The ATT qualification combines two compulsory certificate exams (Paper 1 Personal Taxation and Paper 2 Business Taxation), three compulsory one-hour Computer Based Exams, and your choice of one of four optional papers. All passes must be simultaneously valid when you finish, which makes the order and spacing of sittings as important as the studying. This guide maps the 2026 structure, formats, pass marks, validity windows, dates and registration rules from the ATT's own prospectus, and closes with a worked validity exercise and a next-steps checklist.
What the ATT qualification covers
The ATT qualification is a modular UK tax compliance credential: two compulsory certificate papers, three compulsory computer based exams, and one optional paper of your choice.
The qualification is run by the Association of Taxation Technicians, a charity that describes itself as the leading professional body for those providing UK tax compliance services. Passing a certificate exam also earns you a standalone Certificate of Competency in that topic, which can suit you if you only work in one area of tax.
Every pass and exemption you rely on must be simultaneously valid when you complete the qualification. That single rule shapes your whole sitting plan, so the guide covers eligibility, formats, validity windows, dates and costs before you register.
| Requirement | Exams |
|---|---|
| Two compulsory certificate online exams | Paper 1: Personal Taxation; Paper 2: Business Taxation |
| Three compulsory Computer Based Exams (CBEs) | Law; Professional Responsibilities & Ethics; Principles of Accounting |
| Any one of four optional papers | Paper 3: Business Compliance; Paper 4: Corporate Taxation; Paper 5: Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates; Paper 6: VAT |
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT Qualification | The Association of Taxation Technicians — att.org.uk qualification overview page; ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Eligibility and student registration
You must be at least 16, resident in the UK, its crown dependencies or the GCC, and registered as a student for at least four months before your first certificate exam.
No previous academic or professional qualifications are required, though a reasonable standard of English and mathematics is needed to pass. Residency matters too: people living outside the UK, its crown dependencies or the GCC cannot register, and any submitted application is rejected with the fee refunded within 28 days.
Registration lasts five years, within which you must pass the certificate exams and the three CBEs and apply for any exemptions. Re-registration after five years is not possible, although a short extension may be granted in exceptional circumstances. Register at least four months before your first certificate exam; for the CBEs there is no minimum period, once a 14-day window for creating your profile on the exam system has passed.
Your application needs one referee who knows you personally and certifies that your details are true and that you are a fit and proper person. Eligible referees include a current or previous employer in a relevant occupation, ATT or CIOT members, members of recognised accountancy or legal bodies, HMRC Senior Officers and above, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners members, or, if you are under 21, the head of a secondary or higher education establishment you recently attended. Direct family members are not acceptable.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT Qualification | The Association of Taxation Technicians — att.org.uk qualification overview page; ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
The compulsory certificate papers and what they test
Paper 1 tests preparing and submitting an individual's self assessment return with income and capital gains computations; Paper 2 tests the equivalent for sole traders, partnerships and companies.
Paper 1, Personal Taxation, covers preparing the income and capital gains information for the SA personal tax return and its associated computations, submitting under self assessment, and completing a client's claim for tax credits. Paper 2, Business Taxation, covers the information for SA returns of sole traders and partnerships, CTSA returns for companies, the associated computations, and submission.
The detailed objectives and learning outcomes for every exam sit in the syllabus overview document called 'Choices', linked from the ATT's prospectus and syllabus page. Ethical issues are examined in each exam in proportion to their relevance, so treat professional conduct as running through the papers rather than as a separate topic.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
The three Computer Based Exams (CBEs)
Each CBE lasts one hour, awards one mark per question, and needs at least 60% correct responses to pass.
The CBEs in Law, Professional Responsibilities & Ethics and Principles of Accounting are compulsory, and the ATT recommends sitting them early so their topics support your tax exams. Once passed, they stay valid for four and a half years, or nine sittings.
CBEs can be sat at a Prometric test centre or remotely. Bring one piece of official photographic ID containing your signature, such as a passport or photocard driving licence; without it, entry to the test centre is refused and the fee is forfeited.
Rescheduling a CBE carries a charge that depends on notice: free more than 29 days before the appointment, £15 between 5 and 29 days, and £30 under 5 days. Fees are non-refundable if you cancel, and missing your appointment without rescheduling forfeits the fee entirely.
- Multiple choice: pick one correct response from four.
- Multiple response: pick several correct responses from four.
- Drop and drag: move answers into on-screen drop zones.
- Select from a list: choose the correct option from a drop-down box.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT Qualification | The Association of Taxation Technicians — att.org.uk qualification overview page; ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Certificate exam format and marking
Each certificate exam lasts three and a half hours, carries 100 marks across four to six questions with no choice, and requires 50% to pass.
The exam is attempted on-screen as a typed exam on your own computer, so install the exam software in advance and practise using it. Questions are worth between 15 and 25 marks each, and papers mix computational and written work with no question choice.
Both the May and November 2026 exams are based on Finance Act 2025, and no question requires knowledge of statutes, statutory instruments, or case and VAT tribunal decisions released after 31 July 2025. Certificate passes stay valid for three years from the sitting passed, and a failed exam can be re-sat at a later session provided you enter again and remain a registered student, though the ATT reserves the right to limit attempts.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Choosing your optional paper
Pick the optional paper that matches the tax work you actually do; each also grants a Certificate of Competency once passed.
Paper 3, Business Compliance, covers employer obligations under PAYE and NIC, business compliance for sole traders, partnerships and companies, and completing and submitting VAT returns. Paper 4, Corporate Taxation, applies the Paper 2 syllabus in more complex situations and is explicitly not a standalone corporation tax paper; it focuses on the taxes affecting corporate businesses and their owners.
Paper 5, Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates, tests preparing the information and computations for the SA Trust & Estate Tax Return and submitting it under self assessment. Paper 6, VAT, covers preparing a taxable trader's VAT return, computing annual or periodic adjustments, and completing returns where the special schemes available to taxable traders apply.
Passing any certificate exam also lets you apply for a Certificate of Competency in that topic for a £50 fee. It never expires, but it does not entitle you to use the ATT designatory letters, which require full membership, and none is available for the CBEs.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Validity windows and how they shape your sitting plan
Online exam passes last six sessions (three years), CBE passes last four and a half years, and all passes must be simultaneously valid at completion, so plan backwards from your final sitting.
The ATT's own worked example shows the online exam rule in action: a paper passed at the May 2025 session remains valid up to and including the May 2028 session. Certificate passes are also valid for three years. CBE passes last four and a half years, or nine sittings, from when you pass them.
Before booking anything, list your intended final session and check that your earliest pass still covers it. The exercise below shows how this arithmetic decides your last possible sitting.
Worked exercise
Sofia passed Paper 5 (Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates) at the May 2025 session. She plans to sit her remaining paper, Paper 6 (VAT), at the November 2028 session. Her CBE passes are recent enough to remain valid and her student registration is current. Can she complete the qualification that way without re-sitting Paper 5?
Show answer
No. The latest session at which she can sit Paper 6 without re-sitting Paper 5 is the May 2028 session.
Online exam passes are valid for six sessions, or three years, from the sitting they were passed at, and the ATT's worked example confirms that a pass from the May 2025 session is valid up to and including the May 2028 session. By the November 2028 session, the Paper 5 pass has expired. Because every pass must be simultaneously valid when the qualification is completed, sitting Paper 6 in November 2028 would leave her one lapsed pass short; she would need to re-sit Paper 5 or move Paper 6 to May 2028 at the latest.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT Qualification | The Association of Taxation Technicians — att.org.uk qualification overview page; ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Key dates for 2026 and entry deadlines
The 2026 May exams ran from 5 to 7 May and the November exams are scheduled for 3 to 5 November, but both 2026 entry windows have closed as of this update.
Certificate exam entry opens roughly mid-December for the May session and mid-July for November, closing on the last day of February and the last day of August respectively. Late entry is possible for a short period on payment of a late fee, but no entries are accepted after 19 March for May or 12 September for November.
As of this guide's September 2026 update, the May 2026 sitting has passed, and the standard (31 August) and late (12 September) entry windows for the November 2026 sitting have closed. Treat these figures as the 2026 schedule rather than a permanent calendar, and confirm the next session's dates on the ATT exam entry page.
The registration deadline follows the four-month rule: the last day of December to be eligible for the following May exams, and the last day of June for the November exams. Deferral is free for 14 days after the entry closing date; after that, withdrawal forfeits entry fees, and entries can be cancelled for a refund only within 14 days of submission. Extra-time applications for pre-existing conditions must reach the ATT by the end of February for May and the end of August for November, and for CBEs you must contact the Education Team before booking, since extra time cannot be applied to an existing booking.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Membership, exemptions and next steps
With the qualification complete and two years' practical UK tax experience, you can apply for ATT membership and use the letters ATT and the title Taxation Technician.
Membership also requires you to be a fit and suitable person. Members may apply for the Association to supervise them under the money laundering regulations, and can use the branch network, publications and members' support services.
Check exemptions before you sit anything, because prior study may shorten your path. Accounting-body qualifications such as AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW and others can exempt the Principles of Accounting CBE; UK-qualified solicitors and barristers can exempt the Law CBE; CIOT Advanced Technical papers map to the matching ATT papers; ACCA's ATX-UK exempts Papers 1 and 2; STEP's taxation paper exempts Paper 5; and HMRC's TSP streams map to Papers 2, 4 and 6. You must apply for exemptions before the closing date for your final certificate exam, and some exemptions never expire while you remain a member of the relevant body.
Once your plan is set, these steps sequence the work:
- Register as a student with an eligible referee, at least four months before your first certificate exam.
- Download the prospectus and the 'Choices' syllabus document and map your optional paper to your work area.
- Book the three CBEs early, as the ATT recommends, so their topics support the tax papers.
- Plan sittings so all passes stay simultaneously valid inside your five-year registration window.
- Practise with past papers, examiners' suggested answers and the sample and mock CBEs listed in the student resources.
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus: ATT Qualification | The Association of Taxation Technicians — att.org.uk qualification overview page; ATT 2026 prospectus and syllabus — PDF, att.org.uk, published 2026-01
Sources: ATT qualification page and 2026 prospectus and syllabus
Facts checked against official ATT sources, September 2026: