C.I.S Tax Exam Mess up

[vieome]

A friend of mine sat a Tax exam with Chartered Institute of secretaries who informed him that the paper his sat will be based on the 2011 tax laws, however when he sat the paper it clearly stated that it was based on the new laws for 2012. Now they CIS refuse to remark or send him his paper, and say nothing can be done about his failure. Is there any sort of legal action he can take against CIS. Please if anyone can help on this? And if you are affected by this please log a complaint with CIS.

[Dave A]

I'd guess the defence of the examiners is candidates should keep up to date with current developments anyway.

If that sounds harsh, I must reveal I'm probably a bit jaded when it comes to candidate whinges at the moment. I've had a few rounds of late dealing with whinging assessment failures trying to argue their failure isn't their fault, but the assessor's - when it's as plain as the nose on my face that they simply don't know their subject well enough to be considered competent.

[vieome]

I understand your point, but if the exam body you sitting with tells you in a big disclaimer on their website that the exam will be based on a certain year, even if a student knows the lastest information on the subject, how does the student answer the questions based on the latest information or based on what the institute told him he should know?

[Dave A]

Just how much did taxation law change between the 2011 and 2012 tax years?

[vieome]

I think it is more to do with amounts. Lets say not taxable pension is 750 for 2011 and 450 for 2012. Ones answer will be wrong in the exam. The thing is they CIS acknowledge their mistake on the exam, but when the results came they refuse to do anything about it. I do private lessons on accounts, and have had a case where the figures they gave for the exam were wrong, so that the balance sheet would not balance, needless to say they failed the student on his assignment, I then told the student to contact the exam body, and they acknowledge their error and the student was allowed a re-sit, not sure why the same should not apply to CIS. On the exam paper it does not say what year the exam will be based on, that information comes from their web site. We discovered the exam was based on 2012 looking at the paper in the multiple choice section that all they answers they gave were based on the 2012 laws.

[Dave A]

On the exam paper it does not say what year the exam will be based on, that information comes from their web site. We discovered the exam was based on 2012 looking at the paper in the multiple choice section that all they answers they gave were based on the 2012 laws.

That certainly sounds like grounds for an appeal!