AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam

Kennnnedyy

> @unicorn1905 said:
> Does anyone know anyone who has done the project in previous years? As I don't so have no one to ask how difficult it was. Surely AAT should benchmark it against this?

I work with somoene who done the project (about 6 years ago) but she said it was relatively simple as long as you put the time in

hangawi74

They got it wrong the synoptic same as mdcl basically if we complain it's not we begging for marks we bring the issue to their attention even further which they should not ignore and give a valid explanation ,,,what was their reply anyway "student "!

NatalieSarantos

Comment removed

[A Contribution must not disclose any material from live assessments, AAT-produced or otherwise]

AlisonSwanson

The AQ13 project and the AQ16 Level 4 Synoptic do not compare.

With the written project students have 4 to 6 months to complete the project in their own time using any resources needed. They have access to tutor support and guidance throughout, having first and even second drafts corrected by tutors before uploading the final version to the AAT.

I have students this year who would have sailed through the project last year, but have failed the Synoptic this year, and I am sure that not all of the students who passed the project last year would have passed the Synoptic this year.

The Synoptic itself is not a bad idea, however in its current format results are clearly not reflecting the ability of the students. Whether it is the ambiguity of the questions, model answers, mark schemes, lack of guidance and resources reflecting the actual content and requirements of the assessment, or the pure lottery as to whether or not you get a 'nice' question, I don't know.

Let's hope the examiners feedback due to be published on 31st August will help us all with re-sits.

NatalieSarantos

@AbbyCarr did you find this in your breakdown? (See my above comment)

student

yes I agree that they might have the list for tasks 3 and 6.I was very confident this time that I will pass. but much to my surprise I got a lower mark.

student

in summary the reply was that since it is new it provides very different challenges to individual unit assessments and I should acquiring knowledge and understanding of the connections between the different topics covered across the qualification.but the question is how we should be prepared to bridge what we have learnt with the AAT requirement in the synoptic, could publishers fulfill this? have training providers received enough training or instructions for Synoptic beforehand? is there enough resource material available to prepare the student for the new module?

Kelly87

Have no idea what else I can do?
Got 63% first time and 48% this time! Also thought I done better!
There has to be issues with marking as weaknesses I know I got them. When you read the book front to back countless times and understand it what else is there

NatalieSarantos

@Kelly87 definitely something up with the marking!

Megan1

I failed twice for synoptic but the other 5 exams with good marks and all first time pass (even Decision & Control passed first time without extra marks). I think the issue is AAT either set synoptic standard too high or the others too low, except for Decision & Control. Anyway there is a obvious discrepancy between these exams setting standards. Probably AAT did this on purpose to give us the final hurdle. Who knows?

Multiplicator

// as I'm pretty sure they boosted the percentage for the Level 3 Synoptic //

hello levellers - 4 ! I just ploughed level 3 - and we were all offered a free resit ( oh great!).
I scored 62 % clear fail - and was doing 80s and 90s before in the modules
AAT said there was no uplift ( hearsay I am afraid ) and I can certainly believe that

all I can say is that we have had the same problems in level 3 synoptic
and good luck for the retake or retakes

the govt [seem to] have told them to make these exams harder and they have gleefully taken that as a signal to take our money and cut our throats ! Great

Alison a registered tutor has been posting ( =stuck her head over the parapet ) and I have asked her for the pass rates and she has been coy about that - Level 3 around 7 out of 70 passed in Brighton and St Johns Manchester - we dont know of anyone who passed ( but all late results not in )

next year I am giving this a rest and doing something else - I am retired - my sincere sympathies for those locked into this. Very demoralised by all this - I really feel I have been misled

steady88

I was wondering, how long did it take to get feedback when you appealed? I got 62% and have booked to resit 27th September, and if I can get feedback before then it can help me to prepare. Then hopefully my level 4 will be fully completed.

AlisonSwanson

> @Multiplicator said:
> Alison a registered tutor has been posting ( =stuck her head over the parapet ) and I have asked her for the pass rates and she has been coy about that - Level 3 around 7 out of 70 passed in Brighton and St Johns Manchester - we dont know of anyone who passed ( but all late results not in )
>

Don't have any to report. Still waiting!

unicorn1905

> @steady88 said:
> I was wondering, how long did it take to get feedback when you appealed? I got 62% and have booked to resit 27th September, and if I can get feedback before then it can help me to prepare. Then hopefully my level 4 will be fully completed.

Same here, I'm going to appeal mainly for feedback but if I don't get it before resit end of sept it would have been a waste of time!

AlisonSwanson

AAT are publishing examiners feedback on PDSY and Level 4 Synoptic on August 31st, so that will help hopefully.

unicorn1905

> @AlisonSwanson said:
> AAT are publishing examiners feedback on PDSY and Level 4 Synoptic on August 31st, so that will help hopefully.

Will that be available on the website Alison?

student

what is the use of the examiners feedback for those who have failed their exam?

tinkerbell0406

The appeal takes 4 weeks and cost £30. They will mot give u extra marks and the feedback is better but not substantial enough on some question. Usually you get a reply in about 15days once they have acknowledged receipt.

steady88

tinkerbell0406 said:

The appeal takes 4 weeks and cost £30. They will mot give u extra marks and the feedback is better but not substantial enough on some question. Usually you get a reply in about 15days once they have acknowledged receipt.

Thanks Alison and tinkerbell. So might not be worth it then? The general feedback at the end of the month hopefully should be useful, and saves me £30.

AlisonSwanson

Examiner's feedback provides information on how students have performed nationally on each task, shows examples of where students are going wrong, and what the examiner is expecting from students on a task by task basis.

They are published at the end of September for each unit and you will usually find them in the same place as the AAT practice assessments on the AAT website, at the bottom of the page. There aren't any yet for AQ16.

This year the AAT are publishing these 2 early to help with revision before the next L4 Synoptic window.

NatalieSarantos

@AlisonSwanson it's good that they're releasing those 2 modules earlier! It should be extremely interesting to read. I know from experience the first sittings of MDCL (I took mine beginning of December) were brutal but pass rates for that exam have gone up substantially. Synoptic appears to going in the same path!
Do you think there is any chance there will be a % increase for synoptic too?

AlisonSwanson

I wish!!
Success rates will be published at the end of September.

NatalieSarantos

@AlisonSwanson i remain convinced they will!
Oh right I see, that will be extra interesting!

Multiplicator

Many thanks Alison - I will look forward with interest

student

thanks Alison. I hope it makes difference.

cmcd

Hi all

It's sad to see many have failed this exam after putting in such hard work. I got my result Friday and passed it quite comfortably first time, I don't say this to gloat, just wanted to offer some advice as to what may have helped me to pass it.

In preparation for the exam, the first thing I did was really master all my ratios again from FSLC. I knew not just the ratio itself, but exactly what it meant and factors that could affect the ratio from period to period. This meant I only spent around 10 minutes on Q5, along with around 5 minutes on Q1 (which is pot luck multiple choice) meaning I had the majority of my time left to spend on the other 4 questions.

Before the exam, I'd spent the week reading the 'BPP Level 4: Accounting systems and controls' book. I did about 2.5 hours a night on it and really tried to read everything and absorb it all, often repeating chapters so that I really understood what they were saying. Each time i came across a word or phrase that I thought I'd heard before somewhere else in the book, I wrote it down on a sheet of paper.

After that, I analysed the pre-release material to see if any of my words or phrases fit in to this material, which quite a lot did (e.g. centralised accounting system, systemic weakness).

In the exam, on the written questions, I spent a minute or so really taking my time to read the question and understand exactly what I mean. When answering, I tried to use my list of words and phrases as much as possible, even repeating them in the same answer if necessary, whilst referring to the pre-release material a lot as well as the new information given in the question. I also included as many figures and calculations in my answers as I could, literally writing the equations out instead of just giving the end figure.

Like I say, I only spent around 15 minutes combined on Q1 & Q5, which gave me 165 minutes on the other 4 questions, really allowing me enough leeway to get plenty of depth into my answers. I didn't waffle on but I wrote an awful lot. I submitted my paper with less than a minute to go, and didn't have chance to check my answers, so I was typing for a long time.

I felt the exam was extremely tough, but after my preparation as well as looking at the passed papers, there wasn't really any surprises on the day. Hope this can help you with resits or if you are yet to attempt the exam

NatalieSarantos

@cmcd I agree with you. I also made sure I knew ratios perfectly and tackled that and task 1 first.
As for studying before hand, I focused very heavily on budgeting and MDCL. I made sure I was up to date with all the important definitions in these 2 modules. I also revised ethics and tried to relate that as much to the pre-release material.
I feel like, honestly, that I got the 83% is because I wrote for dear life!!

cmcd

@NatalieSarantos yes fully agree. I sat my budgeting exam just the week before and felt like a lot of the written stuff I'd revised for that was transferable to the synoptic. I also revised MDCL and ethics again too and that certainly came in useful in the exam.

hangawi74

Hi anyone knows where I can find the synoptic exam dates !
Many thanks

marialucas

hangawi74 said:

Hi anyone knows where I can find the synoptic exam dates !

Many thanks

https://www.aat.org.uk/prod/s3fs-public/assets/Synoptic-calendar-results-2017-2018.pdf?djLm1oRNXtpRBSQVh0J.Nc71x7I9H3p6