AAT exams without doing the course

Ellie36

Hi. I am very new to the field. I have realized the courses are not cheap. Anybody has the experience to have done home study and pass the exams? Do we have to do the courses?
Thanks.
Ellie

Cheesypeesy

For the professional level I pretty much self studied, using a distance learning provider on the odd occasion. I liked being able to work at my own pace, though people differ.

But yes, you can teach yourself the content without a training provider using books and the AAT study support, amongst other options. This would be cheaper, but it does take a great degree of discipline to self study.

Ellie36

Many thanks. Can you advise where I get the material to study?

Ellie36

Also, usually people talking about level 2 upwards. What about level one?

Cheesypeesy

Level 1, now Access Award in Bookkeeping, is a basic introduction to bookkeeping and most students will start at Foundation level (what was known as Level 2). https://www.aat.org.uk/find-a-course/aat-bookkeeping-and-computerised-accounting-courses/award-in-bookkeeping. So I would recommend Foundation level as a starting point.

The main publishers for AAT are Osborne, Kaplan and BPP. I only used Osborne books so I can't comment on the differences between them but they should all be sufficient. You can buy them directly from their website:
https://www.osbornebooksshop.co.uk/c/aat_accounting_aq2016
https://learningmedia.bpp.com/catalog?pagename=AAT
http://kaplan-publishing.kaplan.co.uk/aat-aq2016/Pages/default.aspx

I would recommend checking the specification for more information about the course, if you have not done so already https://www.aat.org.uk/prod/s3fs-public/assets/Foundation-Certificate-Accounting-Level-2-Qualification-Specification-v3-0.pdf.