Pretoria - Black students at the University of Pretoria (UP) who participated in the 2021 Initial Test of Competence for the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) accomplished a 100% pass rate, while their whites counterparts got 99%.
This was confirmed yesterday by UP director of institutional advancement Rikus Delport after the results of the exam that took place in April were released on July 2.
Delport said the results again placed UP in first position in South Africa, with an unprecedented 100% pass rate for first-time writers, and an overall 99.4% pass rate for all candidates.
“We achieved a 100% pass rate for our first-time writers (169) and a 99% (173/174) pass rate for all our candidates,” he said.
“Not only did the number of African black candidates of UP increase, but for the first time ever our pass rate for our African black, coloured and Indian students is an unprecedented 100%, and it is higher than the pass rate of the white candidates (99%).”
He said the number of African black candidates increased by 7%, while the pass rate increased from 86% in 2020 to 100% in 2021.
“The national pass rate for all African black candidates is 52%, and UP also achieved the highest pass rate in the country for our African black candidates,” said Delport.
The exam was the first of two qualifying exams written for prospective chartered accountants countrywide, according to Professor Stephen Coetzee of UP’s faculty of economic and management sciences, who took to social media to make the announcement.
Coetzee said: “These exceptionally historical results ensure that UP retains its first-place position in South Africa. Over the past 15 years UP showed consistent excellence with the highest national average pass rate of 94% for this professional exam.”
According to a Saica report, only one UP student failed and 173 passed, scoring an overall 99% pass rate.
Countrywide, there were 3 887 candidates who sat for the exam, and at least 2 507 of them passed, achieving an overall national pass rate of 64%. The number of those who failed is 1 380.
The head of UP’s Department of Accounting and CA programme, Professor Madeleine Stiglingh, said: “We remain extremely proud of our track record in the Saica exams, and the 2021 results again confirmed and emphasised the concerted and focused efforts of our exceptional innovative committed teaching staff on the highly teaching-intensive CA programme, but also the resilience and agility of our excellent students.”
She said the unprecedented pass rates were achieved despite the unprecedented current challenging times.
“We thank the management of the economic and management sciences faculty and the top management of the university for their continued support, to enable us to empower our BCom accounting sciences and post-graduate diploma in accounting sciences students with everything they require to fly not only at UP, but when they launch into the world of work.”
The University of Stellenbosch obtained a 95% pass rate, with 329 of 346 students passing the exam.
Meanwhile, Unisa's College of Accounting Sciences congratulated its students for the outstanding results in the professional assessment exam.
In a statement, the institution said its students who participated in the exams achieved excellent results.
“What is notably commendable is that of the 983 African students who passed, 315 were Unisa students, representing about a third of the population of African candidates. This is a great achievement which continues to highlight the significant contribution the university is making to the overall transformation of the profession.
It said that while the Unisa pass rate of 39% remains significantly lower than the national average of 64.5%, the university has single-handedly contributed the majority of candidates that have passed.
Pretoria News