Following the recent release of results and the pass rate for students who attempted the first sitting of the 2022 Initial Test of Competence (ITC) examination towards becoming Chartered Accountants (CAs), under the tutelage of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the University of Limpopo (UL) students continue to shine.
The ITC is the first of two professional qualifying examinations university graduates must pass to become CAs. The recently held first sitting by UL students serves as a positive indicator as they obtained a 71 % pass rate, exceeding the 2022 national average of 59% and that of Black Africans of 42%. This is a step closer to qualifying as CAs.
Of the 34 students from the UL School of Accountancy (SoA) who sat for the recent ITC exam, 24 were successful meanwhile 10, unfortunately, did not make it.
The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management and Law, Prof Omphemetse Sibanda said, “the Faculty together with the School of Accountancy is pleased that the UL student cohort has once again made us proud by achieving an impressive overall pass rate of 71% compared to the national average of 59%.”
He said that this year’s pass rate was a significant improvement as compared to the 64% attained in 2021 for the same sitting.
He further stated that “the overall performance rate also means that UL recorded a pass rate that is 29 percentage points above the national average mark among Black African students. As such, UL continues to contribute significantly towards the development of Black African CAs in the country.”
Prof Sibanda added that the results are a wonderful tribute to Prof Saber Tayob who served as the SoA Director, following his untimely passing a few weeks ago.
“He, together with his team in the School of Accountancy, worked tirelessly to imbue the accountancy students with the competencies necessary for them to be fit and proper for the challenging ITC examinations.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Stanford Mutyambizi from the same School stated that “the results are an affirmation of the quality of the accountancy programmes offered by the University of Limpopo under the able SoA leadership team. The School is determined to maintain the upward trajectory in the ITC results and contribute towards the transformation of the accountancy profession in the country.”
The SAICA ITC exams are rigorous competence exams taken by accounting students who have completed a SAICA-accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Accountancy (PGDA) or CTA programme at various universities, aimed at assessing their core technical competence to become CAs.
The 24 successful candidates are currently serving articles with various accounting and auditing firms in the country. They will be writing their second qualifying professional examination, the Assessment of Professional Competency (APC), in 20 months, a final step to qualify as CAs.