AAT Level 4 Business Skills: no longer a requirement as part of apprenticeship?

Severina_T

Hi All,

I am studying for my AAT Level 4 Professional Diploma, and as part of my apprenticeship, I had to be enrolled onto a Level 4 Business Skills Diploma too. I recently received a letter from the AAT, stating that the Business Skills qual will no longer be an apprenticeship requirement, and all of the students already registered onto the qual will have up until December 2018 to submit evidence. HOWEVER, my training provider- Kaplan, disagrees with this time scale and advised me that I only have till the end of my original apprenticeship end date to complete both qualifications; without the extension. Just wondering if anyone is with another training provider who is allowing the extension?

Many thanks in advance!

Severina

AbbyCarr

I haven't received this letter but have just begun my business skills. Does it appear on your MyAAT online?

Severina_T

The letter is dated 12th May and it states-

"AAT Qualification update

The Level 4 Diploma in Business Skills qualification you're studying as part of your apprenticeship will no longer be a requirement of the new Trailblazer Apprenticeship Standards; as such we'll be withdrawing it from our offering, with effect from 31 December 2017.

As you're already registered on the Level 4 Diploma in Business Skills, you'll have until 31 December 2018 to submit all evidence required to complete the qualification. During this time you'll still have access to all the support resources on the AAT study support search to help you.

We advise that you speak to your tutor. They know we're closing this qualification and will be able to advise you on the best options for completing your studies."

AbbyCarr

That's great help, I don't believe I am technically enrolled onto the course, maybe this means I won't have to complete it. It seems like such a waste of time for people doing AAT Level 4. As a stand alone qualification it may be ideal for some, but for me it's not something I need or want to do.

Severina_T

I think your best bet is to speak to your tutor, just to get some clarity. I really don't know who thought it was a good idea to throw in an extra qualification at Level 4. Especially now as the qualification is being graded. Just a distraction and a whole load of extra work to do on top. Not to mention very time consuming, if you are also in full time employment. I'm glad to see that it is being discontinued.

AbbyCarr

I definitely am going to. It's supposed to be an up to 12 month course. So I can argue I wouldn't have sufficient time to complete it considering I have all the exams and the grading etc. It's incredibly time consuming and it's hard to complete a lot of the tasks in work which is what they require

AlisonSwanson

It's not being discotinued as such it's being replaced by a professional portfolio of evidence covering all of the same stuff, followed by a personal statement / hour long professional discussion in front of 2 assessors appointed by the AAT. You just won't get the separate Business Skills qualification. All on top of the AAT Professional Diploma with Synoptic.

bobbynailer

AlisonSwanson said:

It's not being discotinued as such it's being replaced by a professional portfolio of evidence covering all of the same stuff, followed by a personal statement / hour long professional discussion in front of 2 assessors appointed by the AAT. You just won't get the separate Business Skills qualification. All on top of the AAT Professional Diploma with Synoptic.

Hi, does this mean that the second year is'nt a requirement anymore? I read somewhere on the AAT website that you have 12 months to complete (what you just said) from the apprenticeship start date.

Severina_T

AlisonSwanson said:

It's not being discotinued as such it's being replaced by a professional portfolio of evidence covering all of the same stuff, followed by a personal statement / hour long professional discussion in front of 2 assessors appointed by the AAT. You just won't get the separate Business Skills qualification. All on top of the AAT Professional Diploma with Synoptic.

.... I am on the AQ2016 syllabus for my Level 4, so I am already doing the Professional Diploma + Synoptic + Business Qualification.. and working full time. Also, in my opinion the change between AQ2013 and 2016 has been dreadful in terms of learning materials/resources available reflecting the real content of exams. Prime example being the MDCL unit. The transition from Level 3 to Level 4 is a REAL shock to the system in terms of workload and pressure. Not suggesting that it should be easy, but it just feels as if more could be done to prepare students for this.
My other issue is the 70% pass percentage. If AAT Level 4 is deemed on par with the 1st year of a degree then the pass percentage is 20% too high, as most universities only require 50%.... as well as ACCA.

AbbyCarr

You can sign on to Level 4 Diploma in Business Skills until December 2017, which is when it changes to the alternative method. You have until December 2018 to complete the Diploma. It honestly feels like a waste of time, and I'm just trying to get it completed as quickly as possible; I don't see how much of it is relevant after completing AAT. It's not hard by any means like AAT is.

Severina_T

According to my reviewer I have until the end of my apprenticeship date to complete both diplomas and not until Dec 2018 as per AAT's letter. I rung AAT and they back up what they said on the letter, however, my reviewer is adamant that I do not have the extended time and if I do not complete the Business Qual by my apprenticeship finish date, I have not completed my apprenticeship altogether.
Out of interest I queried whether I would still get my AAT diploma certificate (if I complete the AAT course and not the Business)... to which she replied yes, but not completing the whole apprenticeship would "look badly" on my record if I wanted to go ahead and further study ACCA or another qualification via the apprenticeship route.
I agree, the Business Qual is neither here nor there... just added pressure. The qual is for someone who wants to study Business Administration at a supervisory level...

AbbyCarr

I was considering moving on and not completing the qualification, but did consider how it would look to prospective employers as I have an apprenticeship certificate for Level 3 and then not Level 4.

Severina_T

You can just do AAT Level 2 and then move on to ACCA. I know someone who has done that. So basically, just get a solid foundation of basic accounting; double entry, journals etc...
The only downside to that is not being exempt from ACCA F1-F3 knowledge papers. However, it takes longer to complete the whole AAT qualification, than it does doing the 3 ACCA papers so....

AbbyCarr

I've finished my Level 4 now, I mean just the business skills. It's going to take months to complete, we were meant to start alongside Level 4 but never did

Severina_T

Ohhh got you! I'm doing the Business Skills alongside the AAT, I think I would have much preferred to do it your way. It's a tonne of work to do them both together. Done 3 units already, 5 more to go....

AbbyCarr

I've only got one submitted, one waiting review from my assessor, 3 I'm working on and then 3 more. It's a lot of work for not very much it seems, each unit requires a lot of evidence and work and half of them are pointless!