Hi

i did AAT and then did PTLLS as i was already teaching level IV AAT, and it was enforced upon me. Initiailly i thought it was a load of rubbish eventually i thought it was really good.

It isnt a Cert Ed/PGCE but it is a good intriduction to teaching. I wish i had the chance to go on and do KTTLS as well, but they didnt do that at my college.

Hi Shamus,

Im not sure if its a legal requirement if you teaching in House. but PTLLS it is an introductory course to the full DTLLS which is a full teaching qualification. The PTLLS is needed in order to start teaching in colleges, but i have also heard that it isnt needed if you teach at somewhere like Kaplan or BPP :(
Anyway i want to do the PTLLS (which is normally paid buy the employer) to show that i am interested in this field, so hopefully they can give me the oppertunity :)

Hi,

Found this:

By 2010, anyone in receipt of government funding for teaching will require a PTLLS certificate. PTLLS stands for "Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector". Essentially anyone who delivers learning to one or more individuals will be covered by this regulation, whether the teaching is delivered in a classroom or at business premises. It will cover full time teachers delivering lessons in a college and at the same time will cover trainers and assessors providing courses and underpinning knowledge for work and vocational qualifications. The intention with PTLLS is to have a "one size fits all" qualification which will give all qualified teachers a substantive qualification that allows them to pass the necessary threshold to teach.

The hope is that the PTLLS 7303 qualification will provide candidates with an opportunity to gain accreditation from a one-unit qualification that bestows upon them the necessary training to allow them to enter the teaching or training profession, gaining as they go a level 3 or 4 qualification and taking the first step towards the QTLS (Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills) qualification.

Understanding the necessity for a PTLLS qualification depends first of all on understanding the meaning of the phrase "lifelong learning". While there are certain levels of compulsory learning in the United Kingdom, and a child must stay in school or full-time education of some sort for the duration of their childhood, there is then another sector of education beyond this that is described as "post-compulsory" or "lifelong" learning. The skill set required for teaching the compulsory education sector is naturally very different from that which is required to teach non- or post-compulsory education.

Your own intentions in choosing teaching as a career are therefore fundamental to which qualification you should seek to achieve. If your hope is to teach school-age children in an everyday school setting, the PTLLS qualification is not immediately relevant for your purposes. It is more targeted towards people who wish to deliver vocational and/or specialised learning for the purposes of improving a learner's employability. Teacher training is an option taken on by many candidates directly after they themselves have gained a further education qualification such as a Bachelors' or Masters' degree in their sphere of speciality.

Hi Shamus,

I just wondered what you actually teach on client sites?

Thanks

Stuart

predominantly it's just Excel, basic record keeping and use of bespoke software packages.

Sometimes it's really rewarding when you find someone really interested in bookkeeping and accountancy but whose been shoved away as little more than a data input clerk. I've always got time for people like that to give them a few pointers (including to this site).... Need to build up my army of supporters before the next BKN awards!

I've come across many occurences of people who have no interest in becoming members of professional bodies but really want to know more about what lies behind their roles and it's for them that I'm thinking of running a distance learning course.

Only issue is that writing a course for basic level understanding is proving a little more difficult and time consuming than I thought that it would and I imagine that once I've tallied all of the hours of my time that I put into the course I may end up pricing myself out of the market before I've even entered it.

Shaun.

Hi Shaun,

How far have you got with the course? I have written a few books based on IAB, ICB and AAT syllabus, but i have had the idea in my head while to write something that is abit a more practical for bookkeepers, that covers the basics, but also things like 6-48s and online registrations.

Do you reckon there is much demand for this sort of thing or are people more aiming towards passing Institutes exams and then figuring it out for themselves/ ringing help lines?

Hi Nick,

seven units of thirty pages a pop so far... And then of course we hit January!

The plan for the first course is twenty two units linked together with a main case study of a company taken from inception through VAT registration and Incorporation. The course will also use repetition combined with increasing levels of complexity and a standalone case study every sixth module covering all material studied to that point.

You can't get away from a certain amount of theory but I try to spend my time explaining the reasoning behind the theory rather than simply stating that something is so and one must adhere to it.

I'm also going to be going out on a limb and incorporating ethids into the course as I think that's an area lacking from the materials of some bookkeeping bodies but it's an important area to understand in order to be taken seriously by accountants.

From what I've gleaned from people working in small businesses doing basic bookkeeping tasks I think that there's a market but I wouldn't plan my retirement on it as we're not talking about people with huge disposable incomes. Then again, there are a lot of training companies out there who seem to be doing ok with the theory side of things so I could be wrong.

Even though the course would be distance learning it would need to be very hands on from myself with personal assitance (via email) to every candidate for every module.

I'm building it in an instalment fashion so that people do not get overwhelmed by a huge amount of study material at the start and I'm going to be running the course on the basis that people answer the scenario at the end of each session, I then review it before either sending them the next module or running them through up to three alternate scenario's covering the same material until they understand it properly.

On the actual forms front, whilst I'm going for practical application I'm trying (within reason) to avoid a course that spends a lot of time telling people how to fill in a form that HMRC or companies house will change a month down the line.

By making the course moduler those taking it will be able to take it over as long or as short a period as they can fit into their daily routines.

As mentioned above, I'm trying to avoid too much theory but I would be very disappointed if people were not able to take the course and pass the level one and possibly two qualifications of any professional bookkeeping body with flying colours.

I'm not thinking that I've given too much away there as I know how much there is the developing this course and I'm figuring that January aside I've still got a seven module head start.

Hyparthetically I could start pushing the course from the end of this month but ideally I want all twenty two modules in the bag so that I can concentrate on peoples problems rather than course development at the same time as trying to actually make a living from other sources.

Is this the sort of course that you had been thinking of developing yourself Nick?

All the best,

Shaun.

Hi Neil,

fear not, you weren't being blanked. Also, it's really difficult to offend me... No, that's not a challenge!

My problem is that even when I'm on the site I'm not always at my computer and also, despite the huge contradictory volume of evidence I am actually quite slow at typing (so why you ask do I keep typing so damn much).

Rest assured that any message that requires an answer from me will in general get one.

As for bookkeeping vs Accountancy.... If only the management of Cadbudy's had known about your impending Dilema a year ago they might have got a better price from Kraft.

Shaun, you could approach Airfix and do a bookkeeping kit. One shoebox full of dogeared receipts, one chewed biro and a ratty old lined scribble pad with indecipherable writing and dates. You would of course receive instructions that make less sense than IKEAS and your clients name and preferences.

Feel free to add anything to the kit, i think i'm on to something here.

Neil.

P.S. i've just emailed you a 3d mock up lol.