AAT Foundation Certificate, Advanced & Professional Diploma in Accounting (Levels 2, 3 & 4)

There are five exams in total - 4 computer-based exams and 1 Synoptic Assessment. 

Exams

•    Bookkeeping Transactions (1 Hour 30 minutes).
•    Bookkeeping Controls (1 Hour 30 minutes).
•    Elements of Costing (1 Hour 30 minutes).
•    Using Accounting Software (2 Hours).
•    Foundation Certificate in Accounting Synoptic Test Assessment (2 Hours).

For Levels 2 & 3, when you are ready to take your assessments, you have two options:

Online Assessments - To take your assessment from the comfort of your home, please contact e-Careers Customer Service to book and pay for your assessment. Not available on the Synoptic Assessment. (Level 4 has this option from September 20th 2021).

Test Centre Assessments - You can still choose to sit your exam at a suitable AAT approved assessment venue. We can help find the closest one to you. Exam fees vary from centre to centre.

For Level 4 you can sit your exam at a suitable AAT approved assessment venue.

AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting Exam Details

•    Advanced Bookkeeping (2 Hours).
•    Final Accounts Preparation (2 Hours).
•    Management Accounting – Costing (2 Hours 30 minutes).
•    Indirect Taxation (1 Hour 30 minutes).
•    Advanced Diploma in Accounting Synoptic Test Assessment (2 Hours 45 minutes).

AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting Assessment Details

Mandatory Exams

•    Management Accounting: Budgeting (2 hours 30 minutes).
•    Management Accounting: Decision and Control (2 hours 30 minutes).
•    Financial Statements of Limited Companies (2 hours 30 minutes).
•    Accounting Systems and Controls (2 hours 30 minutes). 
•    Professional Diploma Synoptic Assessment (3 hours). 

Optional Exams

•    Business taxation (2 hours).
•    Personal taxation (2 hours 30 minutes).
•    External auditing (2 hours)
•    Cash and Treasury Management (2 hours 30 minutes).
•    Credit Management (2 hours 30 minutes).

Questions include multiple-choice, selecting answers from a drop-down menu and typing numbers into form fields. For some assessments, you will be required to type quite lengthy amounts of text, in particular with the Synoptic assessment. 

You will be tested via Synoptic assessments, which will test your understanding of connections between the different topics covered across the Level 4 qualification. Synoptic assessments are sat towards the end of your qualification and will be taken at specific times throughout the year. 

Pass Rates

We’re proud to have achieved some of the highest pass marks in the UK. This is made possible because of the programme offering we have, including eLearning platform, textbooks, a range of mock exams, and our official Sage courseware.

National average pass rate

•    AAT Level 2 is 85.0%.
•    AAT Level 3 is 75.0%.
•    AAT Level 4 is 68.8%.

e-Careers pass rates

•    AAT Level 2 is 91.2%.
•    AAT Level 3 is 87.6%.
•    AAT Level 4 is 82.2%. 

Synoptic windows revised

Dates for the Synoptic window have now all been confirmed for 2021, including additional dates to assist with any capacity issues as a result of social distancing restrictions. Click for the full details.

When studying for your AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting, your knowledge and skills will be tested via computer-based assessments, which are marked in three ways:

•  Completely computer marked (you will get your results within 24 hours).
•  Partially computer marked and partially human marked (you will get your results within six weeks).
•  Fully human marked (you will get your results within six weeks).

Exam Prep Sessions

To help students have the best chances of passing their AAT exams, we have developed a series of regular exam preparation sessions for levels 2 & 3. Before the session, students complete a pre-assigned mock paper in advance, and your tutor will run through the paper and correct answers, informing you of what the AAT expect you to write and why. This helps you think in a way that will enable you to approach each question correctly, increasing the likelihood of you passing.

Synoptic windows revised

Synoptic window dates have now been confirmed for the remainder of the year and include additional dates to help with planning and potential capacity issues due to social distancing restrictions. Full details can be found here.

AAT exams

All exams are computer-based exams, and there will be one per module. These exams will need to be taken at your local AAT test centre and the format includes multiple-choice questions.

Exam fees are not included in the course cost. 

If you need any more information on the AAT exams, please get in touch with one of our advisors.

Level 2 synoptic assessments

In agreement with Ofqual, the UK qualifications regulator, the AAT has announced the intention to issue calculated results for eligible students studying the Foundation Certificate in Accounting - Level 2 (Level 5 in Scotland) and Foundation Diploma in Accounting and Business (Level 2).

Full details on the revised synoptic windows can be found here.

Exam changes due to COVID-19

Pearson VUE-owned test centres will be following the recommendations from the CDC and World Health Organisation for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting testing candidates and their staff. Candidates are asked to comply with the health and safety guidelines outlined below to keep fellow candidates safe. (Face masks are now required while testing at Pearson VUE-owned test centres).

What you need to know

You will not be admitted to the test centre and should reschedule your exam if:

You have tested positive for COVID-19 (unless you have been symptom-free and fever-free for at least 72 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine and at least 14 days have passed since your last exposure, or you have received two negative COVID-19 test results in a row, 24 hours apart)

You are currently experiencing or have experienced one or more associated symptoms within the last fourteen (14) days (unless you have been symptom-free and fever-free for at least 72 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine):

• Shortness of breath
• Cough
• Fever
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Loss of smell

You live with or have had close contact with someone who has confirmed or suspected COVID-19 (unless at least 14 days have passed since your last exposure).

Have been or are under home quarantine or centralised observation by government or healthcare authorities (unless at least 14 days have passed since your quarantine or centralised observation has been lifted by the government or healthcare authorities).