HMRC Tax Specialist Programme (TSP) 2020

I got 94 on numerical, 97 on verbal and 69 in SJT. Going by previous years I think that should be enough but who knows

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 41

Moqqy123

5

i have only been invited to the situational judgment test ? is this the same for everyone else

Reply 42

Original post by Moqqy123

i have only been invited to the situational judgment test ? is this the same for everyone else

You mean you didn’t get an invitation to complete the verbal or numerical reasoning tests?

Reply 43

zoedmc

10

Original post by Moqqy123

i have only been invited to the situational judgment test ? is this the same for everyone else

Have you got banked scores from previously taking them?

Good luck everyone

Does anyone know roughly how long it takes to hear back after submitting the application? I’m on pins!

Reply 46

Original post by msmiawallace

Does anyone know roughly how long it takes to hear back after submitting the application? I’m on pins!

Generally a week or so after the closing date so you'll be as well forgetting about it for a while.

Reply 47

Original post by Mallet

Generally a week or so after the closing date so you'll be as well forgetting about it for a while.

Oh so I’ve got a good month. Ugh I’ll just keep feeling mildly anxious then!

Reply 48

Zacpower

4

Ive noticed some people are saying progression in tax in the big 4 is not possible without the cta. This is absolutely not true. I work at Deloitte and the partner is only att qualified and doesn't have cta. Same is true for some of the directors and associate directors. When you have done the att, you have the option to do the cta but its not compulsory amd you can certainly progress without having it.(You do have to pass att though)

Reply 49

Original post by Zacpower

Ive noticed some people are saying progression in tax in the big 4 is not possible without the cta. This is absolutely not true. I work at Deloitte and the partner is only att qualified and doesn't have cta. Same is true for some of the directors and associate directors. When you have done the att, you have the option to do the cta but its not compulsory amd you can certainly progress without having it.(You do have to pass att though)

I agree. I've dealt with some very senior people in the big 4 and other large firms who aren't CTA qualified. Not forgetting that not all accountants are tax specialists either. The big 4 aren't stupid. They're more interested in your experience and capabilities than the letters after your name. Not that a CTA would harm your chances.

I saw a piece in the paper a while back where they were saying the best way to progress in accountancy was to join a firm as an apprentice straight from school when you're 16. By 21 you'll be ATT (or whatever) qualified with 5 years experience and potentially managing new graduates.

Reply 50

ccoulter08

1

Does anyone know where we can find previous pass marks/thresholds from years previous

Reply 51

Original post by ccoulter08

Does anyone know where we can find previous pass marks/thresholds from years previous

You can look through previous years' threads on here but bear in mind the tests may have changed and they don't actually decide what the thresholds are until after the closing date. Even then it depends on the number of applicants and the range of marks so could be considerably different to previous years.

Reply 52

Rach2904

5

Hi everyone, so I just completed the numerical test and apparently my score was 23% - I got through the practice questions no problem and on every single answer during the actual test I got an exact result that matched one of the choices, so I cannot believe that my score could be that low - 70% or so I could accept, but something must have gone wrong for me to get a score that low. Do you think there is any chance of me appealing this? I'm worried there might have been a technical error.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 53

Cass1988

8

Original post by Rach2904

Hi everyone, so I just completed the numerical test and apparently my score was 23% - I got through the practice questions no problem and on every single answer during the actual test I got an exact result that matched one of the choices, so I cannot believe that my score could be that low - 70% or so I could accept, but something must have gone wrong for me to get a score that low. Do you think there is any chance of me appealing this? I'm worried there might have been a technical error.

Hi Rach,
I know that sometimes there have been technical errors in the past on all of the tests. It is something you can email about and they can reset the tests too. However, be aware when one of my friends have also appealed for it, they stated that chances are you may have gotten 1 wrong and if it tends to be the first one, then it's tough to recover a higher score at all due to the number of people that have taken the test. They give extra questions when you get one wrong and that the questions become easier, so then aren't weighted as much (or so I believe).
I'm not at all saying you got anything wrong, just pointing out that to be aware they may come back with that response too.

Hope that helps.

Reply 54

Rach2904

5

Original post by Cass1988

Hi Rach,
I know that sometimes there have been technical errors in the past on all of the tests. It is something you can email about and they can reset the tests too. However, be aware when one of my friends have also appealed for it, they stated that chances are you may have gotten 1 wrong and if it tends to be the first one, then it's tough to recover a higher score at all due to the number of people that have taken the test. They give extra questions when you get one wrong and that the questions become easier, so then aren't weighted as much (or so I believe).
I'm not at all saying you got anything wrong, just pointing out that to be aware they may come back with that response too.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Cass, that's really helpful - just knowing how it could have happened helps, I've emailed them so will see what they come back with.

Reply 55

Original post by Rach2904

Hi everyone, so I just completed the numerical test and apparently my score was 23% - I got through the practice questions no problem and on every single answer during the actual test I got an exact result that matched one of the choices, so I cannot believe that my score could be that low - 70% or so I could accept, but something must have gone wrong for me to get a score that low. Do you think there is any chance of me appealing this? I'm worried there might have been a technical error.

If you really think there was a technical error then it’s always worth contacting them, but quite a lot of people, if not most, didn’t do as well on the numerical test as they’d thought. Myself included. I got answers that matched the available choices for all of the questions but one and of those I got there were only two I was unsure on - I still passed decently but definitely not at well as I thought.

Reply 56

username1624111

13

Original post by msmiawallace

If you really think there was a technical error then it’s always worth contacting them, but quite a lot of people, if not most, didn’t do as well on the numerical test as they’d thought. Myself included. I got answers that matched the available choices for all of the questions but one and of those I got there were only two I was unsure on - I still passed decently but definitely not at well as I thought.

I have this theory that they have given the results for the numerical test when they actually meant the verbal reasoning one !

Reply 57

Original post by angelamartinc235

I have this theory that they have given the results for the numerical test when they actually meant the verbal reasoning one !

Honestly I just think people were expecting themselves to score higher on the numerical test. I don’t think there are any glitches or screw-ups, just candidates in denial.

Reply 58

Original post by Cass1988

Hi Rach,
I know that sometimes there have been technical errors in the past on all of the tests. It is something you can email about and they can reset the tests too. However, be aware when one of my friends have also appealed for it, they stated that chances are you may have gotten 1 wrong and if it tends to be the first one, then it's tough to recover a higher score at all due to the number of people that have taken the test. They give extra questions when you get one wrong and that the questions become easier, so then aren't weighted as much (or so I believe).
I'm not at all saying you got anything wrong, just pointing out that to be aware they may come back with that response too.

Hope that helps.

It’s super interesting to know that that’s how the scoring works and it makes me feel much better about the uncomfortable feeling that my tests were short!

Reply 59