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ATT law paper

We have noticed that the pass rate in the Association of Tax Technicians' 'Principles of Law' exam in May 2007 was very low (15%) compared to those in the other exams. In the 'Principles of Accounting' exam, the pass rate was 91% (with seven commendations — there were none in law), while the pass rates in the seven modular papers ranged from 57% (in VAT) to 92% (in Business tax: higher skills).
The ATT reported that their exam committee was 'very disappointed' with the results in the 'Principles of Law' paper, but they felt that 'the paper set was reasonable and achievable and this was evidenced by comments from the tutorial bodies immediately following the exam where it was described as fair in terms of syllabus coverage'. The association said that there were no obvious reasons for the low pass rate and the subsequent moderating and checking procedures had not revealed any particular issues. Model answers were to be posted on the ATT website (www.att.org.uk) in due course, together with answers from a candidate who had passed. They also said that 'the next ATT student newsletter will have comments from the examiner on the reasons why many candidates did not achieve a pass at this sitting with tips on examination technique to help them do so in the future'.
Steve Sanders of Tolley Tax Training made the following comments on the law exam.

'The ATT law results were a shock to the students and the tutorial bodies alike as many diligent and capable students have failed an exam that both they, and their course providers, would have expected them to have passed.
'The poor result is a combination of two factors. First, the exam was more difficult than in previous sittings, testing candidates on fringe topics that they may not have concentrated on in the revision phase of their studies. In addition, we feel that the exam was harshly marked and that “marginal” candidates were perhaps not given adequate credit for answers which, whilst not in the examiners' marking guide, could have been relevant to the question set.
'The ATT dispute both of the above points and blame the poor result on the quality of the candidates sitting in May 2007. In my opinion, the quality of candidates this sitting was as good as in previous years, but these students have been let down by an usually difficult exam and an unsympathetic marking process.'

As things currently stand, the November 2007 exam will be the last chance for candidates to pass this exam as this paper will no longer exist as a separate exam under the new syllabus. We were also advised that the November exam will 'focus on the very core elements of the law manual'.

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