FAE September 2012

R0N BURGUNDY

Cheers man - stuff that then. Not worth £1.45 then never mind £145. Is there no option to get the paper totally remarked from scratch?

aca101

Ok, so I gave the Institute a call and they told that if I hold off on applying for membership til Nov 2013 that I'll have to pay the arrears for the 2013 membership as well as the admissions fee and on top of that I'll need to pay 2014 membership a few months later!

So no saving to be made from not joining right now. Will look into it a bit further cos that seems a bit harsh.

Whiplash85

Is there anyway to view the scripts or get them back?

kitten_k

aca101 wrote: »

Ok, so I gave the Institute a call and they told that if I hold off on applying for membership til Nov 2013 that I'll have to pay the arrears for the 2013 membership as well as the admissions fee and on top of that I'll need to pay 2014 membership a few months later!

So no saving to be made from not joining right now. Will look into it a bit further cos that seems a bit harsh.

So does that mean if we apply for admission now we still need to pay for 2013 membership on top of that?

hooch-85

kitten_k wrote: »

So does that mean if we apply for admission now we still need to pay for 2013 membership on top of that?

Probably ya, I wont be in a rush to pay it, if i get it in by Christmas it'll do.

Probably shouldn't be complaining about admission fees when a lot of people would give their left nut to be in our position after those exams.

Foxtrol

aca101 wrote: »

Luckily I passed on Friday, I'm out of contract and no longer with my training firm and I'm heading away travelling soon for a year or so. I know there has been talk of us needing to register and pay €450 for admission as members but I'm wondering could I/should I just hold off until this time next year given I won't be working while I'm travelling? Any advice?

I know we need to register within 1 year of being eligible for admission so I'll obviously need to register before 23 November 2013, but wouldn't mind holding off til then....the extra €450 could come in handy!

You're not saving anything though as it's backdated to when you became eligible. You'd just end up paying a lot more in one chunk rather two separate smaller payments which may suit you but would mean you'd have to have that chunk set aside for when you come back to cover it.

aca101

kitten_k wrote: »

So does that mean if we apply for admission now we still need to pay for 2013 membership on top of that?

We have pay admission fee of €453 by the end of the week and then we have to pay the annual membership fee in January 2013 (Dunno how much this is; it's more than 500 quid though).

Don't get me wrong....I'm still delighted having passed the exams but think its a bit saucy getting us to pay the reg. fee in November and then looking for membership a month later.

aca101

Foxtrol wrote: »

You're not saving anything though as it's backdated to when you became eligible. You'd just end up paying a lot more in one chunk rather two separate smaller payments which may suit you but would mean you'd have to have that chunk set aside for when you come back to cover it.

Ya that's the way I see it now having talked to them.....I'll just pay the reg fee now and get it out the way I think; doubt I could afford the larger payment when I get back next year.

Foxtrol

aca101 wrote: »

Ya that's the way I see it now having talked to them.....I'll just pay the reg fee now and get it out the way I think; doubt I could afford the larger payment when I get back next year.

Think there is a lower annual member fee for those not in Ireland so that might reduce the cost a bit for early next year.

blackwhite

aca101 wrote: »

We have pay admission fee of €453 by the end of the week and then we have to pay the annual membership fee in January 2013 (Dunno how much this is; it's more than 500 quid though).

Don't get me wrong....I'm still delighted having passed the exams but think its a bit saucy getting us to pay the reg. fee in November and then looking for membership a month later.

AFAIK the first year's membership after admission is reduced if you were admitted in Nov/Dec.

Was the case in 2009/10 when I was admitted

sandy60

R0N BURGUNDY wrote: »

Has anyone ever had their result changed due to a clerical recheck? What is that anyway?

I think I'm going to go mental and pay the £145 for the tutorial report. Serious money and sh1t time of year to be losing that!! I reckon every little helps in these things and it might be a good help for next year.

dont Ron. I got it last year took till June for the report to be finished for me (after serious number of calls to the institute) and found no help whatso ever and I failed again on Friday .....

AB6891

Does anybody have any experience with the appeals process? I came down in IMS in core but feel I addressed all relevant indicators in the exam?

Is it a fruitless process having it re-checked?

WeeDeee

Does anyone know the postal address for the appeals scheme application form, is it just to Chartered accountants house?
It says on the form to email it so I wondered is there an option to post it aswell

Nervous Nigel

Has anyone ever been successful with an FAE appeal? My understanding is that borderline cases are double marked with the higher of the two marks then awarded. Surely that makes appealing virtually a waste of time?

I wouldn't recommend that anyone makes a big decision (e.g. to switch to ACCA) while they're still raw about Friday.

FAE is more about common sense and general business nous than pure technical grind. Reading a biography about Bill Gates is more worthwhile preparation than wasting time on that abomination of a management accounting workbook in my view.

notanocelot

Nervous Nigel wrote: »

Has anyone ever been successful with an FAE appeal? My understanding is that borderline cases are double marked with the higher of the two marks then awarded. Surely that makes appealing virtually a waste of time?

Borderline cases are in fact triple-marked. Every paper is double-marked as a matter of course.

I successfully appealed a CAP 2 borderline fail due to medical reasons. Without something like that as a basis, I don't think there's much if any chance of success.

SJay

sandy60 wrote: »

after my conversation with cai and their obnoxious attitude i registered with acca today. What a lovely crowd to talk to. Loads of support and none of the crap the cai go on with. 4 exams to sit, hopefully all done now by June 2013 instead of waiting until September 2013! and way cheaper/.

Only 4 exams? That doesn't seem to bad. U gonna sit them all in one go in June? how much does it cost after paying for all the exemptions etc?

cookieincork

SJay wrote: »

Only 4 exams? That doesn't seem to bad. U gonna sit them all in one go in June? how much does it cost after paying for all the exemptions etc?

yes i am interested in hearing more?

cookieincork

cookieincork wrote: »

yes i am interested in hearing more?

does anyone know with ACCA how many exams would have to be done, if the only thing that u hadnt passed was ur elective??

doctordolittle

sandy60 wrote: »

after my conversation with cai and their obnoxious attitude i registered with acca today. What a lovely crowd to talk to. Loads of support and none of the crap the cai go on with. 4 exams to sit, hopefully all done now by June 2013 instead of waiting until September 2013! and way cheaper/.

I think you'll find that it's 5 exams that you'll have to sit - you can't get any exemptions from the professional level exams.

You can only sit 4 exams at a time - at the professional level you won't be doing this, trust me.

The pass rates with the CAI are well ahead of the pass rates with the ACCA - P1 to P3 have an average pass rate of approx. 50% EACH, and the option papers have an average pass rate of 35% EACH as compared to the Core pass rate of 73% and the elective pass rate of approx. 72%.

Statistically (and due to the fact it's an open book exam) you've a higher chance of passing the CAI exams. The CAI only seem obnoxious because you were unsuccessful in the exam and it's only natural that you want to blame someone else for that other than yourself - the ACCA on the other hand are in sales mode as they are eyeing a potential new student.

I appreciate that it's probably not what you want to hear but there are close to or a little over a thousand students who passed the FAE's last Friday and you unfortunately are in the minority.

Changing to ACCA because they were nice to you on the phone when you rang looking to give them student fees and leaving the CAI because they were obnoxious when you rang after failing their exams is probably a knee jerk reaction.

My advice; stick to the CAI and repeat the FAE next year and before you start thinking that the ACCA exams will 'suit' you better I'll refer you back up to the statistics -unfortunately with the ACCA failing, is in the majority category.

As for it being 'way cheaper' - you'll have to pay for the 9 exemptions. a registration fee, a student subscription fee and then the classes with any of the main providers will cost you €800 a pop (times 5 is €4,000).

I say this as an ACCA student who many times unfortunately has been in the 'majority' so I feel your pain. I have considered elevation as a route to qualifying as the ACCA exams don't always 'suit' me and I reckon if I rang CAI I'd find them very easy to deal with until I became a student!

notanocelot

cookieincork wrote: »

does anyone know with ACCA how many exams would have to be done, if the only thing that u hadnt passed was ur elective??

Cookie, how many times have you taken the elective?
Seems most people who only have elective to repeat pass it. It's a lot more like traditional exams, since there's sufficiency test only, and without the bizarreness of Core to take up your studying and worrying time, you should be able to get really solid on the elective.

At my firm a lot of people had elective only to repeat and they all passed it. The only person repeating the elective I'm aware of who didn't pass had Core to repeat also.

pinzas

cookieincork wrote: »

does anyone know with ACCA how many exams would have to be done, if the only thing that u hadnt passed was ur elective??

Cookie what area of business do you work in? I don't think you're helping yourself by picking tax as it's changing every year unlike audit and APM.

Re DR Doolittle you say you're considering moving from ACA to ACCA. I think you should consider the point that the majority of ACA students are Big4 who get three months of study leave and in house lectures throughout the year. Likewise you'll have to take two weeks off between Jan and June to attend block release lectures.
As someone who has gone through the elevation programme, there is no more 'flexibility' afforded to you than to any of the other students and the ACA seem to be using it as a buzzword to sell their product. In fact you pay 4,185e to sit the FAEs and unlike ACCA where you sit what exams you want when you want, you'll have to accept whatever decision is made for you for FAE!

cookieincork

pinzas wrote: »

Cookie what area of business do you work in? I don't think you're helping yourself by picking tax as it's changing every year unlike audit and APM.

Re DR Doolittle you say you're considering moving from ACA to ACCA. I think you should consider the point that the majority of ACA students are Big4 who get three months of study leave and in house lectures throughout the year. Likewise you'll have to take two weeks off between Jan and June to attend block release lectures.
As someone who has gone through the elevation programme, there is no more 'flexibility' afforded to you than to any of the other students and the ACA seem to be using it as a buzzword to sell their product. In fact you pay 4,185e to sit the FAEs and unlike ACCA where you sit what exams you want when you want, you'll have to accept whatever decision is made for you for FAE!

i am working in practice..do a bit of everything!
you might be right, i absolutely hated auditing the first year i took that as the elective.
APM was the probably the elective to take all right..Bit late now i'm afraid tho!

mydiscworld

For those thinking of switching, here's my experience to date:

Up to 2010 I had passed all university exams first go, and all CAP1 and CAP2.

I sat FAE 2010 and got 5 of 6 Core - failed Bus L. Passed tax elective.

Resat Core 2011 - failed Bus L and PM (so a step backwards)

Decided enough was enough. Waiting another whole year without repeats was the killer for me.

I looked at CPA v ACCA. Switched to CPA as had 4 exams to do v 6 with ACCA).
I had to do 1 P1 and 3 P2s. Got exempt from Tax P2 as passed the FAE elective.

I've sat two exams so far: P1 Corporate Laws & Governance in Apr 2012 (got 75%, closed book) and P2 Strategy & Leadership in Aug 2012 (got 65.5%, open book).

Sitting my last two P2 exams in Apr 2013.

To date I've found CPA way nicer to deal with and exams feel easier.

They even do e-learning now in GCD, so they record lectures and put them online, you can also go to the classes, and revision weekends are also there. I hate classes, so watching them at home at my leisure has been great.

Fingers crosses I'll bang out the last two - Audit & Corporate Reporting (both open book) in Apr 2013. If not, I've repeats in Aug so not too stressed.

louise1985

Hi Guys,

Looking for opinions, I failed the tax elective with a decline ranking of 8 and sufficiency of 1. Is it worth the appeal??

Thanks in advance

cookieincork

louise1985 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Looking for opinions, I failed the tax elective with a decline ranking of 8 and sufficiency of 1. Is it worth the appeal??

Thanks in advance

oh so close....

i got decile 9, sufficiency 2.....

i dunno, i would maybe chance the appeal in ur circumstances!!!

kitten_k

For those of us that were lucky to pass, this could be useful:

http://www.morganmckinley.ie/article/recently-qualified-aca-what-salary-should-i-expect

lar05

cookieincork wrote: »

oh so close....

i got decile 9, sufficiency 2.....

i dunno, i would maybe chance the appeal in ur circumstances!!!

i went from decile 9, sufficiency 2 to decile 10 sufficiancy 4 this year and cant see how i went backwards considering I knew twice as much stuff and I was expecting to pass it. Im considering doing the Part 11 AITI exams now aswel which i think will help me with my elective next year while also hopefully completing more exams. Does this sounds a bit mad?

ferike1

All I know is that having passed the exams is that the institute's books are horse manure.

ACCA notes ftw.

Nervous Nigel

In my view, it's still too soon and too raw for people to make such big decisions (e.g. switching to ACCA or CPA).

If someone who didn't make it can honestly say that they attended the lectures and worked as hard and as effecively as they could (and didn't suffer bad luck on the day), then maybe ACA isn't for you.

But if you've come this far and can give more, my view is give September 2013 a go. That's "only" 10 months away.

Speak with people you trust and respect in your private and professional life. Ignore the keyboard warriors who love to trash the Institute. Main thing is, keep the faith and don't let this setback get you down.

ferike1

Nervous Nigel wrote: »

In my view, it's still too soon and too raw for people to make such big decisions (e.g. switching to ACCA or CPA).

If someone who didn't make it can honestly say that they attended the lectures and worked as hard and as effecively as they could (and didn't suffer bad luck on the day), then maybe ACA isn't for you.

But if you've come this far and can give more, my view is give September 2013 a go. That's "only" 10 months away.

Speak with people you trust and respect in your private and professional life. Ignore the keyboard warriors who love to trash the Institute. Main thing is, keep the faith and don't let this setback get you down.

You sound like one of them in disguise! The institute are in the red and trying to keep numbers up