What happens before, during and after an AAT assessment, whether you sit it at a venue or at home. Know the process in advance and the only thing left to think about on the day is the questions.
There’s no exam season. You choose your date with your training provider or venue, so book once your practice scores say you’re ready, not because a date is free.
1
Choose where to sit it
If you study with a training provider, you’ll most likely sit your assessments with them. Distance learners can book an AAT Approved assessment venue. Most assessments can also be sat at home or at work with remote invigilation.
2
Check the cost
AAT’s fee is £40 for Bookkeeping Fundamentals, £67 for most Level 2 and Level 3 units (£72 for The Business Environment) and £69 for Level 4 units. Sitting remotely adds £41. Providers and venues can add their own fee, so ask what’s included.
3
Practise on the real screens
Try AAT’s practice assessments in the AAT Lifelong Learning Portal, so the layout and task types aren’t new on the day. Sit at least one full practice assessment against the clock before you book.
4
Ask for support you need
If you have a condition such as dyslexia, or a temporary injury, you may be able to have extra time, supervised rest breaks or a scribe. Your training provider or venue applies to AAT for you at least two weeks before the assessment, so mention it when you book.
The week before
1
Before your first assessment, you’ll get an email from noreply@psionline.com to set your ATLAS Cloud password. Your username is your AAT number. The link lasts 14 days, so don’t leave it.
2
Keep your ATLAS Cloud password different from your MyAAT one, and check you can log in before exam day.
3
Sit a full practice or mock assessment to time, then spend the rest of the week on the topics it showed up.
4
Check your start time, the venue address and how long it takes to get there. Ask the venue if there’s anything else you need to bring.
5
Sitting remotely? Check your computer now, not on the morning (see below).
On the day
1
Eat something and arrive early. A calm start is worth more than ten minutes of last-minute cramming.
2
Take your photo ID and your AAT number.
3
Read the instructions screen properly. It tells you how long you have and how the tasks work.
4
Work out the time you need to be halfway through by, and check against it.
5
Use all the time you have. If you finish early, go back over the tasks you weren’t sure about.
Where you sit
At a venue or at home.
The assessment is the same either way. What changes is how you get in and what happens if something goes wrong.
At a venue
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Your training provider or the venue books you in and confirms the time.
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Take photo ID. The venue checks who you are before you start.
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Take your own calculator, and ask the venue before the day if there’s anything else you need.
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If anything goes wrong during the assessment, tell the invigilator straight away.
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Results for most units come by the end of the next working day.
Sitting remotely
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You need a computer running Windows 11 (64-bit) or macOS Sonoma 14 or later, with at least 8 GB of memory. Chromebooks, tablets, phones and Linux aren’t supported.
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Install PSI’s secure browser in advance. On the day, open ATLAS Cloud in Chrome and start the assessment from there. The link only works on your booked day.
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Before you start, you take a photo, show your ID and scan the room with your webcam. You and your screen are recorded throughout.
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The secure browser shuts other apps. AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot mustn’t be installed or turned on, and a work laptop’s security settings can stop it running.
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If your assessment has a break, you can’t go back to the tasks before it. Keep the break to 15 minutes: any longer comes out of your time for the rest.
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Management Accounting Techniques (MATS) can’t be sat remotely, and remote results take longer.
Exam technique
Inside the assessment.
Every task is on screen and every answer is typed or chosen on screen. These habits protect marks you’ve already earned.
1
Read the requirement first
Read what the task asks before you read the scenario. Then go through the scenario looking for the figures you need.
2
Plan your time
Share your time across the tasks, giving more to the bigger ones. If a task is running over, move on and come back. A blank task can’t score anything.
3
Follow the instructions exactly
If a task says round to the nearest pound or show a figure as negative, do exactly that. The marking checks the answer you enter, not the working in your head.
4
Write your workings down
Work calculations out on the paper or whiteboard you’re given rather than in your head, so you can check them before you move on.
Getting around the software
1
Click Answer after you enter a response. That saves it, and you can’t move to another task until you do.
2
To change a saved answer, go back to the task and click Edit. Until you do, the page stays greyed out.
3
Can’t see the buttons at the bottom of the screen? Use Zoom to zoom out.
4
Some answer boxes and table cells need a double click before you can type or pick from a list.
5
Reference material opens in its own window. Click Back in its top-left corner to see the other links.
Easy marks to lose
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Leaving a task blank because it looked hard at first glance.
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Moving on without clicking Answer, so the response isn’t saved.
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Rounding, or showing a negative figure, differently from how the task asks.
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Spending twenty minutes on one task and rushing the last three.
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Picking debit when you meant credit from a drop-down list. Check each one before you click Answer.
If something goes wrong
Stay calm and keep a record.
Technical problems and bad days happen. Most can be put right, as long as you act quickly and tell the right people.
Sitting remotely
1
If your connection drops, a message appears. Wait up to a minute, as it often comes back on its own. The timer keeps running.
2
If it doesn’t come back, click Answer if you can, then close the secure browser with the x in the top corner. Never click End Session or Submit: they finish the assessment.
3
Relaunch the assessment from ATLAS Cloud in Chrome straight away and redo the checks. AAT voids assessments with a lot of missing footage, so be quick.
4
Once you’re back in, check your answers in case any were lost.
5
Don’t phone numbers shown in error messages. They belong to the software provider and aren’t UK based.
6
If anything delayed or disrupted you, you must submit an incident report to AAT.
Wherever you sit
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If you were ill, or something outside your control affected you on the day, ask your training provider or venue about special consideration straight after the assessment. They apply to AAT for you.
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If your extra time hasn’t been applied when you start, you can stop and ask your centre to rebook you.
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If you disagree with your result, you can ask for a review of marking within 10 working days of the result coming out.
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For questions about a result, contact your training provider first. AAT Customer Support is on 020 3735 2468, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Results
When your results arrive.
Results appear in MyAAT, and you get an email when they’re ready. Each assessment shows as Achieved or Not yet achieved, with your percentage.
How long AAT results take, at a venue and remotely
Assessment
At a venue
Sitting remotely
Most units
By the end of the next working day
Within 10 working days
The Business Environment (BESY) and Business Awareness (BUAW)
Within four weeks
Within four weeks
Management Accounting Techniques (MATS)
Within four weeks
Can’t be sat remotely
Level 4 Professional Accounting Technician units (FNAC, MNAC, ATIC, PTAX, AVBA)
Within 15 working days for now
Within 15 working days for now
AAT describes the 15 working days for the new Level 4 units as a temporary quality-assurance measure. Remote results can take longer if there was a problem with the recording.
Your grade
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You need 70% to pass each assessment.
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Your qualification grade comes from your results across all its assessments: Pass is 70–79%, Merit 80–89% and Distinction 90–100%. AAT’s grade calculator can estimate yours.
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Certificates take up to six weeks to arrive in the UK, so keep your address up to date in MyAAT.
Not yet achieved?
It happens to plenty of capable students, and it doesn’t undo the units you’ve passed.
1
While it’s fresh, write down which tasks felt hardest.
2
Talk to your tutor about which topics to work on and how long you need before trying again.
3
Practise those topics until you’re getting them right, then sit a full timed mock.
4
Rebook through your training provider or venue. You pay the assessment fee again, and some venues price resits differently, so ask.
Everything on this page was checked against AAT’s published information on 24 October 2026. AAT can change its arrangements, so confirm anything important with your training provider, your venue or AAT.
This is independent guidance and is not produced, endorsed or approved by AAT. Always check AAT’s current information and your training provider’s or venue’s instructions before your assessment.
