AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam

Lindi

Pass mark..... what you need to pass.
You only need 50% to pass ACCA exams. You need 70% to pass AAT.
And ACCA is much more widely recognised than AAT - another note is you can already jump to ACCA once you've completed level 3 AAT... I wish I had done that as might have had a better result. Anyway water under the bridge, suppose I am a little bitter that a better degree has a lower pass mark....

sharpy92

JJ1 said:

Lindi said:

*lower

Are you sure Level 4 Synoptic pass rate is over 50%? 2 weeks ago I spoke to friend of mine who is Level 4 tutor and he told me only 2 people passed from 23 in his class. Other Level 4 exams were passed by over 95% of students during first time sitting.

They are saying that the actual exams for ACCA and CIMA you only need to get 50% correct to pass rather than the 70% on AAT. I think your getting confused with the percentage of people actually passing.

MissHermansen

JJ1 said:

Lindi said:

*lower

Are you sure Level 4 Synoptic pass rate is over 50%? 2 weeks ago I spoke to friend of mine who is Level 4 tutor and he told me only 2 people passed from 23 in his class. Other Level 4 exams were passed by over 95% of students during first time sitting.

what Lindi is saying is.. you only need 50% to pass an ACCA exam- not 70% like you do for AAT.

Venoxulous

There must be talks regarding this exam and some changes somewhere down the line, if the pass rate is truly so abysmal. I'm two week from sitting it for the first time and this thread doesn't fill me with any confidence regarding it.

CSan89

> @Lindi said:
> Pass mark..... what you need to pass.
> You only need 50% to pass ACCA exams. You need 70% to pass AAT.
> And ACCA is much more widely recognised than AAT - another note is you can already jump to ACCA once you've completed level 3 AAT... I wish I had done that as might have had a better result. Anyway water under the bridge, suppose I am a little bitter that a better degree has a lower pass mark...

I think it is hard to compare AAT with the likes of ACCA, CIMA or ICAEW as it isn’t at the same level as them (and it is not trying to be as it is the association of accounting technicians). The chartered accountancy qualifications have a lower pass mark (50% ACCA or 55% ICAEW) but that isn’t because they are easier, it’s because they are harder and require more information to pass. AAT is a great way for people without degrees to get a start in accounting.

I do believe that the pre-release material is a step in the right direction as looking at the ACA(ICAEW) exams I have ahead of me, most of them have some form of pre-release material/open book elements to the exams.

I can confirm about the thread @Multiplicator was talking about ref. ACCA being harder. Not sure about the 35% pass rate though.

JayKallee

Hope it gets better going ahead. Keep up with the hard work.

MissHermansen

Venoxulous said:

There must be talks regarding this exam and some changes somewhere down the line, if the pass rate is truly so abysmal. I'm two week from sitting it for the first time and this thread doesn't fill me with any confidence regarding it.

you have a lot more on your side if you're sitting it first time around now- AAT have added some more materials onto their site and the paper has been amended slightly. Also if anything use this discussion forum for good study tips.. I am sitting it 2 weeks today and I am literally going through every past paper I can to gain a thorough understanding of each task. Good luck

DomParmar

> @MissHermansen said:
> There must be talks regarding this exam and some changes somewhere down the line, if the pass rate is truly so abysmal. I'm two week from sitting it for the first time and this thread doesn't fill me with any confidence regarding it.
>
> you have a lot more on your side if you're sitting it first time around now- AAT have added some more materials onto their site and the paper has been amended slightly. Also if anything use this discussion forum for good study tips.. I am sitting it 2 weeks today and I am literally going through every past paper I can to gain a thorough understanding of each task. Good luck

Where did you hear about the paper being amended? I spoke to AAT and they say they haven’t amended Level 4 Synoptic at all. They have only amended the advanced Synoptic which is level 3.

MissHermansen

DomParmar said:

> @MissHermansen said:

> There must be talks regarding this exam and some changes somewhere down the line, if the pass rate is truly so abysmal. I'm two week from sitting it for the first time and this thread doesn't fill me with any confidence regarding it.

>

> you have a lot more on your side if you're sitting it first time around now- AAT have added some more materials onto their site and the paper has been amended slightly. Also if anything use this discussion forum for good study tips.. I am sitting it 2 weeks today and I am literally going through every past paper I can to gain a thorough understanding of each task. Good luck



Where did you hear about the paper being amended? I spoke to AAT and they say they haven’t amended Level 4 Synoptic at all. They have only amended the advanced Synoptic which is level 3.

The marking scheme of the paper has been amended slightly

Multiplicator

I congratulate the punters ( sorry contributors ) to this thread. and also to the very fairminded and wise moderators who havent censored this thread ( much ). 45 000 people have had a peek at what we are saying.

Just think - 45 000 punters who might sign up pay for level 4 next year as a result of our helpful comments that have allowed the caring sharing AAT to alter, tailor and adjust the course and exam as a result of feedback here.

Venoxulous

Are we allowed to discuss notes made regarding the pre-release material, ratios for example, on here?

Multiplicator

clearly if you are taking the exam for the first time, then your questions cannot be regarding secret reserved exam material because you havent take one yet.

and so the answer would be yes.
Oh and good luck for your first take !

sharpy92

Re-sat today for the third time, all I can do now is keep my fingers crossed. Exam doesn't seem to have changed at all since my previous attempts, not sure if someone said it had on here?

Had the exact same question as one of my previous attempts (unfortunately, still struggled with it as not one i've seen on the AAT study support or via Kaplan!)

Roll on 30th March for results

Lindi

@sharpy92 I had the same problem, was not allowed to make notes of the live exam and was not allowed to discuss live content, as a result I NEVER got an answer to my question, and when my second sitting came up I had the same question ... still didn't know how to answer it but on the plus side I'd like to think the further studying I did help and somehow I passed my second attempt exam.

Let's hope it's the same for you and that they sway in your favour. Fingers crossed xxxxx

Charley1995

Mines on friday! Feeling insanely nervous! Good luck everyone!!

sharpy92

Lindi said:

@sharpy92 I had the same problem, was not allowed to make notes of the live exam and was not allowed to discuss live content, as a result I NEVER got an answer to my question, and when my second sitting came up I had the same question ... still didn't know how to answer it but on the plus side I'd like to think the further studying I did help and somehow I passed my second attempt exam.

Let's hope it's the same for you and that they sway in your favour. Fingers crossed xxxxx

I'm exactly the same, still didn't really know the answer but hoping the written part of it I have improved on! The most annoying thing about the appeal was they spelt my name wrong on the document! If they cannot even be bothered to spell my name correctly then it doesn't give me great confidence!

I did however feel after studying the pre-release as much as possible and the online SAMS report that I was able to answer the written parts easier, roll on 30th March!
xx

JoJoMis

It's actually 29th March now since the 30th is a bank holiday! One less day to wait, guys.

Lindi

lol knowing AAT they will make you wait until 3rd of April... Let's hope not

JoJoMis

Hahah don't worry Lindi, they said that in the AAT newsletter!

sharpy92

JoJoMis said:

It's actually 29th March now since the 30th is a bank holiday! One less day to wait, guys.

Thank you for this! One less day of torture!

jack93

Hi All,

About to sit my exam tomorrow and I am really struggling on what to revise and what might come up! Can I check that the exam is based on the Green Print Limited company? And does it help to analyse the pre release material as much as possible before hand? e.g. Ratios, Scorecards etc.

Any help/advice would be really helpful!

Lindi

jack93 said:

Hi All,

About to sit my exam tomorrow and I am really struggling on what to revise and what might come up! Can I check that the exam is based on the Green Print Limited company? And does it help to analyse the pre release material as much as possible before hand? e.g. Ratios, Scorecards etc.

Any help/advice would be really helpful!

I think if you understand how the ratios work you will have an advantage. Particularly ROCE, where the figures come from, how they're made up. Working back ratios is also useful as sometimes they only give you some of the information and you need to know how to work it back. I have not got my notes anymore, half of it got archived and half of it went for shredding but if I remember I will post an example.

jack93

Thank you! Just going through about 4 mock exams with their mark scheme and there is a recurring pattern of ROCE coming up! Hopefully if I keep going through the GPL business material it will fall in to place!

Any advice for the Budgeting Recommendation question? The 4 mocks I have all have completely different answers and I can't find key information in my Budgeting course book.

MissHermansen

Good luck all x

Lindi

@jack93 not to scare you, but I memorised everything about GPL, the staff, their roles, the type of business they run, I even had them planned out in a virtual office in my head, had scenarios down to the t of things that could possibly happen in the company, consequences for the staff, who would be accountable.... and the exam hardly touched on any of these.

You'll have to judge for yourself but all I can speak from is my own experience, and if I did it again I would not spend too much time on studying the internal controls and the pre release material, I would concentrate more on the decision making, limiting factors, top down/bottom up budgeting, symptoms of each and consequences of each of these.

For some reason AAT think their students will walk into a senior management accounting role the moment they qualify and will be expected to make life changing director standard decisions affecting the company and its staff.

My tip: Always think about the money first.
Then and only then think about the ethics, consequences, staff morale, triple bottom rule.

jack93

Brilliant! Thank you so much for your advice! Hopefully I will get through this! Haven't failed one yet so I am praying this doesn't hold me back!

Venoxulous

Just took my Synoptic this morning.

It's a pity I can't discuss the live material to properly express how much of a mess that paper is, the mocks are easy but it was nothing at all like them. Even ratio analysis, which I'm very good at, was put in a way I've never previously seen.

What I can say though is it didn't touch on the pre-release material at all, minus maybe one mark, so next time I'll spend less time there and more on the topics that did come up.

Highest in my group at the moment was 54%, doubt my attempt will be any better, honestly!

Robbie28

Hi guys, does anyone know any key areas to revise for Tasks 2 and 4? Any advice would be brilliant.

Lindi

Venoxulous said:

Just took my Synoptic this morning.

It's a pity I can't discuss the live material to properly express how much of a mess that paper is, the mocks are easy but it was nothing at all like them. Even ratio analysis, which I'm very good at, was put in a way I've never previously seen.

What I can say though is it didn't touch on the pre-release material at all, minus maybe one mark, so next time I'll spend less time there and more on the topics that did come up.

Highest in my group at the moment was 54%, doubt my attempt will be any better, honestly!

I am not surprised to hear this, this is exactly how I felt. It was nothing like the mocks and the pre-release material does not even prepare you in the slightest. I am so disappointed to hear feedback like this despite AAT's comments on reviewing the exam cobtent closely. Venoxulous let's hope they have adjusted the marking scheme to reflect your actual grades judged by knowledge and effort. Fingers crossed.

Cheesypeesy

Oh dear, you guys aren't filling me with confidence! Exam tomorrow, fingers crossed the questions are kind.