A rebel with a cause

Sunil Bhandari is a well-known (and often provocative!) accountancy tutor and our resident expert for ACCA FM, ACCA AFM and CIMA F3. Clearly, he doesnā€™t know when to quit, as heā€™s been a tutor since 1986!

PQ: Why did you choose to become a tutor? Sunil: I was taught by some really good, inspirational tutors, people who treated each student as an individual. Tony Unett and Bob Phelps (Financial Training ā€“ FTC, now Kaplan, in Birmingham) in particular were brilliant.

They were larger than life personalities with a clear mission to teach ā€“ a cause, if you like. I remember saying: ā€œThis is amazing, Iā€™ll try it for a year.ā€ PQ: Did you find it challenging?

Sunil: Of course! In those days there were no standard notes ā€“ you had to write your own. I was training ICAEW students on block release courses, and while the students were great, they could ask tough questions for a ā€˜green about the earsā€™ tutor. It was a steep learning curve.

PQ: There was no CIMA or ACCA classroom courses?

Sunil: Not at first. CIMA and ACCA trainees used to go to the local state colleges, with the private sector entering the market later.

I got into ACCA/CIMA classes when I joined BPP and set up their Birmingham business. The class sizes were huge ā€“ 50-100 per room. Local colleges and private sector trainers still compete head to head, as you can see in PQ magazine. Thatā€™s great for the students, because if you look you can find good tutors for particular subjects in either market.

PQ: Do you think the exams are easier or harder now?

Sunil: Thatā€™s easy: theyā€™re far harder. Syllabuses have grown and the questions are tougher. Plus, the pressure to pass first time is greater, and many students have less time off to study. Thatā€™s why we have seen the huge growth in evening, weekend courses and now online courses.

PQ: How has that changed your role as a tutor?

Sunil: I am glad you used that word ā€˜tutorā€™ and not ā€˜lecturerā€™. A tutor provides the support a student needs to pass, not just the knowledge.

Of course, students get my email address, but they also get my mobile number, a WhatsApp support group and regular unsolicited contact from me asking them for their homework. My students deserve to get help ASAP (outside Manchester United game time). I always say ā€˜give the students the best chance to passā€™.

PQ: How do you use WhatsApp?

Sunil: I answer any question asked thatā€™s relevant to that group. Other students may chip in with supplementary questions, and benefit from the questions of others, but Iā€™m not a great fan of students answering other studentā€™s questions ā€“ I call it the blind leading the blind.

Students rarely have the time to work things out from scratch: they need a tutor to present clear solutions quickly. A board of directors gets expert support from knowledgeable staff, and a student needs a decent tutor on their team.

PQ: What about lectures and webinars?

Sunil: I used to offer webinars, but most students only viewed the recordings. So now I use carefully crafted videos, which I regularly re-record, and support these with WhatsApp, email and phone. I also make one-to-one phone videos for individual students, for example on debriefing questions, etc.

Itā€™s all about having the core syllabus covered via general, up-to-date videos, but then treating students as individuals to address their personal issues.

PQ: How have you kept your motivation? You are teaching the same subjects over and over again?

Sunil: Thatā€™s easy! First, Iā€™m a perfectionist, and there is always something to do better. I learn something new every season, especially in the online space with new tools and approaches coming out all the time. Second, no two students are the same, so I get to meet new people each season. Third, I just love teaching.

PQ: It sounds like a great career choice for some recently qualified accountants.

Sunil: This will surprise you, but when my own daughter proposed becoming a tutor I strongly advised against it.

PQ: Why was that?

Sunil: In 1986, new tutors could double their salary as compared with the profession. You were only working on weekdays. There was plenty of holidays. Today itā€™s different. Practice and industry pay more, antisocial evening and weekend teaching is the norm, and with four exam seasons a year thereā€™s no ā€˜slack seasonā€™.

But, most importantly, thereā€™s less room to innovate: most organisations tell you when, how and what to teach. I prefer to have a free hand and to be judged on my pass rate, but new tutors donā€™t have that luxury.

PQ: How would you summarise your teaching career?

Sunil: I always consider myself as a rebel. I shoot first, ask questions second, sometimes to my detriment. I seek challenges. My cause has been to innovate: to do things differently that benefit my students and help them pass. So, Iā€™m ā€˜a rebel with a causeā€™.

PQ: Last question. If you had not been a tutor what career would you have followed?

Sunil: Iā€™d have been a chef. And before you ask, of food, not books! Iā€™ve always enjoyed cooking and I write my own recipes. Come to think of it, exam question video debriefs bring out the Jamie Oliver in me.