1. James Price 29 th November 2011 Welcome to AAT

2. Lisa Elsworth AAT student member Kent County Council

3. Who are AAT? The Association of Accounting Technicians A professional membership body Qualification awarding body Providing qualifications for staff working at all levels of accounting and finance Members work in all sectors of the economy 120,000 members worldwide Vocational, skills based qualification delivered by computer based assessment

4. Current trends What we’ve noticed this year Overall increase in students aged 15-18 Increase in students with A levels or equivalent Decrease in students GCSE level qualifications Increase in students with a degree Increase in enquiries from possible career changers Mark Nelson FMAAT, Accountant, Blake & Co

5. Employers and recruitment Employers are actively looking at apprenticeships Assessing the balance of their graduate intake vs school leaver intake Challenges to recruitment if only taken on graduates in the past Employers are looking to medium and long term future Short term – are new jobs going to be created? Paul Donno FMAAT, Sole Proprietor Paul Donno & Co Ltd

6. AAT Apprenticeships Key benefits Success rate for Accountancy Apprenticeships is 79.6% Innovative ways emerging around delivery 3AAA’s Partnership Training provider lead Work placements Recognised across all sectors Accountancy practice Public sector Commercial companies Zeya Phillips MAAT, Owner, Phillips Accountancy & Books

7. The future – a few thoughts Longer ‘apprenticeship’ training periods Development of specialised technician roles, for example, Audit Technicians What will the future profile of graduates look like? Will current trends become long term changes in recruitment practices? Ikram ul Haq FMAAT Accountant, Mian & Co

8. AAT supporting you Regular careers mailing Who should we send it to? Attending more schools career events Working to link employers to schools Work with Financial Skills Partnership www.aat-jobs.org.uk What we need to know from you Do students like brochures? What resources do you use? Do you need to know more about careers in this field?

9. Myra Geater MAAT, Vodafone from a qualified AAT member

10. Get in contact James Price, Deputy Business Development Manager e: james.price@aat.org.ukjames.price@aat.org.uk t: 020 7397 3138 On-line aat.org.uk/join directions.org.uk/fsp/ apprenticeships.org.uk

11. Questions?