More about the Tax Pathway papers


There are many combinations of papers and routes that you can take as part of the ATT/CTA Tax Pathway. The key is to identify which areas of taxation you are both interested in and keen to understand further, as well as which would most benefit your career in taxation.

  • General Practice
  • Taxation of Individuals including IHT, Trusts and Estates
  • Corporation Tax for Large Companies and Groups
  • Human Capital Taxes
  • Indirect Taxes

There is an important decision to be made at Core Knowledge 2 between taking a third ATT paper and CTA Awareness.  We recommend you discuss this choice with us as the advice given varies depending on your chosen combination of CTA papers.

The step up from ATT to CTA is a significant one that many students historically struggle with. Taking CTA Awareness at this point will be demanding, as it will require you to attempt a CTA paper earlier on in your studies than would have previously been the case.

Choosing a third ATT paper instead may seem a more straightforward option, as it also exempts you from CTA Awareness.

The Application and Professional Skills (APS) paper syllabus includes specified topics from the Awareness syllabus which you will not study in your Advanced Technical papers.  Therefore it can be helpful to sit the Awareness paper to ensure coverage of those topics as this would then make the APS paper less daunting when you sit it at the end of your studies.

Whichever route you choose, we will ensure that you have all the necessary syllabus knowledge and are fully prepared for each examination.