AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam

MilesG16

has anyone noticed how many mistakes are in the BPP learning media, how are we suppose to learn from resources that have so many errors? Could someone tell me what they have learnt Payables payment period formula as? and also how to calculate capital employed? i know these are basic questions but im interested to see how they have been taught.

cmcd

@MilesG16

Trade payables payment period = Trade Payables / Cost of Sales x 365 days

ROCE = Profit from Operations / (Total Equity + NC Liabilities) x 100

NatalieSarantos

@cmcd same here

MilesG16

thank you for your reply. i have just done a green light test and a question on working capital where trade payables payment period was worked out as Payables/Purchases x 365 which resulted in working capital cycle being incorrect and me loosing 4 out of 8 marks.

Also i have learnt that capital employed = NC Assets + C Assets - C Liabilities from page 148 D & C and could not figure the correct answer where your equation was correct. I dont understand why these types of things are not explained fully in the books.

NatalieSarantos

@MilesG16 i would submit a complaint!

hangawi74

Sometimes in the question given only purchases therefore for trade payable period you use purchase but if you were given cost of sales I use COS.

MilesG16

so if you are given cost of sales and purchases which figure should you use? and why isn't this explained in the Formula we are given to learn

Irrorate

If you are given purchases you use purchases first and foremost as a cost of sales figure would include inventory adjustments.

If purchases, use. If not cos.

Kennnnedyy

I've just recieved this email in response to the one i sent to the AAT.

I am writing in response to your email received on the 18th August 2017.

We are in the process of reviewing the concerns that you have raised and the points which you have mentioned. In order to respond to your concerns we are required to liaise with different teams within the organisation. As such, unfortunately we have not been able to offer you a response as early as we would have anticipated and for this we apologise.

We aim to provide you with a response or update within 10 working days. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you have any other queries please do not hesitate to get in touch.

marialucas

"For this reason PDSY, like any other assessment, follows continuous quality review to ensure it is operating in the way it should . Adjustments are made to assessments as necessary during the marking phase, prior to results being released which can include adjustments to pass marks. We do of course monitor pass rates for our assessments as one of the measures that fit into this quality review"

This is part of the email I received from them in July and nothing has happened..
I'd like them to be fair with us but I'm not sure what they can do now, as an uplift will be beneficial for us who have failed but not for other students that have already their certificates like my colleague.

unicorn1905

@Kennnnedyy just received exactly the same email.
Does anyone think this may mean they will do something?!

jfrecker

but surely everyone will get an uplift like the error in MDCL and if this affects whether students got pass merit or distinction then they should re-issue the certificates, I received the same reply advising a decision should be made in the next 10 days.

marialucas

jfrecker said:

but surely everyone will get an uplift like the error in MDCL and if this affects whether students got pass merit or distinction then they should re-issue the certificates, I received the same reply advising a decision should be made in the next 10 days.

Kennnnedyy

@unicorn1905 i would hope so as they said that they are "in the process of reviewing" but i don't know

hangawi74

I got the same reply as well hopefully they will do something fingers crossed

Evi

Hi all,

I did the synoptic exam in March and I passed the first time but I still wrote to AAT team to complain because I believe it is not fair to many people who have failed the exam. The response I got on Monday was the following:
"We appreciate your comments regarding this assessment however, we feel the level of demand for this assessment is correct. We will be issuing an interim examiners report at the end of August which will hopefully aid our training providers and students with this new assessment.

We have provided qualification specifications for each level, which outlines what skills a student will need to have for each assessment and exactly what would be assessed in a live assessment. If you are referring to the pre-release material the purpose of this is to provide the contextual information for this assessment. We believe students studying this material will encourage them to think about the assessment topics in an integrated way, which is necessary for performing well in the synoptic assessment.

Please be assured that any feedback and comments that have been received for this assessment has been logged and this will be looked at as part of our ongoing assessment review.

Our synoptic assessments and units assessments are not the same as the content and what is expected from students is very different. Therefore, it is not comparable with previous or current unit assessments.

We will release pass rates for our assessments at the end of September, which will be communicated to our training providers. If you are interested in this information please contact our training providers closer to the time.

Whenever we introduce a new standards we are required to communicate with our training providers as they deliver our qualifications. When we introduced the 2016 standards we did the same and provided advice and guidance to them prior to releasing."

unicorn1905

@Evi was that this Monday 21st August?

Evi

@unicorn1905 Yes it was.

unicorn1905

@Evi what a totally different email to what I received today then. Whether this is what I will receive in 10 days!

Evi

@unicorn1905 I think they still do not know what to do. I do hope that they increase the percentages.

marialucas

Well, I tell you what, I'm not recommending AAT to anyone

unicorn1905

@marialucas I'm sad to say I won't be either. It's caused me to much stress, it really shouldn't be like this

joannefarley

I wont be recommending them either and feel they need to be made accountable for changing this exam to be so far removed from anything encountered in year 4 - wish I knew someone in the news room or media that could speak on all our behalves

unicorn1905

@joannefarley they must read this forum!

JayKallee

unicorn1905 said:

@joannefarley they must read this forum!

Trust me, AAT closely monitor students discussion here.

unicorn1905

@JayKallee well let's hope they take note!

Kennnnedyy

I agree i would be unlikely to reccomend the AAT as a career path unless they started giving us more information especially reguarding the low success rates on the synoptic exams however they could definatly ammend this if they were to take into consideration the vast amout of critisism us as students have given them.

JayKallee

.

joannefarley

I have spoken to tutors at the college I attended and also at another local college where most students failed this exam and I am led to believe that it is not just students who are up in arms - the teachers are too - who would want a 100% fail rate at level 4 which is just what our lecturer received - you cannot tell me that they successfully taught all other modules at level 4 then suddenly something changes - the only problem with this exam is the AAT actually being bold enough to accept that they have made a fundamental error and to correct the issues by awarding competent students the success they have already proved they deserve

unicorn1905

@joannefarley spoke with my college today and apparently only 25% passed. They were expecting higher.