The
December 2004 examinations was the last of three double
sittings where students who were trying to complete either
the Foundation, Intermediate or Technician level for the
old standards were able to sit exams under the old standards.
By now, you should have received your results for the
December exam and may be wondering what to do next.
If
you have completed the Foundation or Intermediate level
under the old standards, you will be studying the next
level (Intermediate or Technician) of the AAT’s
Accounting Qualification under the revised 2003 standards.
If you have only partially completed a level, in order
to continue with your studies, you will need to transfer
to the revised (2003) standards.
Transferring
won’t be as bad as it sounds because where AAT are
able to transfer your exam achievements they will do so.
Last year (2004), two AAT panels met to discuss the technical
case for transferring individual exam unit achievements.
For some units, because there was little or no change
to the technical content of the unit, AAT can transfer
achievements across to the revised standards. For other
units, as the technical content has altered significantly,
it would not be right to transfer achievements.
As
the majority of students sitting the Foundation level
(nearly 99 per cent) are enrolled on the revised standards,
no transfer arrangements are required. No transfer arrangements
were needed when the Foundation standards were changed
in 2000 because of the high success rate. The success
and the level completion rate remain high for Foundation
students.
A
number of important changes were made to the two Intermediate
exam units. Whilst there are many similarities between
the old MFR and the revised FRA unit, transferring the
exam achievement alone would be wrong. If you were successful
at the MFR exam, you will need to take a transitional
assessment before AAT transfer your exam achievement.
The transitional assessment for this unit will be set
by the AAT but administered by MCG. This assessment will
be available from March 2005. Students who completed the
RCI exam will need to sit the ECR exam at unit 6. There
are a considerable number of differences between the old
and revised unit. The most comprehensive form of transitional
assessment for this part of unit 6 is the ECR exam.
At
the Technician level you will have noticed that during
the overlap sittings the exams for the old standards units
8 and 9 (MCV and PAR) were identical to the revised standards
papers (PEV and PCR). This is because there is very little
difference between the old and revised units. Also under
the revised standards the new Drafting Financial Statements
unit no longer assesses sole traders and partnerships;
and the various public sector financial statement papers
are now sector specific. If you have successfully completed
one or more of the old standards exams (MCV, PAR, DF,
DFC, DFL, DFH) your achievements will be transferred to
the revised unit (PEV, PCR, DFS, DFSC, DFSL, DFSH). Unfortunately,
AAT will not be able to transfer the old standards skills
tests achievements for units 18 and 19 (business and personal
tax) to the revised units as they are now assessed by
exam. The Qualification Curriculum Authority (QCA) views
the change in the assessment method as a significant change,
so it is not able to approve the transfer of these units.
To
complete your transfer, we will be able to use a mix of
accreditation of prior learning (APL) and top up work
to fill the gap to update and to transfer your skills
tests results. The tax units are the only exception to
the APL process and this is explained in the above paragraph.
The top up work will vary depending on the nature and
number of differences between the old and revised unit.
The gap-filling work may take the form of oral questioning,
written short answer questions or a mini assignment. AAT
can only issue you with a certificate for a level if all
your skills and exam achievements for that level are recorded
under the same version of the standards.
The
transfer of achievements took place in November 2004,
and should be included in the statement of achievements
issued with the December 2004 exam results.
(Please
note that the article on which the above is based “Ready
to transfer” was originally published in the November
edition of the Accounting Technician magazine.)
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