many of us are in the same boat of just having this one exam left before completing the whole thing.

    I wrote an email a couple of weeks to AAT regarding the relevant cost question as this didn't come up in the curriculum so I thought it unfair to ask that question, and that 88% falling way below the standard of the question makes this a fair assumption. Haven't replied yet.
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    Have you all seen the new "assessment" on the website? (SAMS) it's in the PDSY module. I think worth a look, I'm going to try my hand at that one for what it's worth.
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    Can someone help me with identifying what does an internal audit entail?
    I know external audits is where VAT or independent auditors come in and ask to see an array of financial documents and could ask to spot check the company's spot checks but I've never witnessed an internal audit.

    Also, could this be conducted by a certain list of approved employees currently in other roles within the company? Sort of the same principle as appointing a dedicated MLRO within an organisation?

    Thank you.
  • MissHermansen
    MissHermansen Registered Posts: 103
    edited November 2017
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    My tutor did a Synoptic Revision class last night and we went through the new paper on the AAT site- question four asks you to support your answer with calculations-BUT in the answers from AAT there were no calculations shown! My tutor was literally scratching his head and said he would need to take it away with him and write out a decent answer for us. Well done AAT- what an absolute joke! The new material is no better than the old
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    Joke... Here I was thinking they actually wanted to help us.
  • Multiplicator
    Multiplicator Registered Posts: 116
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    Hi Lindi - chin up old girl - noli illegitimi ....

    I get the picture that there are a lot of you - crowded near the final fence ( the synoptic) and looking over it
    I understand you have jumped all the fences before but this one is just that bit higher

    keep in there - you'll all do it in the end !
    yuou are almost there - just keep on

    Oliver Dearlove
  • Venoxulous
    Venoxulous Registered Posts: 14
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    After reading this thread, I'm dreading this final exam!

    No idea where to even begin with revision.
  • Lindi
    Lindi Registered Posts: 166
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    Venoxulous said:

    After reading this thread, I'm dreading this final exam!

    No idea where to even begin with revision.

    I know, I have hit a brick wall. To start I have wasted 2 months of my time trying to get to grips with what it is I needed to learn. I've signed up for a correspondence course including videos covering a recap on all of the mandatory units and some accounting systems and controls - which was very useful. But I'm finding my brain is now for some reason unable to remember anything from Financial Statements which I did nearly a year ago...

    So... I have decided to re-do the Professional Lucky Dip green light test to force my brain to think and recount what was learnt. This green light covers all 3 mandatory units. Where I got 88% before my PDSY exam in July, I now got 75% - which I think is worth a pat on the back. I've reviewed my answers and identified where I struggled/went wrong. Some are so silly, general typo's.

    Then, I am not sleeping at night, which is a combination of stress at work (so much more is expected of me now and I'm in a constant lull unable to come up with anything productive as my brain is tired from trying to study) and personal life is hectic.

    I have now decided to research the art of becoming proactive and am intending on addressing my sleep/wake times to follow exactly the same pattern every night, as apparently that way your body clock finds a rhythm in which it wakes fresh and proactive each morning.

    Isn't it sad that one silly exam has completely taken over my life? The only problem is it's not that silly and I am determined to pass it in December.

    Tips I can give you is try the lucky dip test; practice the written questions on the practice exams; and make sure you don't do too much... take regular breaks when studying and get the right amount of sleep to wake up refreshed. Hope this helps, I'm yet to find if it works for me... :+1: )
  • MissHermansen
    MissHermansen Registered Posts: 103
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    Venoxulous said:

    After reading this thread, I'm dreading this final exam!

    No idea where to even begin with revision.

    I feel exactly the same :(

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