ICAEW - Professional Level Business Planning Tax Exam
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Has anyone else had to resit the ICAEW - BPT paper challenging or ever resat a paper more than once?I have so far sat two of the Professional Level papers - Tax Compliance and BPT. Conscious there is quite a difference in standard between Tax Compliance and BPT with BPT being much more challenging.
I work full time and am distance learning for the ICAEW. I passed Tax Compliance in March (62%) without too much study. However when I sat BPT in June I failed (44%).I resat it in September(yesterday) and it did not go well at all. This was not because I had not worked (I really thought I had covered everything this time and had practised a couple of papers and self marked them) but because there was a question of the kind I had not seen before and I panicked a bit and didn't write down much. (There were none like it in the Question Bank.) I am worried I may have failed with an even lower mark than before although it is hard to tell.My employer does not mind me sitting the paper more than twice (I am not at one of the Big Four) but I am getting really scared about this as I know we are only allowed four attempts per paper by ICAEW.
As I have been distance learning I am starting to think I need to change my approach with BPT and I would benefit from some face to face tuition and practising a couple of mock exams, which I could go through with a tutor. I would need to take time off work to do this, which I would probably not be able to do now until the spring. Conscious that BPT is very much about exam technique more than the others.I am now in two minds assuming I failed the second retake:
(1) retake it again in December while the knowledge is still fresh in my mind and the tax rates don't change for exam purposes.However I would have to do this with distance learning and my study time between now and December is limited due to work commitments.
(2) postpone my next sitting of BPT until March when I would be able to take time off to do a face to face tuition course.Meanwhile I would potentially take an easier exam in December (e.g. Audit and Assurance).
My ICAEW qualified colleague has pointed out two problems with the second approach: (i) BPT will be at the back of my mind anyway until next year and (ii) the the tax rates change for exam purposes. I see his point on (i) although I think taking a break from BPT and doing some easier papers might boost my confidence and exam technique. However on (ii) I don't think the tax rates matter that much to performance in the paper because BPT is very advice focused.
Any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. My mind is in quite a bit of turmoil over this. It is really affecting my confidence both in and out of work.
Many thanks in advance for your help
Has anyone else had to resit the ICAEW - BPT paper challenging or ever resat a paper more than once?I have so far sat two of the Professional Level papers - Tax Compliance and BPT. Conscious there is quite a difference in standard between Tax Compliance and BPT with BPT being much more challenging.
I work full time and am distance learning for the ICAEW. I passed Tax Compliance in March (62%) without too much study. However when I sat BPT in June I failed (44%).I resat it in September(yesterday) and it did not go well at all. This was not because I had not worked (I really thought I had covered everything this time and had practised a couple of papers and self marked them) but because there was a question of the kind I had not seen before and I panicked a bit and didn't write down much. (There were none like it in the Question Bank.) I am worried I may have failed with an even lower mark than before although it is hard to tell.My employer does not mind me sitting the paper more than twice (I am not at one of the Big Four) but I am getting really scared about this as I know we are only allowed four attempts per paper by ICAEW.
As I have been distance learning I am starting to think I need to change my approach with BPT and I would benefit from some face to face tuition and practising a couple of mock exams, which I could go through with a tutor. I would need to take time off work to do this, which I would probably not be able to do now until the spring. Conscious that BPT is very much about exam technique more than the others.I am now in two minds assuming I failed the second retake:
(1) retake it again in December while the knowledge is still fresh in my mind and the tax rates don't change for exam purposes.However I would have to do this with distance learning and my study time between now and December is limited due to work commitments.
(2) postpone my next sitting of BPT until March when I would be able to take time off to do a face to face tuition course.Meanwhile I would potentially take an easier exam in December (e.g. Audit and Assurance).
My ICAEW qualified colleague has pointed out two problems with the second approach: (i) BPT will be at the back of my mind anyway until next year and (ii) the the tax rates change for exam purposes. I see his point on (i) although I think taking a break from BPT and doing some easier papers might boost my confidence and exam technique. However on (ii) I don't think the tax rates matter that much to performance in the paper because BPT is very advice focused.
Any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. My mind is in quite a bit of turmoil over this. It is really affecting my confidence both in and out of work.
Many thanks in advance for your help
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