a year like no other

ZOE ROBINSON

A year in the rear-view mirror

The new year often starts with a look back, so here’s some reflections on 2020, a year like no other.

In January 2020, the focus for my column was the key messages coming out of Davos, followed in February by ‘T-shaped people’. These are individuals who have high levels of expertise in a particular area but also broader generic attributes. No mention of Covid as yet, but I wonder if the T-shaped Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, ever thought his ability to communicate might be more important than his knowledge of infectious diseases? Next slide please!

March saw everything change, we had a national lockdown, with

Universities across the globe

It has led, reports the Times Higher Education (THE), to calls for a fundamental rethinking of what is being taught and assessed.

exams cancelled. Staying on track, figuring out how to learn in an online environment and remaining positive became key messages in the next few months. This was a very difficult time for students who were forced to work and study from home.

In time the professional bodies were able to get the exams back on track and we returned to some type of normality, much of it only made possible by technology. But sitting at a computer screen for hours on end brought its own problems and the November column reminded students to help with mental wellbeing.

Maintaining that mental wellbeing is going to be just as important in the weeks ahead. While winter may be here, spring is coming, so here’s hoping we see some shoots of hope emerging soon.

Zoe Robinson is Learning and Programme Director at Kaplan Financial

Cheating ‘a real problem’

are reporting a spike in student cheating during the pandemic, driven by online learning.

to keep talking to friends and family

The rapid switch to virtual environments added to student stress and vastly increased their opportunities to use online ‘assistance’. Many didn’t feel comfortable with online classes, or have safe, reliable environments in which to study, and they faced lecturers who may have been even more hostile to the format.

The University of Waterloo in Canada said cheating was up 146% in a year, with 1,340 reported incidents. In Australia, the Queensland University of Technology said in September that test-related cheating had quadrupled. At the University of Houston rates of cheating doubled.

A worry is many students don’t see using the internet to get their answers as cheating. They have grown up with the expectation they can use the internet to find answers.

THE said in the UK the number of essay mills has grown to 904.

The rise in cheating means some universities are looking to change the way they assess students. Oral assessments via Zoom is one method being put forward.

Big no to Audit Commission 2.0

Sir Tony Redmond’s proposal for the establishment of a new independent regulator for local audit – the Office of Local Audit and Regulation (OLAR) – seems to have been put on the back burner by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

It stressed the idea of the Audit Commission 2.0 goes against the government’s long-standing intention not to create new arm’slength bodies.

The ministry said the creation of a new overarching body would mark a significant departure from the 2014 Act, adding: “This department remains committed to a locally-led audit regime which enables genuine local accountability

And the winners are…

by residents and taxpayers. We do not wish to recreate the costly, bureaucratic and over-centralised Audit Commission.”

CIPFA is worried that the government’s response “largely kicks the can down the road on one of the more pressing concerns for the sector – the absence of strong system leadership”.

CIMA has unveiled the winners of its CIMA Excellence Awards 2020.

Among those victorious on the day was Tuhan Supamanage ‘Student of the Year’. Studying with Wisdom Business Academy, he became exam qualified aged just 19. Tuhan averaged 125 marks across each of the papers, and is heavily involved in the CIMA student society.

PQ’s current Accountancy College of the Year, HTFT, was one of those recognised in the registered tuition provider awards.

There were also lots of other winners. Among them was Nadeeka Withanage, London South Bank University, who picked up the Global Champion of the Campus Culture award. Other winners were Nadia Gulko from the University of Lincoln, Fiona Dearing of Manchester Met University, and Matthew Walsh of the University of Sussex.

Headline PwC results PwC UK finalised staff bonus and partner distribution arrangements just in time for Christmas! The Big 4 firm has released the financial results for the year ended 30 June 2020, but the full financial statements, people data and balanced scorecard for the year will be published in January. The headlines show revenue increased to June by 3% to £4.38 billion. Profit slipped by 8% to £938 million, and the average distributable profit per partner was down 10% to £685,000 as the partnership prioritised protecting jobs and salaries and paying staff bonuses. PwC’s UK chairman, Kevin Ellis, said since September the firm has seen a steady pickup in demand despite the uncertainties of Covid-19 and Brexit. The firm’s total tax contribution in the UK was £1.27 billion, and consisted of £798 million in taxes collected and £476 million in taxes borne. The effective UK tax rate for partners was 48%. EY sees fee income jump by 5% EY grew its UK business in FY20 by 5% and it hired more than 1,000 graduates and apprentices in September 2020, according to its latest annual report. Fee income rose to £2.6 billion in the financial year ending 3 July 2020, up from £2.5 billion in the previous year. While revenue in tax grew by 8.1% and in assurance by 7.8%, the consultancy practice saw a decline on the previous year of 4.7%. EY hired over 3,000 people in the UK over the year, with 30% based outside London. As of 3 October 2020 EY’s UK partnership stood at 23% female and 12% ethnic minority (3% are black partners). Some 64% of positions on EY’s UK LLP board are held by women. In addition, 43% of EY’s student intake in September 2020 were female and 41% were from a black or ethnic minority background, up from 38% and 39% respectively last year. The average profit per partner decreased from £679,000 in FY19 to £667,000 in FY20. In addition, 10% of the partner profit distributions were retained due to Covid-19 uncertainty. EY’s total tax contribution for 2020 was more than £975 million.

Pick HTFT for AAT

Starting March, we have live courses for AAT Level 3 and AAT Level 4.

HTFT live: pre-recorded syllabus videos that lead into scheduled live online interactive Masterclasses (with expert tutors), all designed to support your mastering ofknowledge – accompanied with computer based tests and mock exams

For more information visit www.htftpartnership.co.uk/courses/aat/

Think ACCA, think HTFT

We have a full suite of ACCA Applied Skills and Strategic Professional coursesfor March 2021 examsstarting early March.

Membership of our vibrant Online Learning Communityand access to a dedicated tutor

HTFT Partnership studentnotesand ACCA authorised study text, exam kit and pocket notes

Full syllabus, Topic by Topic recordingssupported by timetabled ‘live online’ Tuition sessions – recorded, downloadable and playable on all devices

Scheduled ‘live online’ Revision sessions – recorded, downloadable and playable on all devices recorded, downloadable and playable on all devices

HTFT computer based tests and mock exams, marked,with answers and video debriefs

For more information visit www.htftpartnership.co.uk/courses/acca/

Study CIMA, choose HTFT

Studying CIMA?Our HTFT live, HTFT on-demand and HTFT play resources are all here to help you prepare for, and pass, your exam.

HTFT live: join our expert tutors live online for interactive Masterclasses, designed to support your application of syllabus knowledge.

HTFT on-demand: drive your learning, with full flexible resourcesthat you control

HTFT play: Boxsets of topic recording and Proficiency exam-style practice assessments

For more information visit: www.htftpartnership.co.uk/courses/cima

CIMA F1 live starts 23rd March, CIMA F2 live starts 1st April and CIMA F3 live starts 6th April