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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

Ladies smash competition to reign supreme

2017-03-09

Description:Stagedoor 2017 Tags: Stagedoor 2017 longdesc=

This year, the ladies from Roosmaryn and Sonnedou
walked away as the Stagedoor winners.
Photo: Johan Roux

This year, the first-years gave a show-stopping performance as they showed the audience how to make Stagedoor great again.

Hard work and sacrifice pays off

Let’s make Stagedoor great again was the theme behind this year’s Stagedoor production, which allowed all residences to get their creative juices flowing by bringing the theme to life in their own unique way.

Divine Bitalo, Roosmaryn RC Culture, said that they are honoured to have been crowned as the champions. “We put in a lot of hard work and sacrifice and we are just glad that everything worked out in the end.”

First-years given amazing platform

Teneal van Deventer, Sonnedou RC Culture, concurred with the words of Divine and also thanked the university for the opportunity. “I would like to thank Kovsies for giving our first-years this amazing platform to showcase their talents and make new friends.”

The Stagedoor finals, which took place on Saturday 4 March at Kovsie Church, saw our first-years battle it out to be crowned as this year’s winners and claiming the bragging rights for the year.

The winners were:

1st place: Roosmaryn and Sonnedou

2nd place: BeyCon (Beyers Naude and Conlaures)

3rd place: Marjolein and Legatum

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