AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam
Comments
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I also failed by 3% which is such a stinger! I am waiting to resit until I know exactly what is going on. There is another window in DecemberGemGem17 said:I failed by 3% and I'm due to resit in the window at the end of September, but I'm wondering if I should wait until more info is released as I don't want to fail again, nor can I afford to keep resitting the exam at £57 a go....? Has anyone else booked their resit yet?
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@GemGem17 me along with 3 others in my group have all booked our resits for the window at the end of September also but like you said we really do need to know a certain date when we will be told if something is being done about our exams or not because if they are going to amend the results then we will have wasted our money and our time revising for this exam again.0
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@MissHermansen I was tempted by December but I've still an exam in October and another in December to do, I didn't want to have too much to do, but until everything is cleared up and we all know what's going on, I'm beginning to think Sept is too soon to resit. I know my tutor has asked for an extra window in November to be added as they've been promised an extra sample paper with a full marking scheme which will be released in October.1
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Oh btw, I'm looking for Mark's email address and I can't seem to find it.
Can someone please PM it to me, or post it again please, thank you.0 -
We had 50% (on 32 students) pass rate on PDSY in the first sitting which is not good compared to previous years equivalent units. With the resit we have now achieved 75% on PDSY which again is not very good compared to marks achieved on other units and previous years equivalent unit.MissHermansen said:
From AAT discussion forumsJayKallee said:
Where did you get this % from? I don't think AAT has published the success rate for AQ2016 yet, but should be out soon.MissHermansen said:
25% I believecmcd said:What is the pass rate for the Professional Diploma Synoptic so far?
BTW according to AAT figures for the year ended 31st December 2016 the success rate for Level 4 is 65.30%
how did your class do in this?JayKallee said:
Yes I have seen, it gives you the task by task breakdown and feedback from the examiner.The feedback report does not provide the success rate, this will be published separately. Refer to the paragraph above the chart.MissHermansen said:
have you seen the bar chart above with the synoptic tasks broken down?JayKallee said:
Where did you get this % from? I don't think AAT has published the success rate for AQ2016 yet, but should be out soon.MissHermansen said:
25% I believecmcd said:What is the pass rate for the Professional Diploma Synoptic so far?
BTW according to AAT figures for the year ended 31st December 2016 the success rate for Level 4 is 65.30%
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@Kennnnedyy I'm not holding my breath that they'll amend results or anything like that, just need more clarification and with the amount of complaints they seem to be receiving, I'm hoping they do something and do it quickly!!2
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November would be ideal- I would not recommend sitting in SeptemberGemGem17 said:@MissHermansen I was tempted by December but I've still an exam in October and another in December to do, I didn't want to have too much to do, but until everything is cleared up and we all know what's going on, I'm beginning to think Sept is too soon to resit. I know my tutor has asked for an extra window in November to be added as they've been promised an extra sample paper with a full marking scheme which will be released in October.
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I am sure this is very disappointing for you as a tutor as well as I am sure you would have expected your students to achieve higher. I feel the assessment has been unfair both towards the tutors and the students, as it does not reflect their abilities to teach and succeedJayKallee said:
We had 50% (on 32 students) pass rate on PDSY in the first sitting which is not good compared to previous years equivalent units. With the resit we have achieved around 80% on PDSY which again is not very good compared to marks achieved on other units.MissHermansen said:
From AAT discussion forumsJayKallee said:
Where did you get this % from? I don't think AAT has published the success rate for AQ2016 yet, but should be out soon.MissHermansen said:
25% I believecmcd said:What is the pass rate for the Professional Diploma Synoptic so far?
BTW according to AAT figures for the year ended 31st December 2016 the success rate for Level 4 is 65.30%
how did your class do in this?JayKallee said:
Yes I have seen, it gives you the task by task breakdown and feedback from the examiner.The feedback report does not provide the success rate, this will be published separately. Refer to the paragraph above the chart.MissHermansen said:
have you seen the bar chart above with the synoptic tasks broken down?JayKallee said:
Where did you get this % from? I don't think AAT has published the success rate for AQ2016 yet, but should be out soon.MissHermansen said:
25% I believecmcd said:What is the pass rate for the Professional Diploma Synoptic so far?
BTW according to AAT figures for the year ended 31st December 2016 the success rate for Level 4 is 65.30%1 -
Yes, indeed, this has been a disastrous set of results for us compared to previous years. Keeping fingers crossed for resits.MissHermansen said:
I am sure this is very disappointing for you as a tutor as well as I am sure you would have expected your students to achieve higher. I feel the assessment has been unfair both towards the tutors and the students, as it does not reflect their abilities to teach and succeedJayKallee said:
We had 50% (on 32 students) pass rate on PDSY in the first sitting which is not good compared to previous years equivalent units. With the resit we have achieved around 80% on PDSY which again is not very good compared to marks achieved on other units.MissHermansen said:
From AAT discussion forumsJayKallee said:
Where did you get this % from? I don't think AAT has published the success rate for AQ2016 yet, but should be out soon.MissHermansen said:
25% I believecmcd said:What is the pass rate for the Professional Diploma Synoptic so far?
BTW according to AAT figures for the year ended 31st December 2016 the success rate for Level 4 is 65.30%
how did your class do in this?JayKallee said:
Yes I have seen, it gives you the task by task breakdown and feedback from the examiner.The feedback report does not provide the success rate, this will be published separately. Refer to the paragraph above the chart.MissHermansen said:
have you seen the bar chart above with the synoptic tasks broken down?JayKallee said:
Where did you get this % from? I don't think AAT has published the success rate for AQ2016 yet, but should be out soon.MissHermansen said:
25% I believecmcd said:What is the pass rate for the Professional Diploma Synoptic so far?
BTW according to AAT figures for the year ended 31st December 2016 the success rate for Level 4 is 65.30%
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What's the likelihood of a November sitting being created? Sort of torn between sitting the exam the end of September or waiting to hear more feedback/getting anything else I can get hold of.0
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Who knows, just something my tutor has requested. I'm going to delay mine from Sept I reckon, I need all the help and info I can get to ensure I don't fail again, I don't want to rush straight into it.1
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I think I might do the same. Gather up absolutely everything and put a big revision plan in place so come December I've got much more of a chance.2
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This might sound silly but do we need to carry on paying the yearly subscription after we complete the course?0
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Yes, annual subscription to maintain AAT or MAAT status. and you will need to keep up with your CPD too.0
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My reply from AAT today - same as everyone else's, no help in the slightest.
'Thank you for your patience.
Please accept my apologies for the delay of my response. This is due to the high volume of emails and calls we have been receiving recently.
I’m sorry to hear of your disappointment with your assessment result. Whilst I appreciate you are not happy with your assessment result, the result you received in other AAT assessments cannot be directly compared as all assessments differ vastly on content and format.
As the AQ2016 syllabus is a new qualification and the synoptic assessment a brand new unit entirely we are continuously reviewing the content and study materials available to students on their MyAAT account. Part of this review means that we will update and add further support materials online. We have recently added a new e-learning material called writing skills which can be located under the study support section on your MyAAT account for PDSY. This should hopefully help students prepare for the written elements of this assessment. You will also have access to the unit specification which outlines the assessment objectives. The qualification speciation can be found on the study support search for the Professional Synoptic assessment. Once you have opened it please go to page 83.
We decided to uplift the percentage marks for each student who has completed the MDCL assessment to ensure that the pass rate aligns more closely to the pass rate for FPFM during the same point in its lifecycle. As the synoptic assessments are new, there are no previous results to compare them to. As with all assessments and as part of our commitment to maintain standards over time, PDSY results are subject to a quality assurance review and if appropriate, mark adjustments are made before the results are released.
We are aware of the disappointment students are feeling towards AAT and have been forwarding their feedback and concerns to the relevant team to contribute towards our continuous review of the assessment. At present, we are unable to comment on whether there will be changes made to this assessment or the sittings based on the feedback we have received. We appreciate your feedback regarding this assessment and it has been passed onto the relevant team.
I’m sorry I was unable to provide you with a more favourable response and wish you all the best with your studies.
If you have any other queries please do not hesitate to get in touch.'1 -
What makes me laugh is that they are providing us with further study support AFTER the first assessment! A little too late if you ask me..sharpy92 said:My reply from AAT today - same as everyone else's, no help in the slightest.
'Thank you for your patience.
Please accept my apologies for the delay of my response. This is due to the high volume of emails and calls we have been receiving recently.
I’m sorry to hear of your disappointment with your assessment result. Whilst I appreciate you are not happy with your assessment result, the result you received in other AAT assessments cannot be directly compared as all assessments differ vastly on content and format.
As the AQ2016 syllabus is a new qualification and the synoptic assessment a brand new unit entirely we are continuously reviewing the content and study materials available to students on their MyAAT account. Part of this review means that we will update and add further support materials online. We have recently added a new e-learning material called writing skills which can be located under the study support section on your MyAAT account for PDSY. This should hopefully help students prepare for the written elements of this assessment. You will also have access to the unit specification which outlines the assessment objectives. The qualification speciation can be found on the study support search for the Professional Synoptic assessment. Once you have opened it please go to page 83.
We decided to uplift the percentage marks for each student who has completed the MDCL assessment to ensure that the pass rate aligns more closely to the pass rate for FPFM during the same point in its lifecycle. As the synoptic assessments are new, there are no previous results to compare them to. As with all assessments and as part of our commitment to maintain standards over time, PDSY results are subject to a quality assurance review and if appropriate, mark adjustments are made before the results are released.
We are aware of the disappointment students are feeling towards AAT and have been forwarding their feedback and concerns to the relevant team to contribute towards our continuous review of the assessment. At present, we are unable to comment on whether there will be changes made to this assessment or the sittings based on the feedback we have received. We appreciate your feedback regarding this assessment and it has been passed onto the relevant team.
I’m sorry I was unable to provide you with a more favourable response and wish you all the best with your studies.
If you have any other queries please do not hesitate to get in touch.'2 -
I got pretty much the same response as everyone else so i responded with this (not really expecting much of a reply but it's worth a shot)
Hi,
I have attached a file with an image
of the pass rates for the PDSY exam from a publication published by you at the AAT, can you verify with me that these were the results that you as an organisation were expecting for these questions (particularly questions 2, 4 and 6 as it seems as if they are extremely low to me). I passed all other exams this year including the ones that overlap with the synoptic exam on my 1st attempt however i still only got a very low score for the 3 questions i mentioned before and this seems incorrect to me. If there is a plan to review the aforementioned questions due to the extremely low pass rates compared to the other 3 questions, the rest of the exams and potentially compared to what the AAT were expecting; will students like myself and many others be compensated? Whether it would be a reimbursement of our resit fee or preferably a change in marks (not an uplift like with the MDCL exam but a review and remarking for questions 2, 4 & 6 to potentially be more lenient considering the ambiguity of the questions and the lack of study support supplied by the AAT). The fact that further study support material has been added to the AAT website would indicate that the AAT has already realised that they did not give students enough support which is somewhat comforting for students who have not sat the exam yet but they have done nothing to help the students that sat the exam before the additional material was added.
Many Thanks
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@Kennnnedyy - Hear Hear0
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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 55550 -
@Kennnnedyy brilliantly written. Keep us posted please!0
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amazing response!Kennnnedyy said:I got pretty much the same response as everyone else so i responded with this (not really expecting much of a reply but it's worth a shot)
Hi,
I have attached a file with an image of the pass rates for the PDSY exam from a publication published by you at the AAT, can you verify with me that these were the results that you as an organisation were expecting for these questions (particularly questions 2, 4 and 6 as it seems as if they are extremely low to me). I passed all other exams this year including the ones that overlap with the synoptic exam on my 1st attempt however i still only got a very low score for the 3 questions i mentioned before and this seems incorrect to me. If there is a plan to review the aforementioned questions due to the extremely low pass rates compared to the other 3 questions, the rest of the exams and potentially compared to what the AAT were expecting; will students like myself and many others be compensated? Whether it would be a reimbursement of our resit fee or preferably a change in marks (not an uplift like with the MDCL exam but a review and remarking for questions 2, 4 & 6 to potentially be more lenient considering the ambiguity of the questions and the lack of study support supplied by the AAT). The fact that further study support material has been added to the AAT website would indicate that the AAT has already realised that they did not give students enough support which is somewhat comforting for students who have not sat the exam yet but they have done nothing to help the students that sat the exam before the additional material was added.
Many Thanks0 -
> @Kennnnedyy said:
> I got pretty much the same response as everyone else so i responded with this (not really expecting much of a reply but it's worth a shot)
>
> Hi,
>
> I have attached a file with an image of the pass rates for the PDSY exam from a publication published by you at the AAT, can you verify with me that these were the results that you as an organisation were expecting for these questions (particularly questions 2, 4 and 6 as it seems as if they are extremely low to me). I passed all other exams this year including the ones that overlap with the synoptic exam on my 1st attempt however i still only got a very low score for the 3 questions i mentioned before and this seems incorrect to me. If there is a plan to review the aforementioned questions due to the extremely low pass rates compared to the other 3 questions, the rest of the exams and potentially compared to what the AAT were expecting; will students like myself and many others be compensated? Whether it would be a reimbursement of our resit fee or preferably a change in marks (not an uplift like with the MDCL exam but a review and remarking for questions 2, 4 & 6 to potentially be more lenient considering the ambiguity of the questions and the lack of study support supplied by the AAT). The fact that further study support material has been added to the AAT website would indicate that the AAT has already realised that they did not give students enough support which is somewhat comforting for students who have not sat the exam yet but they have done nothing to help the students that sat the exam before the additional material was added.
>
> Many Thanks
Beautiful you nailed it0 -
I got this today from mark farrar CEO - mark.farrar@aat.org.uk
to explain - I resat Level 3 yesterday and flunked it ( no ifs or buts)
but had followed up Lindi's email to bbc's haveyour say and then copied it to Mark Farrar.
He is keeping his end up - I must say - still saying it is meant to work like this .....
Read and have a good laugh - after all that's where your money went !
as far as he is concerned it is money damn well spent !
Some of the script is unintentionally hilarious - 'I am passionate about the role AAT can play in wrecking people lives and careers - oops I mean - I am soon to change it so that no one passes at all !" [paraphrased obviously] - now read on
Oliver,
I appreciate you taking the time to contact me and highlight both your feelings and actions. Your note was clearly not an easy read from my point of view. I want to personally assure you that resolving any such problems is, and will remain, the number one priority within AAT until matters are resolved.
The synoptic exams are clearly a new style of holistic assessment (required in part to meet changes in government’s educational policy), and with the first sittings there was no direct data to compare student performance with. The results were monitored and any necessary adjustments made to marks, prior to results being issued to students.
I would like to assure you that AAT operates a rigorous system of checks for marking including direct testing by Chief Examiners, the checking of comparison across markers and additional scrutiny of any marks falling close to grade boundaries, to ensure that results were and continue to be adjusted as fairly as possible.
We will continue to monitor the content of these exams and any necessary adjustments required will be made. The same goes for any technical issues experienced in local centres which have been rigorously pursued in recent months. New learning aids and practise assessments are being released and, given the circumstances, interim examiners reports are currently being released to training providers.
I hope this helps clarify the situation and I recognise that it is our ongoing actions that will have the biggest impact. I am passionate about the positive role AAT can play in people’s lives and am ensuring any changes that need to be made, will be made.
Regards Mark
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I Got a reply from mark largely similar to you @Multiplicator
Kennedy,
In your recent email to me you rightly highlight key challenges following the introduction of the new qualification and related assessments. I want to personally assure you that resolving any such problems is, and will remain, the number one priority within AAT until matters are resolved.
As you have correctly stated we did uplift MDCL and made a public statement about the comparability of this assessment with its AQ2013 counterpart. Having a previous version of this assessment meant that we had data to study and could easily see that the newer assessment was seemingly proving more difficult that its previous version. We were able to set a fixed uplift in relation to keeping a standard over time. The question bank has been modified since this uplift was announced, and student performance is being monitored.
The professional level synoptic exam is clearly a new assessment (required in part to meet changes in government’s educational policy), and with the first sittings there was no direct data to compare student performance with. The results were monitored and any necessary adjustments have already been made to marks, prior to results being issued to students. AAT operates a rigorous system of checks for marking including direct testing by Chief Examiners to ensure that results were and continue to be adjusted as fairly as possible.
I hope this helps clarify the situation and I recognise that it is our ongoing actions that will have the biggest impact. I am passionate about the positive role AAT can play in people’s lives and am ensuring any changes that need to be made, will be made. You have clearly come a long way with your studies and I would encourage you to stay focussed on the end point.
So my reply was as follows:
Hi Mark,
Whilst i do appreciate your swift reply your words are somewhat insignificant considering they come straight from a corporate script (Comparing the email i received to emails other students have received and large parts of the email are word-for-word the exact same). I do recognise that you are probably busy and as a consequence might not have time to give each email the time it deserves however i must reiterate the unhappiness of students regarding this issue. If you have any doubts over this please consult the "AAT Level 4 Synoptic Exam" forum on the AAT discussion forums and i'm sure your opinion will be changed. (https://forums.aat.org.uk/Forum/discussion/444834/aat-level-4-synoptic-exam#latest).2 -
I don't believe they have absolutely no data to compare the synoptic to. They should be comparing it to the study support and access to materials given to students as well as tutors. They should be comparing it to the information leaked to publishers when they compile the books we all paid a fortune for. And finally, this is not a brand new thing really as it can be compared to the historic ISYS report, seeing as that report is called Internal Control and Accounting Systems. Why are they not using that as a basis? Surely if they could "come up" with the Synoptic assessment they would have had to base it on SOMETHING? My main bug bear is the fact that you get weeks to compose, swop change and proof read your ISYS report yet we got 3 hours to try and figure out what the monkeys AAT wanted with their questions. I am just aggrieved. It is both frustrating and depressing. Perhaps we won't get an uplift but they should most definitely reconsider their marking strategy as if I spend the next 3 months on further study materials, support not to mention even more money, and fail again, well...... imagine. These are people's lives they are playing chess with. Do they think we like staying indoors to study when the sun's out or we enjoy getting up early, spending weekends stuck at a desk, how much more dedication do they want from us. I think they need to give their students more credit. 3/4 of my level 2 class have dropped out by the time we got to level 4 - is that not enough proof to show level 4's are serious about this qualification? Well, then return the respect and TAKE US SERIOUSLY2
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such valid points! have you sent this to AAT?Lindi said:I don't believe they have absolutely no data to compare the synoptic to. They should be comparing it to the study support and access to materials given to students as well as tutors. They should be comparing it to the information leaked to publishers when they compile the books we all paid a fortune for. And finally, this is not a brand new thing really as it can be compared to the historic ISYS report, seeing as that report is called Internal Control and Accounting Systems. Why are they not using that as a basis? Surely if they could "come up" with the Synoptic assessment they would have had to base it on SOMETHING? My main bug bear is the fact that you get weeks to compose, swop change and proof read your ISYS report yet we got 3 hours to try and figure out what the monkeys AAT wanted with their questions. I am just aggrieved. It is both frustrating and depressing. Perhaps we won't get an uplift but they should most definitely reconsider their marking strategy as if I spend the next 3 months on further study materials, support not to mention even more money, and fail again, well...... imagine. These are people's lives they are playing chess with. Do they think we like staying indoors to study when the sun's out or we enjoy getting up early, spending weekends stuck at a desk, how much more dedication do they want from us. I think they need to give their students more credit. 3/4 of my level 2 class have dropped out by the time we got to level 4 - is that not enough proof to show level 4's are serious about this qualification? Well, then return the respect and TAKE US SERIOUSLY
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@MissHermansen - My appeal feedback is due out on Friday. I'm sort of expecting the same outcome as everyone else, not holding my breath but at which point I will be getting on with the haveyoursay inquiry and reporting AAT to Ofqual. This is not taken lightly. I don't think anyone will take my qualms seriously until I've had a response to my appeal, but fully expecting it to be rather dire and much in tune with everyone else's. I have decided to take the plunge and purchase more training - yet another expense - but I simply have to do it as I need to be able to say I have put absolutely everything into this, even though I have already put absolutely everything into this if you get what I mean.1
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I am not resitting until December because I don't want to waste my time studying 'Blind'. There is still such a lot of uncertainty around this. Let me know how you get onLindi said:@MissHermansen - My appeal feedback is due out on Friday. I'm sort of expecting the same outcome as everyone else, not holding my breath but at which point I will be getting on with the haveyoursay inquiry and reporting AAT to Ofqual. This is not taken lightly. I don't think anyone will take my qualms seriously until I've had a response to my appeal, but fully expecting it to be rather dire and much in tune with everyone else's. I have decided to take the plunge and purchase more training - yet another expense - but I simply have to do it as I need to be able to say I have put absolutely everything into this, even though I have already put absolutely everything into this if you get what I mean.
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....no appeal feedback yet0
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I am going to sit in September for the third time :'
1
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