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School of Accountancy graduates achieve exceptional results in SAICA ITC professional exams

09 July 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Pixabay

Graduates in the University of the Free State School of Accountancy achieved exceptional results in the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Initial Test of Competence (ITC). The UFS achieved an 81% pass rate in the April ITC exam for first-time writers of the BAcc Honours and PGDip (Chartered Accountancy) programmes, compared to the national average of 70%.

The ITC examination is the first of two qualifying professional examinations required to qualify as a chartered accountant (CA(SA)) in South Africa and is written by graduates shortly after completion of their formal university studies. There are two sittings for this examination annually, and the April exam is the first for 2021.

“These results were attained despite the very challenging circumstances of the emergency remote teaching environment during 2020 and is testament to the quality of our CA programme and the hard work and dedication of the staff of the School of Accountancy,” said Prof Frans Prinsloo, Director: School of Accountancy. He added that, “the results confirm the ‘quality’ / ‘excellence’ of our CA programme, and reinforce similar observations made by the SAICA monitoring team following their 2020 full visit (which included a detailed evaluation of our CA programme)”.

Transformation of chartered accountancy profession

Seventy percent of UFS graduates passed the April 2021 ITC examination, including 38 African and 3 Coloured graduates, while 10 out of 13 of the Thuthuka Bursary Programme graduates of 2020 passed. More than 60% of UFS graduates who passed the examination are black (i.e., African, Coloured, and Indian), with a pass rate of 73% compared to the national average of 52%, which include first-time and repeat candidates. The results are testimony of the interventions put in place to contribute to the transformation of the chartered accountancy profession.

Student-centred teaching approach

The School of Accountancy follows a ‘student-centred’ teaching and learning approach. During the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching was predominantly remote and was adapted to include ongoing, clear communication about the academic programme, comprehensive teaching materials containing additional explanations, learning notes, comments, cross-references to theory, and step-by-step learning guides per topic to enable students to navigate their learning.

Other interventions have also been put in place to support students financially via the school’s INTRABAS unit, mentorship and peer support initiatives, detailed tracking of student participation and performance, follow-up with students, and regular ‘check-ins’ with the student body to consider the student voice and ensure the relevance of the teaching offering.

The UFS is looking forward to the journey of our candidates and their contributions to the world of work.

News Archive

UFS receives several awards for communication projects

2014-11-26

Staff from the Department of Communication and Brand Management received five awards at MACE 2014. From the left are: Leonie Bolleurs (Excellence awards for the Internet Broadcast Project and the B Safe safety campaign), Lacea Loader, Director of the Department of Communication and Brand Management, Lelanie de Wet (Excellence award for the #FaceOfFacebook social media campaign and Merit award for the Redesign of the UFS website) and René-Jean van der Berg (Merit award for the No Student Hungry media campaign).
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

The Department of Communication and Brand Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) received several national and international awards for communication campaigns and projects this year.

On international level, an audit of the university’s stakeholders received the Jake Wittmer award for research in communication from the International Association of Business Communicators

(IABC), a merit award in the category communication and research management from the IABC, a 2014 IABC Africa Gold Quill award and a bronze medal from the International Business Association (IBA). Furthermore, the audit was a finalist in the Golden World awards (GWA) of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA). The Bult magazine also received a bronze medal from the IBA.

Staff from the department also walked away with five awards at this year’s Marketing, Advancement and Communication in Education (MACE) Excellence awards, which formed part of the annual MACE congress held at Sun City from 13-15 November 2014. Some 185 communication, marketing and institutional advancement practitioners from across South Africa attended the event.

Lacea Loader, Director of the Department of Communication and Brand Management, says: “The national and international recognition from our peers in higher education, as well as from the industry, is of exceptional value to us and I am delighted that the standard of our projects and campaigns could be benchmarked in this way.”

The UFS received awards from MACE for excellence in:

- Internet Broadcast Project (category: audiovisual)
- #FaceOfFacebook social media campaign (category: social media)
- B Safe safety campaign (category: integrated campaigns)

Merit awards were presented to:

- Redesign of the UFS website (category: electronic media)
- No Student Hungry media campaign (category: media)

Mace fulfils a leadership role in the Higher Education (HE) and Further Education and Training (FET) sectors within Southern Africa by adding value to practitioners in marketing, communication and advancement through high-quality development programmes, facilitating networking partnerships and transformation, as well as promoting best practices among these professions at member institutions.

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