AAT has unveiled its brand-new redesigned Level 4 Diploma for Professional Accounting Technicians (L4PAT), with the registration opening 1 September 2026.
The big change is the move to five mandatory units, which should make it easier for colleges to timetable. Under the old system there were three mandatory units and five options (students had to choose two of these). It also means every Level 4 student will now sit a tax paper (although the tax options were the most popular under the old set-up).
Another major change is the announcement that all five assessments will be entirely computer marked and available on demand. In earlier renditions two assessments – Financial Accounting and Advanced Business Awareness – were going to be partially computer and human marked.
The change in assessment for the new L4PAT exams will mean an end to the four-week waiting time for results. Instead, students will have their scores confirmed on the next working day after sitting the assessment.
The new AAT Level 4 papers & assessment times:
Financial Accounting (80 GLH) – 2 hours 30 minutes.
Management Accounting (110 GLH) – 2 hours.
Principles of Taxation (75 GLH) – 2 hours.
Audit & Internal Controls (75 GLH) – 2 hours.
Advanced Business Awareness (60 GLH) – 2 hours 30 minutes.
Check out the next issue of PQ magazine for more on these changes.
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