Incorporating NQ magazine
April 2023
www.pqmagazine.com/www.pqjobs.co.uk
TIME TO TALK TO STUDENTS DIRECTLY AAT has admitted its needs to communicate better with its students, following the technical issues that hit some of its PQs sitting Q2022 assessments on the Atlas Cloud software. Tutors and students alike are unhappy with the unreliability of the new assessment platform, which they claim contain widespread glitches. There is also a worry that pass rates for Q2022 are far lower than those for AQ2016. The problems are so bad we have heard of several colleges who have cancelled their Level 4 exams until further notice. PQ understands AAT introduced several fixes last November, and a further fix was made in
January, but this failed testing. Another attempt to permanently fix the screen jumping issue was ‘happening’ in the first half of March. The regulators have also been made aware of the issues. Suzie Webb, AAT’s director of Education and Development, told PQ magazine that Q2022 has been live now for six months and “on the whole things are going well with over 30,000 assessments being taken already”. However, AAT has become aware of some technical issues with the software, including screen/mouse cursor jumping. She said: “The reports we have received indicate that
these have affected only a small number of assessments, but we do of course recognise the impact they may have had on students. We are therefore applying special consideration to any students who have reported as being affected by these issues, as well as offering free re-sits to those who request it.” Webb stressed AAT will be sending out coms to update all centres as soon as it has further news to share on the fixes. PQ magazine has also asked that this communication should include students directly, and AAT promised it will open up dialogue with PQs too when things go wrong.
A SKILLS SHORTAGE THREATENS SECTOR Graduates’ waning interest in a career in accountancy has become a massive challenge for many firms, according to a new Intuit QuickBooks poll. Last summer the ICAEW reported that recruitment in the accountancy sector was hitting problems as the number of candidates for each vacancy fell dramatically – indicating a growing skills shortage. The ICAEW said at the time: “There are fears that this decline could be harming the sector’s strength and stability, with reports of accounting firms being forced to turn away work due to lack of staff. Nearly half of UK accountancy firms admit to facing huge blows to their growth amid the skills shortages.” Research by Intuit QuickBooks says the problem could be getting worse and nearly half of accountants (44%) say their biggest challenge is the fact that fewer graduates want a career in the profession. It all means that a whopping 92% of accountants have experienced hiring challenges in the past year. However, using technology to attract
tomorrow’s accountants could be the answer. Some 86% of respondents believe having financial technologies in place that allow more opportunities for engaging work can help attract younger talent – making this a key route to plugging the current skills gap. The survey of over 2,000 accountants also found a third thought tech has a direct positive impact on retaining staff, and 30% say tech has
resulted in happier and more engaged staff. Intuit QuickBooks Vice President Jolawn Victor (pictured) explained: “What is clear from the data is that budding accountants are looking for interesting, engaging work. Firms that invest in technology to automate routine tasks will free up their people to perform client-facing, value-add advisory. Those are the firms that will win the talent.”
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