Going to study AAT level 3 - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

ClawzCTR · Guru

Going to study AAT level 3

ClawzCTR · Guru

Doesn't anyone have any advice for me? :(

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Gary,

sorry, not ignoring you just not on the site as much as usual at the moment so only a couple of passing comments yesterday rather than my normal half a book replies.

Before signing up with Kaplan also check out Premier training who seem to be quite reasonably priced and offer installment payment plans.

Pass rates are a funny old thing. A rubbish training provider with great students will do better than a fantastic training provider with a bunch of numpties whose hearts aren't in the subject matter.

All in all the training provider is only as good as the students that it attracts.

That said, I think that a bad training provider can have a negative effect on the motivation of students so you're a wise man posting on here for advice.

I find Kaplan training materials second to non but the texts invariably have numerous mistakes... Maybe that's when you know that your ready. When you can confidently say that your right and he books wrong then it's time for the exam!

Actually,once you've bought the Kaplan materials you get free updates via their website although they don't get every error in every book (My latest P2 text had 19 A4 pages of corrections!).

After heralding how good Kaplan books are, if your training provider runs with Osbourn books or BPP they are also excellent texts (although BPP do annoy me when they keep changing their study text formats... Wish they would just stop with this emphasising in bold words in a sentence. Have they no idea what that does to dyslexic's!!!).

Good luck in your studies matey, sure that you'll be fine no matter which provider you choose.

Anyway, my votes for Premier. Hope that you get lots of other replies now that I've started the ball rolling.

kindest regards,

Shaun.

Spamkebab · Expert

Kaplan, Eagle Education or Premier Training are the best distance learning providers for this course in my opinion. I picked Kaplan as my training provider initially because the Kaplan exam centre is in Manchester city centre and is 5 mins away from me, not the best reason for picking one i must admit but to be truthful they have turned out to be amazing, the study books themselves will get you through an exam. As for interaction with other distance learners, Kaplan have their own forum, Kaplaninteract which you will be invited to join after registration. The exam fees and AAT registration are seperate but the price of the kit and what you actually get in the study kit makes it all worthwhile. There are lots of learning materials on your own private Kaplan Engage site which you can access anytime and a copy of your study books are also held there so you can read study online without lugging a book around.

Good luck,

Neil

ClawzCTR · Guru

So it looks like no-one has studied with Home Learning College then? :/ Hummmmm! :/

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

I assume that you've read around the site what people have said about HLC.

ClawzCTR · Guru

oh err, sounds omninous! No... i will go and check now. I didn't realise poeple had...:/

ClawzCTR · Guru

Ahhh! I only needed to read the second search result to relise that the HCL course would be a bad idea!

Thats settleed that then...! LOL

I'll have a look at Premier later! :D

Spamkebab · Expert

It's funny because HLC was one that i started to look into and was interested in way back when. It seems that once i signed for certain email alerts, be it about new job vacancies or actual accountancy sites, i was constantly bombarded with advertising from HLC. Lots of advertising on these other sites must make them a decent provider was my initial way of thinking.

ClawzCTR · Guru

Spamkebab wrote:
It's funny because HLC was one that i started to look into and was interested in way back when. It seems that once i signed for certain email alerts, be it about new job vacancies or actual accountancy sites, i was constantly bombarded with advertising from HLC. Lots of advertising on these other sites must make them a decent provider was my initial way of thinking.

Exactly my train of thought! when they said £1900 for the AAT3 i was taken back by it!! twice as much as everyone else! (must be good if they can ask that!) Clearly not!!! then i was offered AAT3 and 4 for a cut pice of £2500! then if i pay in 3 installments... BLAH BLAH BLAH!!

I had switched off at this point! lol

I most certainly will not be using them then if that the case then! :D

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

The funniest one that I've read on this site was someone reporting that they were told that taking ICB exams through them was different to taking them through another training provided. Must dig that old message out again.

Did you also get the "This offer is available for today only" speil? Or maybe the classic "Don't tell anyone about this offer I'm giving you?".

For info, Premier fees for levels III and IV would be £1,347 plus £32 P&P plus AAT subscription & exam fee's.

Here's a link : http://www.premiertraining.co.uk/courses/aat_diploma/aat_diploma_fees.shtml

Spamkebab · Expert

Also, talking of exam fees, it used to be that if you chose Kaplan as your training provider that they waived a £15 admission fee when you booked your exams with them. This seems to have "gone out the window" After the AAT increased exam fees from the 1st September and so if you're a Kaplan student or an external student using the Kaplan centre to sit exams, the price is the same. I was a bit miffed by this as all them £15 add up especially as there are 13 exams to get through at level 3 & 4. Still the study material is second to none, does anybody know if you use Eagle or Premier whether you get a choice of using the different study texts? (ie can you choose Bpp or Osbourne or Kaplan)

ClawzCTR · Guru

Shamus wrote:

Did you also get the "This offer is available for today only" speil? Or maybe the classic "Don't tell anyone about this offer I'm giving you?".

Oh yeah i got that alright Shamus!!! LOL After reading the comments on here (other posts) they most certainly are the double glazing specialists of the accounting world!! LOL

Premier just dont look as 'fancy' as Kaplan though... :/ is it all in the looks?

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Neil, Garry

I think Premier come in cheaper and use predominantly Osbourne books for their study materials.

When it comes to Kaplan Neil is preaching to the converted. I've not been on a course with them but their study texts are fantastic. Also if you take that route I think you get to sit exams at their centres don't you Neil where with Premier you need to find your own centre close to where you live.

How does the price of Kaplan levels 3 & 4 compare to Premier Neil? Is the difference enought to justify the slightly increased hassle of finding your own exm centre?

On the study texts front David Cox is one of the Osbourne authors for the AAT materials so sound well written books but as the Kaplan books are cut down ACCA one's for some of the papers I think that they may have the edge as far as study materials go.

Spamkebab · Expert

Well that was what swung it for me Shaun, the fact that my provider and exam centre were all in one. I paid £766 for AAT 3 distance learning course in June of this year and i think the level 4 comes in at £780 just now with Kaplan. I've seen the others advertising at around the £699 mark so it's not far out and as you say the study gear is very well presented. I find the Kaplan stuff kind of written in a bookkeeping for dummies style, clear and easy on the eyes as well as explaining the more complex stuff in bitesize chunks. I'm pretty sure that Kaplan centres accept students from other training providers for exam sittings though, and at one point i was looking at Premier myself and still using my local Kaplan for exams but after getting good results from the Kaplan study kits why try and fix what aint broken? Kaplan has a guaranteed 2 day turn around on emails to tutors (by which time you've prolly sussed your problem) which isn't too bad. I would of just bought the study books for level 4 but you need a training provider as the exams have some written aspects to be assessed and 1 exam is a project. I'm getting excited now as i have had a wee break from studying throughout December, now i'm raring to go.........I've heard of needle fixation but this study fixation is killing me lol.

You don't have to buy a complete course from Kaplan, you can just buy 1 module at a time but i think there's a saving of £70 when you buy the full course. You do still get full tutor support per module bought though.

I must add that the difference between buying a course and just buying the books is only the fact of having a tutor support safety net. Distance learning is something else, you have to be able to motivate yourself, it can be lonely and as for the wife offering full support.........i had that very same offer but by the time i had reached my 3rd exam my wifes eyes glassed over everytime i opened my mouth lol.

-- Edited by Spamkebab on Wednesday 21st of December 2011 03:38:33 PM

ClareB4 · Senior Member

OT but loving the new avatar Neil - like to see you're keeping it seasonal

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Clare,

sorry, know I'm being stupid and will have a DOH! moment when you tell me but what does OT mean???

ClareB4 · Senior Member

Off topic - sorry!

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Doh!

told you that I would have one of those moments...

cheers Clare.

Spamkebab · Expert

I thought it meant Over the Top lol which kind of makes sense!

ClawzCTR · Guru

Nah thats OTT.. :D

ClawzCTR · Guru

Well it is done! :D

Im now signed up too Kaplan for the AAT 3. Except i probably chose the wrong time of year to do it...! lol I'm not going to get the books till nearly new year and the EN-Gage part of there site isn't working properly, and i cant talk to anyone as they have all left for Christmas! lol

Oh well, guess I'll have to wait that little more! :D

Spamkebab · Expert

Congrats on picking a training provider Gary, that part is twice as hard as the studying lol. You should email tutor support and ask for an invite to kaplaninteract, that's the chat and forum for Kaplan, once sign in and join the group *AAT level 3* there are actually 2 or 3 people on there quite regular who have just started at this level. The Tutors lurk there as well so any general questions can be asked too. Don't worry about having to wait 'til after xmas, enjoy the little break because if you are dedicated enough you will be studying more than you think for the next couple of months lol.

Good luck Gary

Neil

Wella · Expert

"Off Topic" is our mantra.

Doesn't take much for Shaun, or me to go off at a tangent

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Wella wrote:
"Off Topic" is our mantra.
Doesn't take much for Shaun, or me to go off at a tangent

And talking about the price of fish.....

Peasie · Expert

Shamus wrote:
Wella wrote:
"Off Topic" is our mantra.
Doesn't take much for Shaun, or me to go off at a tangent

And talking about the price of fish.....

This reminds me of my first day at (day release) college. Everyone else in the class seemed to know each other quite well, either from previous school, work etc (or just being more sociable than me). One person had to stand up and give a speech on a particular topic. There would be one drum where we had to write down a topic to talk about. Another drum would have all our names.

Out first came one person's name. Next up was the supposedly anonynmous topic "The price of apples in Egypt". The anonymity was given away when I fell to my knees on the floor in laughter. It is probably a safe bet that everyone else put "Sex" given this was the next subject chosen (after the person had refused to talk on the originally chosen subject).

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Peasie,

a little off topic (surprise surprise). I worked with one investment company (who thought that they were a bank) where we had a daily morning meeting. Everyone had to talk about how their area of the project was doing but you were only allowed to talk if you were holding the rubber dinosaur.

I think that my telling them in great detail exactly where they could put their rubber dinosaur on my first (but surprising not last) day there was regarded by one and all (except perhaps the management) as Legend... wait for it... dary...

P.S. you were talking to the wrong person in the other thread about spelling mistakes. I read exactly the word that you thought you had written...

Spamkebab · Expert

Well it seems i have raised enough money to buy Kaplans level 4 AAT distance learning course. I should be ready to begin studying before the end of January and i am on a mission to complete this course before Christmas of 2012 which is when i turn 40. If it takes me a few months longer than expected then so be it as i have heard it is a big leap from the level 3 stuff although i look at it as being "different" as it will include stuff i haven't yet studied, and after all, just over 12 months ago i started with City & Guilds Bookkeeping and Accounts lvl 1 which i enroled upon just to get me out of the house and doing something different. Seems i caught some kind of Bookkeeping virus and continued studying. If this post sounds like i'm banging my own drum then i guess you get the idea lol, i am immensely proud of my achievements at the moment. Anyway this is meant to be a big THANK-YOU to everybody on this forum, from the people who have answered any direct questions from me to the people who have postd interesting questions and answers to said questions, you have all been a bigger help than you will ever know.

THANK-YOU once again

Neil.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

You've got me welling up matey...

You've certainly gone with the right training materials for this level of study.... Only a few short steps from what you're going to be studying now to the dark side young padawan!

Are you going to be doing the two tax options at level 4?

Is level 4 the first time that AAT students hit doing limited company accounts? I think that it will definitely be the first time that you hit consolidations.

I assume that it's only going to be simple consolidations rather than reorganisations, disposals or foreign operations?

Which exams are you intending to sit in which order?

I think that this is going to take a lot of your time for the next year. Any help that you need with the higher level stuff just post and we'll get you sorted.... Quite looking forwards to the consolidation questions.

All the best for the new year,

Shaun.

P.S. Your humurous comments have been the hellmans mayanaise of some threads. Hope you find time to keep posting but understand totally if you can't as you've set yourself one heck of a target for the next year.

Spamkebab · Expert

Will probably study in this order:

1) Financial Statements
2) Budgeting
3) Financial Performance (i think this module covers some indepth budgeting and so it will probably be wise to get the budgeting done first)
4) Personal Tax
5) Business Tax
6) Internal Control and Accounting Systems (this is a project and i think i have 3 months to complete it and i am allowed 3 submissions before final marking)

As far as i know i will be studying LTD company accounts as i have already covered Sole Trader and Partnerships. I don't expect this level to be anywhere
near ACCA but more of a taster of things to come, that doesn't mean i have got my silly hat on and am expecting to breeze through it all though.
(it would be nice if i awoke one morning to find that i was born to be an accountant, you know, like them kids that can play piano without lessons lol, until
that morning, i shall be studying). My biggest challenge is going to be trying to achieve the 12 months work experience needed for MAAT, if i account for that then there is absolutely no rush whatsoever to complete this level.

Don't worry about me not being here, worry about me being here too often lol.

Cheers,

Neil.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

On the financial statements one I've just had a read of the level 4 workbook and looks like for limited companies you will be covering

statement of comprehensive Income (P&L)
Statement of financial position (Balance Sheet)
cashflow statements (My Nemesis!!!)
basic consolidations (no reorganisations, foreign aspects, etc. Don't even think that it covers mid year acquisitions / disposals but you would need to confirm that, ).
Analysis of accounts (Basic ratio analysis. Hardest part here is knowing which figures from a set of accounts to include espechially as calculation of some ratio's are not set in stone).

There is nothing to worry about with this module but you will need to learn quite a few pro forma's and accounting standards.

The workings for consolidations may seem tricky for starters but once you have the proforma's in your head it's just a matter of knowing where to put which figures in order to calculate things like Goodwill and non controlling interests.

The tax papers seem quite straight forwards. Again though, a lot of pro formas to learn.

I think that you've correctly identified budgeting and financial performance as linked subjects. Hope that they give you the algaebra in the AAT exams for things like sensitivity analysis.

All in all there is a lot of interesting study at this level without going too OTT with what you are expected to know. I think that if you do it in your own time rather than putting undue pressures on yourself you will really enjoy the challenges at this level.

The real knack though is going to be not forgetting one thing when you move onto the next as the subjects at this level are quite diverse and not always complimentary to each other.

I think that all of us may be on here a bit too often! (3166 posts and counting!).

all the best and good luck matey,

Shaun.

Spamkebab · Expert

The real knack though is going to be not forgetting one thing when you move onto the next as the subjects at this level are quite diverse and not always complimentary to each other.

That's the beauty of owning the study texts Shaun. Not something you seem to aquire when you study via college (or not from my local college). Even if they become outdated there is still enough info in them to jog the old fluffy stuff.

A tutor once said to me "Once you have completed AAT you won't use 70% of it"
I replied "That'll probably be the 70% that i passed, knowing my luck"

Keep smiling,

Neil.