AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam
Comments
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I tried 3 times .. First time I had 67%, second time 68% and third time 68% as well. That is the reason it is frustrating. I have been studying this unit since October 2016 and THERE is nothing else I haven't done from AAT "study materials". I am quoting study materials, as they are not accurate study materials, and they DO NOT reflect what the exam expects us to do, therefore they are basically useless. This is the only exam I haven't passed, and with all the respect, I don't think I am going to continue on studying with AAT anymore. My membership expires soon, and it will never again be renewed.MissHermansen said:
I was 3% out last time- an uplift of 5% would have saved me lots of money and months of anguish for both myself and my little girl.. who has to take a backseat each weekend and evening I am studying. The exam has been amended without any uplift which is strange indeed..
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@MissHermansen I think sometimes they think we're just complaining with a bag of gold in one hand, but I second your comment where your little girl has to be entertained whilst you study. I am a single mother in the week and I can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to have breakfast with my daughter at the table in the mornings now. I can take her places and do things with her, where before I would be so wound up about studying that even when I wasn't studying and trying to relax I'd still be high strung because the stress and pressure eats away at you. I completely agree that even though we know what to expect, we just don't know how the questions will be phrased and how far we can go into elaborating - it's a fine line between making valid points; waffling on; and not saying enough. I think that is where they need to concentrate. I will once again feed this back to the customer service team for what it's worth as I think everyone should do. Don't let their responses put you off if they say if you'd like to complain.... just email your quibbles to the email above then you have proof of having mentioned it to the correct people.
I am and have always also been of the opinion that an uplift was and is required, this is not a mere PBKT or BCST exam, this is everything we've learnt at a very advanced level, tested meticulously. I agree with the concept, but in practice I think AAT have not thought through the teething issues and consequences of using us all as guinea pigs. You can't not offer an uplift when there was clearly an issue with the exam, more than once.4 -
I think its quite clear that AAT dont want to hear about any struggles we have even if we log the issues we find through their process we get a generic response and no further support.
We will all get there in the end but unfortunately with a struggle!1 -
I just look forward to being able to give my little girl the time she deserves- she can see how hard I work and has been an absolute angel to be fair. She did break down in tears on the weekend scared that I will fail again.. meaning more weekends having to play quietly whilst mum studies. I am so determined to make it this time.. if only for my girl. I want her to see that you don't give up when times get hard but keep trying. I must say never imagined the emotional torment that has come along with studying level 4. This is a part time course designed around adults with full time jobs and families.. but I feel it has been very hard to juggle all of this!Lindi said:@MissHermansen I think sometimes they think we're just complaining with a bag of gold in one hand, but I second your comment where your little girl has to be entertained whilst you study. I am a single mother in the week and I can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to have breakfast with my daughter at the table in the mornings now. I can take her places and do things with her, where before I would be so wound up about studying that even when I wasn't studying and trying to relax I'd still be high strung because the stress and pressure eats away at you. I completely agree that even though we know what to expect, we just don't know how the questions will be phrased and how far we can go into elaborating - it's a fine line between making valid points; waffling on; and not saying enough. I think that is where they need to concentrate. I will once again feed this back to the customer service team for what it's worth as I think everyone should do. Don't let their responses put you off if they say if you'd like to complain.... just email your quibbles to the email above then you have proof of having mentioned it to the correct people.
I am and have always also been of the opinion that an uplift was and is required, this is not a mere PBKT or BCST exam, this is everything we've learnt at a very advanced level, tested meticulously. I agree with the concept, but in practice I think AAT have not thought through the teething issues and consequences of using us all as guinea pigs. You can't not offer an uplift when there was clearly an issue with the exam, more than once.1 -
complaining is no use- I have sent so many emails and letters with my concerns. Some without a response and the rest pretty much repeating the above comment from AAT.. It is not worth the time and effort to even try to explain, but my thought behind it was that feedback would be taken on board considering this is a brand new standardCharley1995 said:I think its quite clear that AAT dont want to hear about any struggles we have even if we log the issues we find through their process we get a generic response and no further support.
We will all get there in the end but unfortunately with a struggle!0 -
This is the problem ! Because I would have thought that they would release some more materials / questions / sample assessment to make sure we can familiarise ourselves with the type of questions, or at least know what we are expected to calculate / answer, especially after placing a RIDICULOUS number of complaints through to AAT. That is the reason it is a waste of money, because AAT gives us the general reply, blablabla, we pay for re-sits, and they still do not do anything about the exam itself ! It's fair to say it's given them a nice chunk of income before they finally decided to "amend" the MDCL exam. However, the people, who would have passed it under the new conditions, will still have to PAY for the re-sit, which is clearly unfair, knowing the fact they would have passed if the time was appropriate for the number of questions and marks! After the changes the people will get THE SAME amount of time.Charley1995 said:I think its quite clear that AAT dont want to hear about any struggles we have even if we log the issues we find through their process we get a generic response and no further support.
We will all get there in the end but unfortunately with a struggle!2 -
The answers to all this seem so simple.. yet so hard for AAT to graspAdam144 said:
This is the problem ! Because I would have thought that they would release some more materials / questions / sample assessment to make sure we can familiarise ourselves with the type of questions, or at least know what we are expected to calculate / answer, especially after placing a RIDICULOUS number of complaints through to AAT. That is the reason it is a waste of money, because AAT gives us the general reply, blablabla, we pay for re-sits, and they still do not do anything about the exam itself ! It's fair to say it's given them a nice chunk of income before they finally decided to "amend" the MDCL exam. However, the people, who would have passed it under the new conditions, will still have to PAY for the re-sit, which is clearly unfair, knowing the fact they would have passed if the time was appropriate for the number of questions and marks! After the changes the people will get THE SAME amount of time.Charley1995 said:I think its quite clear that AAT dont want to hear about any struggles we have even if we log the issues we find through their process we get a generic response and no further support.
We will all get there in the end but unfortunately with a struggle!1 -
Well if u read AAT team All those comments then plz do some thing. Majority will never be wrong. We all know wt aat upload and change but that is still not enough. That help ( aat ) is totally different from the actual exam. Aat is playing with people lifes. I ended with depression after 3 fail attempts. I don’t think so aat is doing some think.0
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I am sure AAT exactly knows what it's doing. They generate a lot of money on us paying for re-sits. If they want to keep being respected qualification, they need to focus on the study materials that they release, to make sure people know what they are expected to know by the time they finish the qualification. Otherwise, nobody would want to study this qualification because at the moment it is a waste of money. I have had so many people in college, who failed this exam so many times before I tried it, that I can't believe it is something to DO WITH US. It is clearly the AAT problem, and it is related to the study support that is available, or shall I say that is not available, because that actually reflects the truth.
Strangely I can't see anybody who so far complained about AQ2013 for the equivalent exam ! Wonder why?!2 -
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Well said Adam but no point1
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They asking us wt is weakness and Threats in PDSY
WEAKNESSES are un proper and unorganised exam module.
Threat are they badly damage their reputation.0 -
The best advice I can give anyone for the synoptic is not to neglect referencing your answers to the pre-release material as you will not access the higher marks without it. Also if you are able to, External auditing has some great material that works hand in hand with accounting systems and controls and can help with communicating how the controls in place are strong or flawed.
AAT Level 2&3 - 2016
AAT Level 4 - 2017
Personal Tax, Business Tax and External Auditing
ACA/CTA -
Certificate Level - Jan 20193 -
I just contacted AAT and they told me that the exam hasn’t been amended for Professional Level 4 Synoptic. They have only amended the advanced one.
I asked for the overall pass percentage of students who have sat this exam and they wouldn’t give me an answer.
Task 2 and 4 have only 10% and 5% rates of Met!2 -
Hi Hazel, please could you send me your revision notes. I'm sitting the exam in Februaryhazel123 said:I think I was very lucky with my exam and completely agree with the cryptic questions. The main thing was to actually learn and revise the accounting systems and controls information, I hadn't really even looked at them when I first sat it as I thought it was mainly based on the core modules. I started my revision by reading that book fully and making notes where I could. That kaplan revision kit also has the pocket notes for that for some quick reminders! Then I just went through and looked at each question individually to make sure I was as confident as I could be with each once, it also helps get you familiarised with exam style. The kaplan kit breaks down the pre-release as well and helps point out areas they may question you on and what to look out for. I would also make sure you're familiar with how to flex a budget as that will 100% be in the exam. If you send me your email I can forward you some revision notes I made from information on this forum
miamarner@hotmail.com 0 -
Thank you Parmar - is that jpg for level 3 or 4 synoptic ?
A question that has 1% exceeded and 5% met - with 94% 'other' - is not dicriminant is it ? which means it would not be fit for purpose as in discriminating who should pass and who should fail the exam they are taking.
and the overall pass rates - I have found AAT ( bless them! ) very precious about saying what they are. An indicator of exam quality is that the pass rate for one year should be roughly near the same as a previous ones, and not the blood bath we have all experienced. The caring sharing AAT dispute this - and the information is with them and not available to us, and there is a rumour that it is now back to 30%.1 -
@Multiplicator
The picture is for Level 4 only. Yes I think the overall pass rate is really low as only one person in my class passed and that was with 70% dead on. With only one Task with over 50% of people getting Met. That task is Task 5. The other tasks all have a Met of 43% or lower and 3 of the 6 tasks have under 15% met. I can’t imagine the overall pass rate is any higher than 25%!1 -
The examiners report that you are referring to came out at the end of August 17. There have been 2 more sittings I believe since then and they also released the new answer sheets for the sample assessments which show in more detail what they are looking for in the written questions. So you do have to take the report with a pinch of salt as it doesn’t show recent results.
The exam is difficult but reading the examiners report on why some answers were not answered well is a good way to review your own answers and see how to improve them.AAT Level 2&3 - 2016
AAT Level 4 - 2017
Personal Tax, Business Tax and External Auditing
ACA/CTA -
Certificate Level - Jan 20190 -
// So you do have to take the report with a pinch of salt as it doesn’t show recent results.//
yes I realise that - but "the truth will make you free" - Parmar has said how AAT are precious about releasing pass rates. - any way CS - in a thread which was later censored - ddint you say that the rate was back up to 32% ?
So this very well taught course is passable. ( and very worthwhile when you do)
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AAT just ruined my life. I failed the synoptic exam 3 times, despite all my good results in other madules(2 of them more than 90% and the rest more than 80%). I ended up in depression, loosing my confidence and eventually resigned and left my career as an account assisstant.0
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> @student said:
> AAT just ruined my life. I failed the synoptic exam 3 times, despite all my good results in other madules(2 of them more than 90% and the rest more than 80%). I ended up in depression, loosing my confidence and eventually resigned and left my career as an account assisstant.
This is really sad.. I'm sorry to hear you're depressed. It's easy to make rash decisions when you're feeling low. If you've come this far and you've achieved such high results up to now .. don't let this poxy idiotic synoptic exam rob you of what you deserve. Keep trying.. the exam will remain the same but you will get bigger! You can and will do it x0 -
Thanks for your kind sympathy miss hermansen
It was not an easy decision for me to leave my profession.but seeing all my colleagues passing their ACCA exams successfully without me being able to finnish aat exam,made me feel worse. Now after 10 month from my first sitting there is not much I can remember.
A tutor told me that you should have started with ACCA from the beggining, but it is too late now.
I hope I find my confidence once again and Finnish my aat.1 -
> @student said:
> Thanks for your kind sympathy miss hermansen
> It was not an easy decision for me to leave my profession.but seeing all my colleagues passing their ACCA exams successfully without me being able to finnish aat exam,made me feel worse. Now after 10 month from my first sitting there is not much I can remember.
> A tutor told me that you should have started with ACCA from the beggining, but it is too late now.
> I hope I find my confidence once again and Finnish my aat.
Maybe a break is what you needed.. you'll be surprised what comes back mind and I'm sure there are many who can help give you some good study tips. All the best and get well soon0 -
In another thread, which was vapourised as CS89 can verify - another wise head said I might not be bright enough for ACCA and a change to ACCA. I only repeat advice now as it is not available as a result of site censorship, very judiciously exercised I might add.
However my point is different. In terms of exam quality indicators -we have had content validity - "does the exam test the subject?" Moderators glowed red when I ridiculed the hand-knees-and-boompsa daisy routine in order to able to complete the spreadsheet section of Level 3. Above, you will read how necessary it is to read pre-release materials in order to pass level 4 - which is not exactly testing the accountancy knowledge needed at this stage. Hence there is a question of content validity of Level 4
IN a level 3 thread one student heart warmingly described the magnificent service from AAT when he applied for a re-mark and they discovered that the mark X,X,0 was because of a failure of upload! - The new remark X,X,X led to 79% - a good pass! This raises the issue of inter-examiner variability - the expectation in a good quality exam that one examiner will assess a candidate in roughly the same way as another.
//However, the people, who would have passed it under the new conditions, will still have to PAY for the re-sit, which is clearly unfair, knowing the fact they would have passed if the time was appropriate for the number of questions and marks!//{ see above] Passing one time and failing another on the same knowledge raises questions about another quality indicator - the pass rates of one year should really be near the pass rates of a previous one. We all are aware of AAT's precious attitude to pass rates of 2017 compared to previously. In a good quality exam there should be mininal inter exam variability
So some very relevant questions have been raised about AAT exams at level 3 and 4 and their quality, and all the listening and caring site moderators have said so far is: write to someone else will you ? ( see above again ) .
One observation which is new is that people above:
//I hope I find my confidence once again and Finnish my aat.// is that people seem to have been damaged by paying and taking level 4 - this can as far as I can see never be the target or anticipated outcome of any course offered to the public. I am certain the large hearted moderators will say: "honestly write to someone else about this will you?" - "the points are not deemed raised at AAT unless it is in the right pigeon hole"
Oliver Dearlove as Multiplicator0 -
Remember ACCA pass mark is only 50%. Nuff said.2
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Just found out from my Manager, who is studying CIMA.
CIMA has a good way of marking exams but it works. You have to get 70% or 60%. But they take overall percentage of people who would sit a paper eg F1 and adjust it. If its low the "pass mark" drops, if its high then stays as 70%. Something in those lines. They basically keep it fair.1 -
> @mergen said:
> Just found out from my Manager, who is studying CIMA.
> CIMA has a good way of marking exams but it works. You have to get 70% or 60%. But they take overall percentage of people who would sit a paper eg F1 and adjust it. If its low the "pass mark" drops, if its high then stays as 70%. Something in those lines. They basically keep it fair.
I believe ACCA also adopt this marking scheme to make it fairer!1 -
*lower0
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