A SP N AA ISSECIA T UE L
Incorporating NQ magazine
July 2023
www.pqmagazine.com/www.pqjobs.co.uk jobs.co.uk
ASK THE AI TUTOR IS HERE!
In an accountancy first, Open Tuition has added an ‘Ask the AI Tutor’ service function to its website. For each ACCA paper students will now be able to type in questions and receive an instant computerised answer. The Open Tuition AI is more accurate (and faster) than freely available ChatGPT, because it is using the knowledge database that accountancy tutors have created, as opposed to simply trawling the internet for anything it might think relevant.
Open Tuition founder John Moffat told PQ magazine that it may expand the service to CIMA students, depending on the response from students. However, he felt there is no reason why CIMA students should not use the ACCA service, given much of the knowledge needed is the same. He explained: “The results have been astonishing. For written questions it is coming up with almost 100% accurate answers in easy to understand English. When asked to tackle objective test Continued on page 4
NEWS FLASH: AAT Q2022 ASSESSMENT UPDATE
AAT is systematically working through the problems with its Q2022 assessment software, with some progress being made. But there is still more to put right. In an exclusive interview with PQ magazine, AAT CEO Sarah Beale (pictured) said that she believes the issues with the mouse curser ‘jumping’ have been largely resolved, with “a few exceptions”. The AAT has seen encouraging signs in recent weeks, and there are early indications that the problems with loading and submitting assessments is improving. Beale explained most assessments were being submitted successful, but that the system wasn’t showing that at the sitter’s end. Obviously, it’s distressing for students to leave their assessment
unclear about whether they have submitted. The biggest issue to put right is with the Management Accounting Techniques (MATS) assessment at
Level 3. Beale admitted there is no immediate fix here. She revealed that after making improvements AAT had rigorously tested and ran lots of assessments,
only for some of the glitches to reappear. Beale said there is no magic wand to fix these problems, as the assessments are complex and continually available. However, the number of incidents is falling. She has also appointed a new technology director, Michael Perillo. He and his team have been liaising closely with colleges to see the problems first-hand. Beale thanked both students and the training providers for their patience, and stressed that she understood that the current level of service “was not good enough”. Meanwhile, Q2022 has been heavily praised by tutors for providing students with the perfect launch-pad into a modern-day accountancy career. See our feature on page 25.