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IT'S NOT EASY getting your CTA. 644 candidates sat the exams in May, and only 240 were entirely happy when they opened their results a couple of weeks ago and found that they had passed. This is the second sitting in a row that the pass rate has been 37%. If those taking a referred paper only are excluded, the rate drops to 35% (195 passes out of 564 candidates). 75 candidates were referred, and have to retake one paper.
Peter Kempster, President of the CIOT, says this highlights the achievement of the candidates:
'The high standard of knowledge required and the wide range of the syllabus means that the examinations are extremely demanding. The examinations test the ability to apply complex tax law to practical situations, and I look forward to welcoming those who passed as Chartered Tax Advisers.'
Prize giving
However, amongst the happy recipients of passes were some who were even happier — the prizewinners.
Sarah Kingdon, a solicitor with Cripps Harries Hall LLP in Tunbridge Wells, won the Spofforth medal for the highest mark in Paper IIB, Taxation of Individuals, Trusts and Estates. She qualified as a solicitor three years ago, and specialises in private client work, so deals with tax advice as well as drafting deeds and documents in respect of CGT and IHT planning. 'Being exempt from the ATT was almost a disadvantage coming from a legal background, because the students from the accountancy side came in with a more general knowledge of tax,' Sarah says, 'so I read up the ATT material as well. I was also lucky enough to be heavily involved with work for clients in relation to the new pre-owned assets tax régime, which helped me with one of the Paper IIB questions.'
Sarah trained with BPP in London, taking the full package of courses on offer from the previous August through to final revision. 'It adds structure to your study, and the notes that you get on the courses are great,' she said. 'Studying at home is very different from studying at university, when everyone else is doing the same.'
Her tips for aspiring prizewinners? 'You need dedication above all; studying and working at the same time is difficult. You also need good support from those around you — I had a very supportive partner at home, and a lot of encouragement from colleagues in the office.'
Cross-cutting
The paper which seemed to trip up far more candidates than any other was Paper III. The statistics for passes in each individual paper were not given by the Institute, but 44 candidates were referred or re-referred in it, compared to 14 or fewer in the other papers. The statistics for the candidates taking a referred paper show that this is not unusual; there were nearly twice as many taking Paper III than all the other papers put together.
All of this only goes to underline the achievement of Daniel Evans, who is with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Cardiff. Just a year ago, Daniel was celebrating the successful completion of his law degree from Leicester University; now he is celebrating winning the Avery Jones medal for the highest mark in Paper III. Along the way, he has also picked up his ATT. Daniel asserts that it was opening an unpleasant letter from his bank manager that persuaded him he needed to start on a professional career in a hurry, and he joined PricewaterhouseCoopers graduate training scheme in August 2004.
'I scarcely got into the Cardiff office before they told me that I was going on a ten-week course in London', he said. This was an intensive course with Financial Training, with the ATT exam at the end of it.
Then it was back to work in the office until March, but with some reading and studying to do as well. 'Amongst other things, we used the Tolley Tax Tutor CD-ROM, which was good', said Daniel. Then in March it was back to Financial Training in London for another intensive ten-week course, before taking the CTA in May. Daniel praised the tutors at Financial Training, who broke the material down into manageable sections, and were prepared to stay behind and help them to get it right. Like Sarah, he says that support from his colleagues was important in his success.
His tips for being a prizewinner? 'Be realistic — accept that there is a massive amount of work to do. You should know by now what sort of study plan works for you, so stick to it.
'Also, be prepared for the unexpected. Sometimes when you are faced with a really difficult question you just have to accept that you are only going to get, say, five out of the ten marks that are going for it, and spend the rest of the time on the others where there are more marks to be had.'
Congratulations
Congratulations to Sarah and Daniel, and to all the other prizewinners who we have not had space to mention. Congratulations also to the 351 new Tax Technicians who passed the ATT exams that they took in May, and to their prizewinners, where KPMG took an almost clean sweep. Credit is also due to the tutors at KPMG Business School, which is supported by Tolley Tax Training.
So, if you are a student or prospective student, do you want to be a prizewinner? Or would you be happy just to get a pass? Turn to page 501 for some advice from Sophie Hill, a lecturer with Tolley Tax Training, on study and exam technique.
