Planning studies for exams

You should't have to travel to London. I've just had a look at the list of exam venues for external candidates and there is a "Pitman training" one in Aberdeen. I don't know what training provider you are with, but I would hope they would let you take exams there. Normally there is a fee to be paid to the place where you sit the exam on top of the exam fee, I pay £10.

Doing BA1 and BA2 at the same time is quite normal, some providers teach them both together too.

As far as booking your exam, I have heard some people say it takes a fair while for a slot to be booked. The exam center I use normally only needs 1-2 weeks though. I'd suggest sorting out where you will take the exams and ask them how far in advance you have to book as you won't want to be sitting around waiting too long after being happy you are ready for the exam.

Personally I pick a target date pretty early on to motivate me to study but i don't book the exam until I have passed at least one of the mock tests and I am happy with the content of it.

I agree with Steve. For level 2 I waited until i'd finished each module, then booked the exam and revised and did mocks whilst I was waiting to sit it. Since starting level 3 though i've tended to book the exam as soon as I start studying for each module as without a deadline I found it really hard to get motivated to study.

Good luck!

I concur that you shouldn't need to go to London. I use BPP and have sat exams at three different test centres, each time I book about 1-2 weeks in advance but it depends on the size of your chosen centre.

My plan from Level 2 (am on Level 4 now) has remained the same; I start a module with a rough idea of when I want to sit the exam and that's my target. I then read the text book and when I've finished that, I book the exam. Then I have however long I've allowed myself to do the Question Bank (BPP book), do practice assessments, re-read any sections etc.

I think the key thing is to have a target date for the exam but only book it when you're happy that you'll be ready. That way you don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself and you're also not sat waiting when you could have sat the exam earlier.

Good luck.:thumbup1:

sedindriuke, think you just confused Training Providers and Assessment Centres; generally it doesn't matter where your training provider is if you're distance learning, they provide your materials and tutor support; the exam centres are independent organisations (training companies, colleges etc) that have agreed to provide AAT exams to external candidates for a fee (the Pitman my way charges £35 plus VAT on top of the AAT exam fee, so not cheap and you can see why they do it as it's easy money for them!). On the myAAT page look for the 'Find an Assessment Venue' link in the 'Computer Based Assessments' box on the left hand side - almost every city has at least one venue.

In answer to your question - for me it really depended on the what exams were available when; some venues offered short-notice bookings on a regular basis, so I waited until I'd finished each unit before booking; some venues offered one sitting a month, in which case I booked when I started the unit. You just have to feel it out, find out how much notice you need to give and get an idea for how long it takes you to do each unit.

£70 is about right as you pay the AAT exam fee (£35) to them as well as their own centre fee - I'd guess the price Edinburgh have quoted you includes both. Once you've registered with AAT you'll be able to search all the local centres and go from there.