Unisa online - School of Accounting Sciences excels in QE1 exam

Mr Wiid Rossouw obtained the fourth highest marks in the examination

Unisa’s School of Accounting Sciences again made a major contribution to the accounting profession with 585 of its students passing part 1 of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (SAICA) qualifying examination to become chartered accountants.

The cherry on the top was a Unisa student, Mr Wiid Rossouw, obtaining the fourth highest marks in the examination. He works at GB&G Registered Auditors/Chartered Accountants in Cradock in the Eastern Cape.

The principle purpose of SAICA is to uphold the standards of the CA designation and provide a professional home body for qualified CAs. The maintenance of standards is particularly important in light of the role performed by CAs in society and the immense trust that is placed in CAs by virtue of their qualification.

One of the ways in which SAICA performs this important function is through the setting and administration of a test of core competence, the QE1. In order to gain admission to the QE1, a candidate must have completed a three year B Com Accounting degree and a postgraduate qualification at a SAICA accredited university. These requirements are met by Unisa.

A total of 1 987 students from 14 universities passed the examination, which means Unisa students constituted more than 29% of the total number of students that passed the examination. The Part 1 Qualifying Examination (QE) results of the SAICA were released on Friday 30 March 2012.

The following three factors played a significant role in the sustained throughput rate of 2012:

• The high standard of the Unisa CTA examinations, distinguishing between students with the necessary competencies and those without;
• The thorough assessment process – where borderline cases were again reviewed accompanied by a quality marking process;
• The quality teaching in the Unisa CTA programme. 

Prof Karin Barac (Director: School of Accounting Sciences) expressed her gratitude to staff members within the School of Accounting Sciences for their hard work by saying that “such encouraging results could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of each and every staff member in the School. I am proud of the undergraduate and postgraduate academic staff providing quality study material, adequate student support and appropriate assessments. I am equally proud of the administrative staff in the School who provide valued assistance to academics, management, students and all other relevant parties. With such staff, the wheels of success could turn!”

According to Prof Elmarie Sadler, Deputy Executive Dean of the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS), the college is really excited about the large number of students from previously disadvantaged groups that passed the exam. This group represents 50,5% of the total number of Unisa students that passed. Of the total number of African students that passed, 31% (151) were from Unisa. Unisa students also represented 30% of all Coloured students that passed. This is the highest number of students from the designated groups that passed from all 14 universities that participated in the examination.

Unisa’s target is to achieve a 70% pass rate for first time students by 2016. This requirement forms part of the SAICA accreditation criteria for the Unisa CA directed postgraduate programmes of the School of Accounting Sciences.

*Story submitted by Ilze Crous