How Katie Became AAT’s Student of the Year
How Katie Became AAT's Student of the Year
A 98% Distinction, earned while caring for her father. And an award that recognised all of it.
Some students face one setback during their studies. Katie faced hers one week before an exam — and kept going anyway.
A week before her exam
Katie hadn’t planned a career in accounting. After finishing her A-levels, university didn’t appeal, and she moved into administrative work instead. By 2018 she was a Stock Administrator — until staff changes in the accounts team meant she was asked to take on extra costing work. Her manager suggested she formalise it with an AAT qualification, and in June 2019 she enrolled on AAT Level 2 Accounting with Training Link.
She took to it quickly. She was on track for her final Level 2 exam in January 2020.
Then, on 23 November 2019 — a week before her penultimate exam — her father suffered a serious stroke. Revision gave way to three-hour round trips to a specialist hospital and trying to make sense of medical terminology no one had prepared her for.
“My dad had been my biggest cheerleader,” Katie has said, “and I was going to return the favour.”
Distinction, the hard way
Katie kept studying alongside her father’s care, even as his condition worsened and he moved into a nursing home in March 2020. Visiting restrictions during the pandemic meant she couldn’t see him in person.
In August 2020, she passed AAT Level 2 with an overall mark of 98% — a Distinction.
The same week, she was formally approved by the Court of Protection to act as her father’s financial deputy.
Managing his affairs — annual reports, financial records, decisions that had to be justified in writing — gave Katie a new realisation: she wanted to turn this into a career.
A career built on what she’d learned
In April 2022, Katie became an Accounts Assistant, moving well beyond her original brief into month-end journals, cash forecasts, and supplier queries across international accounts.
That September, she enrolled with Training Link again — this time for the newly launched Q2022 syllabus at AAT Level 3. A little over a year later, she passed all four exams on her first attempt, with an overall mark of 90% — another Distinction.
Recognised nationally
In 2024, Katie was named AAT Student of the Year at the AAT Training Provider Awards — recognising not just her results, but everything she’d overcome to achieve them. She went on to add a second accolade the same year: Distance Learning Student of the Year at the PQ Magazine Awards.
Following her win, Katie shared a message with fellow students:
“To those who have had unplanned life events get in the way of your studies… this is your sign to never give up.”
A message from Katie
Following her triumph at the AAT Awards, Katie posted the following message on our Facebook Group – Student Street.
“To those of you who have had unplanned life events get in the way of your studies, to those who have hit a rough patch in their studies and feel too overwhelmed, to those who are struggling to see the point of their studies for whatever reason – this is your sign to never give up. This award is as much for you as it is for me.
You become a stronger and better person for dealing with the setbacks. If the qualification and the career is what you really want, it will eventually find its way to you. If that means taking a break from your studies or your job search, so be it. Sometimes it’s just a case of a few days or weeks to give yourself time to see things with fresh eyes, sometimes you need longer to deal with whatever life has thrown at you (2 years in my case!) Things will happen when they are supposed to, it may mean right now that you are ahead of whatever plan life has for you and it just needs some time to recalibrate.
It does also mean that when the good times eventually do happen – such as receiving this unexpected beauty last night – they are a lot sweeter.
It was lovely to meet some of the Training Link team last night and put faces to names I have been dealing with on and off for nearly 5 years. It reaffirmed that I had made the right decision to study with Training Link throughout my AAT studies. I probably don’t get the grades that I have without the resources and gentle encouragement I’ve had along the way. Thank you for recognising that, despite the distinctions at Level 2 and Level 3, it wasn’t the full story.
And we all have our own stories as to why we started our studies and where we have got to where we are currently at. Any setbacks just add to your already unique study experience. It’s why we shouldn’t give up when it seems like the easiest option.
You’ve got this!”
How to pick your AAT training provider
You’ve read Katie’s story. Maybe your own circumstances aren’t easy either — but the qualification is still within reach.
Here’s how we compare with the AAT’s worldwide average pass rates:
| Course Level | Worldwide Average | Training Link | +/- worldwide average | Assessment Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAT Level 1 Bookkeeping | 85.7% | 95.2% |  +11% |
62 |
| AAT Level 2 Accounting | 77.1% | 90.8% | +17.76% |
892 |
| AAT Level 3 Accounting | 69.4% | 85.8% | +23.6% |
618 |
| AAT Level 4 Accounting | 71.4% | 87.8% | +22.9% |
368 |
*Please note that the information in the above table refers to the pass rates based on computer-based assessments (CBAs) only; these are not achievement rates for the overall qualification. The pass rates shown are the rates for all CBAs completed between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 and on the Q2022 standards.
It’s no wonder Katie chose us.
What Katie did next
Katie has since begun her AAT Level 4 studies — the next step in the career change that started with a costing project she was never meant to take on.
Study AAT Level 2 Accounting with Training Link
The AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting — a foundation qualification covering double-entry bookkeeping, basic costing, and the business environment, taught by Ben Campbell, PQ Magazine's Tutor of the Year 2026.
Perfect if you want to:
- Build the bookkeeping foundations for a career in accounting or finance
- Move into roles like Accounts Assistant, Accounts Payable Clerk, or Trainee Accounting Technician
- Progress on to AAT Level 3 and beyond
