r/CIOT

Anybody else have major issues with test reach system during the exam

What are people’s thoughts on the announcement today? Seems like it’s the complete opposite from the exam on TestReach with paper 3 and 6 having no invigilation at all.

Wonder if this means the potential resits in a few weeks for papers 1, 2, 4, and 5 will be done in the same way or back on TestReach.

Thoughts and opinions on the exam? Personally found it weirdly worded and got thrown off on a few questions.

They're leaving it a bit short notice. How are we meant to take time off?

Speaking for ATT paper 3 and 6

How did people feel with this paper? Thought it was quite strange and didn’t stretch knowledge too badly for the content included in the syllabus.

Worst bit was the VAT question for me.

Can we expect any comments from the qualifying bodies? Or is this a “tough, better luck next time” situation.

People have lost time and workings because of the failures and they did not grant extra time.

What can we typically expect in a situation like this?

Hi all, I’m new to Reddit and this sub, and I would like some advice regarding the CTA qualification.

I’m nearly ACCA qualified and planning to start CTA towards the end of next year.

What’s the best approach to studying for CTA? What study methods or routines worked best for you guys? I'm not too sure whether my approach for ACCA will work for CTA (jumped straight to exam questions from day 1 and not read the course notes. Just learnt the content by doing the questions on repeat).

I’ve always considered myself a below average student academically, so I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who felt the same but still managed to get through it successfully.😃

Seriously, what on earth was that? Calling Paper 5 an "open book" exam is a total lie. It felt way more like a pseudo open book nightmare.

The fact that we didn’t have the Question and Answer bank is a complete joke. The main manual is fine for theory, but you need the Q&A bank to actually apply the concepts. Without it, the exam basically turned into a half closed book test. The difficulty spike was unreal because I was wasting time trying to remember application formats that should have been right there in front of me.

Am I the only one who feels blindsided by this? Is the general consensus that today was a total dumpster fire or am I just losing it?

I just wanted to say good luck to everyone who has their ATT exams this week! I’m doing Paper 4 tomorrow! 🙂

Anyone else just seen the email? ATT Papers 3 and 6 tomorrow have now been cancelled.

After what can only be described as an outrageous first 4 papers from a technical perspective (freezing, crashes, Excel issues, disconnects etc.), looks like they’ve finally pulled tomorrow’s exams.

Worst exam fears realised. What was that excel glitch???

That was absolutely traumatising. My plan was to save time and revisit the workings before submission and the excel just disappeared. So did my mind. I think I actually started weeping staring into the camera at one point not knowing if I could speak or not.

I had to do the system check about five times despite having a strong internet connection and I was kicked out of the exam on at least three occasions. Did anyone else have the testreach staff announce issues on loudspeaker even after being let back into the exam? that’s so insanely disruptive for a professional exam I can’t believe how badly Testreach handled that.

In all my time practicing the comps, I had never used a calculator and at the moment in mattered the most they expected us to use our shaky hands while the time runs out and you have to keep scrolling to see the question… remember what you did before and redo it. That’s so ridiculously unfair. I felt so confident up until the disruption and I have applied for special consideration but my goodness I hope they fix it for the November sittings this was awful.

Hi,

Slightly off topic but i figured this would be a great place to ask.

I’ve been wanting to move into tax and just cant seem to land an entry level role.

For some context, i graduated in 24 worked as a finance analyst for ~8 months, didn’t like it so i left to assess where i wanted to be, became a driving instructor in the mean time and have been doing that now for ~7 months (still plan on doing this evenings and weekends).

I signed up to CIOT for the CTA and am intending to sit those self funded to help my case, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

The 2nd camera needs to show your keyboard and hands so likely will need to be behind you. Doesn’t need to show your room unlike the guidance said. I had to move everything around (chargers extension cables etc) during my check in so worth preparing.

The security protocol otherwise isn’t as strict as it’s been for the CBEs, just make sure your desk is clear (I still had speakers and plants etc on my desk).

During the CBEs I’ve had to move half my room around before the invigilator was happy!

Also the question paper sometimes cuts off partially when using the spreadsheet which is incredibly annoying but you can zoom out in the settings

First of all, the paper was crap! Nothing like the past papers neither was it focused on the syllabus or the study manual! The written section was just on VAT, who approved that for a CT exam?! Stupid if you ask me, it’s like they set us up to intentionally fail. I spent ages studying just to get a paper that was not relevant at all! Secondly, test reach crashed on me and when I was trying to speak to the invigilator I got no response! Useless! So the time was ticking and I was stuck doing nothing with no help from the invigilator! And to hear yesterday’s exams were cancelled is just ridiculous. The stress and sacrifices we put in just to be disappointed is not good enough. ATT needs to be held accountable. We must be compensated by ATT in some way for the rubbish we have experienced! They should give all students special consideration and guarantee 20 marks at least for each paper is what I suggest! I urge everyone to please submit a special consideration request! The more applications they get, the more we will hopefully be compensated in a fair way! Please please please

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Please everyone go and fill out a special consideration form to the ATT to address the exam software issues this week. The more people that do it, the better chance they issue some sort of credit or future resits for these. I understand they are aware of the issues but hopefully for the students who submitted work could get some sort of credit for what they ended up submitting in their final paper. Even a future resit would be good, as these exams cost a lot of money.

Hi how was the paper?

Still left over 30 mins but system got disconnected. They did not allow me to enter test as the test got submitted automatically

I have not attended 2 questions.

Anybody faced the same issue?