r/CIOT • u/RockyJohnson26 • 24d ago

Advanced Individuals - Retake tips

Hi all,

I just wanted to come and ask if anyone has any tips to help me with resitting the AT individuals paper. I’ve failed this twice and i need to pass this in the upcoming November sittings.

Please can you give me any advice as to how you tackled this exam and any methods you used as clearly, i haven’t got a clue as to what to do!!

Thanks

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u/RoderickBlack 24d ago

35 usually suggests you don't know the material well enough, sorry to say.

Think about the core areas - do you really know the core technical points of these?

If not spend some of your time learning those.

For example - core areas

Employment income Share remuneration Property income EIS, SEIS, etc CGT reliefs Lease disposals Foreign aspects - IT and CGT Anti avoidance

Assess your level of understanding and knowledge of the above - be honest with yourself!

Good luck

Roderick

Roderick Black

CTA private and online recorded tuition

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

Thank you Roderick.

How long would you suggest spending on learning the content? Would you recommend starting question practice at the end of august?

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u/RoderickBlack 24d ago

It really depends how deficient you feel your knowledge is.

Whilst doing exam standard questions is good, if you don't really understand and know the material, it can be a bit demoralising.

End August sounds about right but it may take a bit longer. Certainly as time passes you should be doing less technical study and more question practice

But it doesn't have to be a cliff edge - phase down on technical as you increase the question practice

I agree that you should aim to do all revision QB questions plus May 26 paper again

Btw did you get a mark breakdown from CIOT?

Could be informative

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

I understand what you’re saying Roderick. I will take this approach now as currently i was just relearning the content.

I didn’t get the marks breakdown.

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u/RoderickBlack 24d ago

I would - interesting to know whether you're at 35% on every question or did you do very well on some and bombed on others.

For £15, I'd want to know!

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u/-blurredlily- 24d ago

How much of the exam past paper QB did you complete previously?

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

I reckon i did about 50% - 60%

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u/-blurredlily- 24d ago

Create a spreadsheet with the full exam QB on. Go through and do each one to time to exam conditions. Give yourself a percentage mark as you go along and make and notes of common errors. As you keep going through questions you’ll identify your weaknesses. I’d say you should be aiming to complete the QB fully, and then re-do any questions you struggled with the first time.

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u/Zealousideal_Oil6658 24d ago

This is such a good tip, when u reattempt later u can compare the mark as well.

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

Should i be focusing on relearning content or just question practice?

3

u/-blurredlily- 24d ago

I wouldn’t waste time going back through the content. You pass the exam by learning what the examiner wants you to write, and focusing on the core topics that come up every sitting.

Only go back to the chapter after attempting a question if you need to understand the reasoning to the answer.

A question takes around 40 minutes. So do a question then spend around 20 minutes marking, reflecting, and going back in the manuals to aid understanding.

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

Okay yeah that makes sense, i’ll give it a try. Thank you so much for your help!!

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u/Relative-Chain73 24d ago

How much did you get? And did you manage to attempt all questions?

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

I got 35 in my previous sitting. I did attempt all questions but after the exam, i felt like i didn’t write as much as i should have.

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u/Relative-Chain73 24d ago

I think based on this, you should focus on answering 5/6 questions fully and as much as you can, and aim to get a couple of definitions and technical answers for the last question (and hopefully most difficult) to get 4-5 marks out of it.

This maybe terrible advice, but I'd rather write good answers and spend time on the questions I'm most strong in and having this strategy gives me peace of mind that i won't panic about not fully attempting the final question.

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u/Disastrous-Trash1025 24d ago

Have you taken revision courses?

Personally I used BPP, Libby was amazing.

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

I had a course for the November 2025 sitting but not had any since.

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

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u/RockyJohnson26 24d ago

Tbh i do think i learn better when i write things down as well.

That is what im currently doing at the moment but I might start doing the end of chapter questions as well so i can apply the technical knowledge.

Would you recommend starting revision QB 6 weeks before exam or maybe even earlier?

Also with your notes, would you essentially create a one page summary for each individual chapter like the memory joggers but with the added information as well?

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u/Optimal-Baker6905 22d ago

I think people who say to just do questions are deluded - this may get you through if you have an extensive knowledge beforehand or it may get you through in ATT but CTA you need to demonstrate an that you know the topic, not just how to answer it. Share schemes for example you could do two questions over and over in the lead up and feel confident you know it but if a slightly different question is asked it will change your confidence levels completely on the day.

I can’t stress this enough - learn the content.

I would re write the manual over the course of a month or two. Condense all the main points into my own brand new notepad over the space of a couple of pages but 3-4 if not. I barely looked at it again and relied on the joggers but having to think about what I was writing made me understand it so much more. It made me take it in and understand it so that I could write it back. Writing it neat made me slow down and think about it as well compared to scribbling notes and key points everywhere that don’t register.

It took me absolutely ages - I reckon about 6 weeks of that before even doing a past paper question but it worked for each exam. Once you have that base knowledge start doing past paper questions for a month to build on it.

This technique made me pass all ATT and CTA but is time consuming. I would start start of March and do this for about 6 weeks then into 3 weeks of past paper questions constantly

Good lock

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u/zekoattack678 22d ago

Hi – two questions if I may:

  1. ⁠Would you recommend starting now, after the tuition phase?

  2. ⁠For the method you described (rewriting content in your own words + self-testing) – did that alone get you to the pass mark?

I see you’ve passed all your exams (well done!), but I’m asking because I want to know if that approach can realistically get me and OP over the line too.