AAT 2016 New Standards Q & A with Kay Jones and Peter Clarke from Premier Training

Claire Oxley so will they sit the set units and then have overall unit exam?

Barry Hall Claire Oxley Yes there will be individual unit exams and then an overall synoptic assessment exam

Peter Clarke The most recent dates that have been published now are set in stone and won’t change.

Peter Clarke No, not really. when you sit an assessment, you will get random choice chosen from a bank of questions. However, task by task will be the same topic area as in the Sample Assessments.

Amy Scott I don’t know what subjects I can do on level 3 and if I don’t finish in time which ones can I transfer over?

Claire Oxley You have till the end of next year i believe

Amy Scott I know September? But can I finish in time?!

Claire Oxley yes i think its december 2017

Barry Hall I would suggest completing Level 3 under old and transitioning to AQ2016 for L4

Claire Oxley is the current level 4 ropey?

Peter Clarke That’s really down to personal choice and what type of learner you are. Due to the new standards including a Synoptic assessment (a summary assessment all of the units in the Level) then it is going to suit students who condense the length of their study as taking a long time to study I suspect may cause skills learned to be lost. However, there will be no project so you need to weigh up what your skills are. I would suggest if you’re that near the end of L3 then enrol immediately on L4.

Amy Scott Can I transfer the subjects to level 4 though

Amy Scott As my tutor Peter Clarke do you think I can finish in time?!😉

Claire Oxley Amy with the sounds of things you have alot of time until december 2017. So stay on old standards

Claire Oxley I like the current standard and really understand and learn better that way

Claire Oxley Peter Clarke if you half way through level 3 in august would you enrol onto new standard

Peter Clarke Amy Scott I would try your best to finish each level on the same standard. If you are leave a level unfinished by December 2017 you can only transfer a limited amount of units across and are therefore at a risk of losing prior achievements if you’re a …See more

Amy Scott OK thanks. Would you say 2016 standards are harder than 2013?

Claire Oxley Gulp so they are transferable. so basically they would be a pass standard:(

Peter Clarke Claire Oxley No – you have until December 2017 to complete your current Level, unless you really wanted to change to the new format which will be graded, unlike now either Competent or Not Yet Competent.

Claire Oxley Thanks 🙂

Claire Oxley So fi you enrol for level 4 before august 2016 will this. how long will you have to complete level 4 on old stanfard

Barry Hall The last exam under AQ2013 will be 31 December 2017

Claire Oxley so if you are on old standard, do you advise to stay on the AQ2013

Peter Clarke Learning shouldnt be a race – If you’re near the beginning of your L3 I would take your time to learn your subject well and only register for L4 on AQ2016.

Peter Davies The synoptic questions I believe are questions across the modules not repeats of the assessment questions and are aimed at examining your understanding across a wider area and putting theory into practice?

Kay Jones I am sure the AAT will provide study materials such as practice assessments as they do at the moment on the current standardss

Peter Clarke As with AQ2013, there will eventually be 2 Sample assessments for all units and levels.

Peter Clarke In fact the AAT have already published 1 x AQ2016 Synoptic assessments for each level.

Yulia Taylor Oh it’s good. I will have to look

Edna Nebojša Nebojša Kay Jones sorry I meant I would like to enrol on 2013 syllabus is the deadline before 31 August 2016??

Claire Oxley yes edna

Peter Clarke …last enrolments for AQ2013 is 31st August 2016.

Claire Oxley so like now you are doing bookkeeping, i would suggest you call your provider and upgrade for full AAT then you have till dec 2017 to complete level 2

Edna Nebojša Nebojša Claire Oxley I’m registered on AAT level 2 and bookkeeping but I will double check

Peter Clarke …and it’s only the overall level that is graded Pass, Merit or Distinction. Individual unit assessments will be awarded a % mark, but each will have a different weighting so it’s not straightforward how your final grade will be awarded.

Helen Gunston That is useful to know, many thanks Peter

Yulia Taylor Thank you, Peter Clarke

Sally-Ann Looker Thanks Barry

Peter Clarke It depends where you are and whether your current level is realistically achievable before 31st August. from memory you;re only a couple of units in to L2, so I’d say complete L2 first, ensuring you have a good understanding, and then see where you are. AQ2016 is nothing to worry about – the topics are all pretty much the same, it’s just assessed slightly differently.

Sally-Ann Looker Thanks Peter your memory is correct I have CJBS on Friday.

Peter Clarke Of course one advantage of AQ2016 is the grading system which will be of interest to many as it will allow students to demonstrate their aptitude and ability against their peers whereas at the moment everyone simply gets the same result however good they are above 70%

Yulia Taylor Thank you Peter Clarke

Peter Clarke Sorry Sam Cole – you have until December 2017 to complete your current studies under AQ2013.

Peter Clarke I would recommend completing L3 as you are and then enroling on L4 AQ2016

Sam Cole Thank you:)

Sam Cole Kay Jones thanks, struggling to retain any info and have to re read everything before moving on.

Kay Jones Sometimes it is good to complete practice assessments to test your knowledge as some students find reading over and over again may not work for them as individual learning styles are important.

Kay Jones Sam – just a thought can you learn to drive by reading a book or go in for your driving test!!!

Sam Cole That’s true, just finding level 3 a lot harder than 2, finding the time retaining the info. I really enjoy it when I get stuck in but it’s the getting stuck in:/

Mei Phillips ok thank you 🙂

Peter Clarke As now, you’ll have the two ‘advanced’ bookkeeping units, the Costing unit and the Indirect Tax unit. Gone are seperate Ethics and Spreadsheets, but these topics are still required for the overall Synoptic assessment, so the learning materials will all be very similar.