I'm hoping someone may be able to answer my questons. In March 2011 I purchased the AAT Certificate in Bookkeeping (ABC) home study materials through BPP as I was changing career from IT Project Management to joining my husbands family business & taking over the bookkeeping role.
One month after purchasing the course my husband decided that the accounts needed to move from manual books onto Sage so I was tasked with this & for the last year I've been busy getting my head around Sage & have just completed our year end (our financial year is 1 August to 31 July) with very few problems thanks to a little guidance from our Accountant.
I'm now keen to start studying this course with a view to sitting the exam early 2013 however I'm struggling to get answers to my question from BPP or AAT.
I'd like to know the following:
1) Do I have to apply and pay for student membership with the AAT before I can sit the exam? I thought that membership wasn't necessary but AAT seem to suggest different.
2) How do I go about booking the online assessment once I've completed the study and feel confident?
3) Do I have to sit the online assessment at a local exam centre? I'm based in Hull
4) Are there any mock exam books that would be worth purchasing?
If anyone can help to answer the above it would be much appreciated.
I only know a bit of this information from what we have heard from the AAT, but I gather it is changing (accrediation of the ABC course ended in June 2012) and we were told they didn't know all the new information yet.
Usually AAT courses are done through a college. I know distance learning students sometimes have difficulty getting test centres and booking examinations. Best thing to do is try AAT again.
Please note that you only have until 31st January 2013 to sit the examination.
Based on the inforamtion provided to me from the AAT if you havent registered with the AAT as a student for the ABC course yet unfortunately you will not be able to sit the exam now. The ABC accreditation ended on 30 June 2012. From this date, all registered ABC students have one year to complete their assessment (so they can sit exam up to 30th June 2013).
Key dates for phase out of ABC qualification:
30 June 2012 end of accreditation of ABC - after this date, no new students can register with the AAT on the ABC qualification.
30 June 2013 last date ABC assessments can be sat in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There are other bookkeeping qualifications out there such as ICB and IAB but the AAT are looking to launch a new bookkeeping qualification in the New Year but there has been no confirmation of the date and the exact syllabus. I am not sure if the study material you currently have will cover the same syllabus and prepare you adequately for the new exam.
I hope helps and answers your questions and feel free to contact me if you have any further quesitons I can help you with.
