Professional study support
Study AAT topics with us. Sit the exam with AAT.
Three Mai Studies programmes covering the Level 2, 3 and 4 subject areas, written by our own tutors, with marked assignments and mock questions. Included with membership. The AAT qualification itself is awarded by AAT, and you sit their assessments at an approved assessment venue.
How it works
1. Study with us
Work through the modules: original written notes, a tutor-voice classroom transcript, a practical activity with a worked solution, mock questions with explained answers and a marked assignment at an 80% pass mark.
2. Test yourself
Every module ends with mock questions, and the free AAT-style bookkeeping mock is open to anyone. All questions are written in-house; none are taken from an AAT assessment.
3. Register with AAT
You become an AAT student member directly with AAT and pay their membership and assessment fees. Those fees are separate from anything you pay Mai Studies.
4. Sit the exam elsewhere
AAT assessments are booked and sat at an AAT approved assessment venue, in person or by remote invigilation. Mai Studies does not host, invigilate or mark AAT assessments.
The pathway, stage by stage
Each stage shows what is expected of you, what you must be able to do, and the Mai Studies course that gets you there with its fee.
- Stage 1 · Level 2
Bookkeeping and costing foundations
What this stage asks of you
You are expected to record everyday transactions accurately, keep the books of prime entry, handle VAT records and reconcile the bank without supervision.
What you must be able to do
- Post double entry confidently and find your own errors
- Maintain sales, purchase and cash records with control accounts
- Reconcile the bank and prepare a clean trial balance
- Understand basic cost behaviour and simple costing
How Mai Studies helps
Our Level 2 study-support programme covers each subject area with original notes, a tutor-voice class, a practical activity, mock questions and a marked assignment at an 80% pass mark.
- Stage 2 · Level 3
Advanced bookkeeping and final accounts
What this stage asks of you
You move from recording to preparing: adjustments, the extended trial balance and a set of final accounts for a sole trader or partnership, with professional ethics throughout.
What you must be able to do
- Account for non-current assets, accruals and prepayments
- Work an extended trial balance and correct errors
- Prepare sole trader and partnership final accounts
- Apply the ethical principles expected of a finance professional
How Mai Studies helps
The Level 3 programme builds on Level 2 with longer worked examples and a marked assignment, so your technique is tested and not just your reading.
- Stage 3 · Level 4
Management accounting and financial statements
What this stage asks of you
At this stage you are producing information managers act on: budgets, variances, performance measures, company accounts and cash management.
What you must be able to do
- Build budgets and explain variances to a non-finance manager
- Measure and comment on business performance
- Prepare and interpret company financial statements
- Manage cash and working capital deliberately
How Mai Studies helps
Our Level 4 programme works through each area with decision scenarios, mock questions and a marked assignment with written feedback.
- Stage 4 · Put it to work
Practical software skills alongside your studies
What this stage asks of you
Employers expect you to do the work in real software, not only on paper. This stage is optional for AAT but it is what makes you employable while you study.
What you must be able to do
- Run a full bookkeeping cycle in cloud software
- Process payroll and VAT returns end to end
- Produce a set of accounts from a client's records
How Mai Studies helps
Practical programmes where you work real datasets in cloud software. You buy your own basic subscription with the software provider; Mai Studies is independent of them.
Where you sit the exam, and who charges. AAT assessments are booked with AAT and sat at an AAT approved assessment venue, in person or by remote invigilation. You become an AAT student member and pay AAT's membership and assessment fees directly to them, separate from anything you pay Mai Studies.
The three programmes
Read this before you enrol. Mai Studies is an independent provider. We are not AAT, we are not an AAT Approved Training Provider, and these programmes carry no AAT credit, exemption or registration. Nothing here reproduces AAT syllabus text, assessment content or a question bank; every note and question is written in-house. Our completion record is a Mai Studies record of study, not an AAT qualification. To gain the qualification you register as a student member with AAT, pay their fees and sit their assessments at an AAT approved assessment venue.
For training providers
How to apply to become an AAT approved training provider
Some of our learners run their own tuition business and want to deliver AAT themselves. Approval is granted by AAT, not by us, and the steps below are a general guide to the process. Always work from AAT's own published guidance and application form, because the requirements and fees change.
- 01Decide what you want to deliverChoose the levels and qualifications you intend to offer, and whether you will teach in a classroom, online, or both. Approval is given for what you can actually support, so be realistic about scale in your first year.
- 02Get your organisation in orderYou will need a registered organisation, clear financial standing, insurance, and policies covering safeguarding, equality and diversity, data protection, complaints, appeals and malpractice. Write them before you apply, not after.
- 03Show you have the right peopleEvidence qualified, experienced tutors for the levels you want to deliver, plus someone responsible for quality assurance and someone responsible for assessment arrangements. Keep CVs, qualification certificates and a staff development plan on file.
- 04Prepare your premises and systemsAssessment delivery has its own requirements: a secure room or approved remote arrangement, controlled IT, identity checks, invigilation, and a way to store candidate records securely. If you will not assess yourself, plan how your learners will be assessed elsewhere.
- 05Build your quality assurance cyclePlan how you will sample teaching, standardise marking of practice work, monitor learner progress and act on feedback. Providers are judged on evidence of this cycle running, so set it up from day one.
- 06Complete AAT's application and pay their feesSubmit AAT's application form with your supporting documents. There are application and annual fees, set by AAT and paid to AAT. Expect questions, requests for extra evidence and a review of your policies.
- 07Pass the approval review, then stay approvedApproval usually involves a review visit or remote review and may come with conditions. After approval you are monitored, so keep your records, staff training and quality cycle current, and report significant changes to AAT.
This guide is our own plain-English summary to help you prepare. It is not AAT guidance, it is not approved by AAT, and it does not guarantee an outcome. Mai Studies is not an AAT Approved Training Provider and cannot apply on your behalf. Check the current criteria, forms and fees directly with AAT before you commit any money.