Synoptic level 4

Hello, I’m really struggling to pass this exam. Failed for the 2nd time & it’s really demotivating. Any idea what I should expect from a 3rd attempt if anyone has been through the same?
Any advice would be much appreciated. X

Comments

  • Jay36598
    Jay36598 Registered Posts: 28 Regular contributor ⭐
    edited November 2021
    Hi @VALERIA — Please do not lose hope. The best among us fall. There is a wisdom in "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again".

    It seems that you're missing something in your approach. Your angle of attack. How you're taking up this challenge. In such a case, forget worrying about everything, sit down on your own for a bit, and reflect. This is basically going back to the drawing board, as they say. Take your 'person' out of your reflection and instead think about you as a sincere friend and try to find out what is the root-cause for them not to succeed and then come up with a sincere plan of action for them.

    Trust me, behind every successful person or those who have overcome challenges, the above process in one shape or another, is roughly the same for all.

    It goes without saying that L4 is genuinely tough, even for the best of students. Stats in PQ magazine show that about 50% AAT students get Distinction in L2, which goes down to 20% at L3, and only 2% get Distinction at L4. Imagine that how tough it gets as you go along— I would say these numbers show students' grades are dropping like flies. So, you're not alone.

    I can also say the above from my personal experience of L4 synoptic results today. I barely passed by 4 percentage points and I thought I was doing good at AAT. You are not alone. My root-cause which I can share with you is that as a self-studier there is much less support and guidance and L4 (writing bit) is really set at a high bar, it is a huge (huge) jump from L3, and there's little guidance on AAT's portal on the "skills" needed to prepare for L4. From the portal L4 prep seems similar to L3. Nothing prepares you for the huge jump. It seems that most have to try a few times at L4 to accomplish it. So again, you are not alone.

    Let's zoom in back at you. Sit down, reflect, and evaluate without judgement or worry of what has happened in the past. Find out whether you are missing motivation for career in accounting because someone told you to do it. That could be a huge barrier. Or maybe you're not using the right tuition provider (certainly it was in my case, now that I've learnt that to score well in L4 one cannot just self-study and walk-in blindly into assessments, one needs guidance, marking practice on writing, and commentary by an instructor.

    Maybe you have the right ambition and the tuition provider, but you've simply got the incorrect study habits. In my experience and observation, this represents the biggest chunk of students who are struggling. There are so— oh, so many— distractions abound. Just one Insta-scroll session, that is on one app, wastes like 45 mins without notice, numbs the brain's reward system, and imparts no development. That's one app; there are 10-15 more useless distractions for all of us in a day. Forget the effort of refining automated professional learning study habits, simply tearing focus away from distractions is the biggest challenge for us.

    So, reflect back and sincerely find out what is your root-cause. Don't fret. Don't worry. Look up this page on Abe Lincoln. Look at his failures. That's the great Abe Lincoln. Imagine if he gave up hope from his failures in Senate and abandoned his vision to end modern-day slavery, something he was determined to do even at the cost of a civil war. Imagine what would be the cost if you lost hope for all the fruitfully productive accomplished person you can be if you lose hope now and value yourself at an L4 barrier— (do a variance analysis on this please :-) if I may ask). There's is a message in there for you, personal to your struggle and effort, if you ponder.

    Come up with a plan. A strategy. A line of attack. Be calm, collected, and calculated. Figure out with all honestly and a correct analysis as to what your barrier really is. You do that on L4 and this will complete a loop for you to learn to overcome a challenge in the face of confusion and disheartenment. That is a lifelong valuable skill. L4 is not the end of the world, especially when you get into higher in practice, things become tougher, and if you learn this skill of reflection and path correction, it would be a blessing in disguise.

    So, if you've come this far right up to the point of L4 Synoptic, clearly, you're doing something right and you have the talent. Come on! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, look at the perspective from the light I'm shining at. Jump up, align your process, light a fire!!

    (n.b. lighting a fire is used in a metaphorical sense, not intended literally as it is unlawful :-) Apology for the long essay, I felt a connection when I read your post about when and how I learnt (and still am learning) to overcome my barriers.
    AAT Student Member, 2021
    L2 (93%), L3 (90%), L4 (on-going)
  • VALERIA
    VALERIA Registered Posts: 3
    Hello Jay, thank you for taking the time to write to me. I really appreciate it. I agree with you in that it is a huge jump from level 3 in terms of the written tasks and the resources available simply don't seem to be enough for me. I will re-sit the exam but I am still trying to figure out what more I can do to prepare for the next one. Which provider were you using for your studies? I am using BPP and they are not great, I also have a kaplan exam kit and I was surprised to see how much different their approach to written task is in comparison to BPP.
    Thank you again for your encouragement and congratulations on passing!!
  • Jay36598
    Jay36598 Registered Posts: 28 Regular contributor ⭐
    VALERIA said:

    Hello Jay, thank you for taking the time to write to me. I really appreciate it. I agree with you in that it is a huge jump from level 3 in terms of the written tasks and the resources available simply don't seem to be enough for me. I will re-sit the exam but I am still trying to figure out what more I can do to prepare for the next one. Which provider were you using for your studies? I am using BPP and they are not great, I also have a kaplan exam kit and I was surprised to see how much different their approach to written task is in comparison to BPP.
    Thank you again for your encouragement and congratulations on passing!!

    — I used Osborne Books plus other online resoruces. Read my other comment here re. sticking to a course provider and what else to use.

    — Re. What more can you do? Maybe consider applying for a full review here. Someone else I know did that with their L4 when they did not pass and they said it was really helpful for them to work out the insight of what went wrong. I've never applied for a review, so I cannot share with you what it looks like. However, be mindful, you only have 10 days from the date of results to make review application.

    AAT Student Member, 2021
    L2 (93%), L3 (90%), L4 (on-going)
  • laurat12
    laurat12 Registered Posts: 1
    Hey @VALERIA , please don't give up! This exam is definitely challenging but you will get it!! I watched a really good youtube video about answering written questions, specifically the about the written question on budgeting. It was really helpful and posted by AAT so I would check that out!! It made think how to answer more methodically.

    I would also say reference back to the case study as much as you can, keep your answers concise and relevant and pick up as many marks as you can in tasks 1 and 5 as they are considered the "nicer" ones

    Good luck and if there is any task in particular you are struggling with please let me know. I still have all my notes as only sat mines in Sept x
  • VALERIA
    VALERIA Registered Posts: 3
    @laurat12, thank you for your message. I re-sat the exam last week as I wanted to have another go with the same scenario before it changes. So now the wait begins ? I’m keeping my fingers crossed but if you could keep hold of your notes a bit longer it would be great. Thank you
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