Hi Jay
Im assuming you are talking about the AAT?

Not sure who you have spoken to on the phone. But having studied the books, why not do the skills test on the AAT website and this will tell you which level you need to start at. If it recommends level 3 then take a screen shot or print and you can then show this to any of the training providers. If not then you may well need to do a fair chunk of the ACCA-x first or do level 2, but if you are picking it up quickly from the books then good on you and go for it!

You can do the computerised bookkeeping from level 2 as a stand alone module. But I dont think it goes into it in depth and only uses one form of software. So you could probably give it a miss, save some cash and maybe once you are further in on your courses you can download a months trial of the same software and have a play with it that way.

For training companies - I would say - First Intuition, Premier or Kaplan. Try First - they and their tutors have won awards on here - see the banner across the top of the website. Also I think their website is easier to navigate as to the course content and about the loans available and they are easier to talk to than Kaplan (who are huge and you are just talking to call centre bods so you can go round in circles a bit), that said their courses are ok.

Can I make a couple of suggestions - add more detail to your post heading as everyone comes on here looking for advice - just helps people including you find it again in a few months when its buried down the pile. Also - can you add your first name to your signature bar (via edit your profile) as its saves us looking up your name each time. Thanks

HTH