Prof Nico van der Merwe is a programme leader in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences’ School of Accounting Sciences.

This was evident when the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) recently released the results of the January 2018 Initial Test of Competence (ITC: qualifying exam part 1).

 

The NWU scored fourth place out of 15 universities with a 93% pass rate for first-time candidates. We also delivered 101 successful first-time candidates, compared to last year’s 93.

 

Highest number ever

 

“This is the highest number of successful first-time candidates in the history of the NWU.""It is also our first-ever triple-digit number for the SAICA ITC,” says Prof Nico van der Merwe, programme leader for chartered accountancy on our campus in Potchefstroom.

 

He adds that seven of the nine NWU *Thuthuka candidates passed on their first attempt. The overall number of African, Coloured and Indian students who passed also increased from 14 in 2017 to 21 in 2018.

 

Among Namibia’s top five

 

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN) has also released its results, and the NWU boasts a 92% pass rate for its Namibian candidates. We also have a candidate in the Namibian top five list – Josephine Diogenus – who ended in second place.

 

“If we combine the SAICA and ICAN numbers, the NWU delivered a total of 112 new chartered accountants to the marketplace in this exam, which again is our highest number ever,” adds Nico.

 

According to the results released by SAICA, the national average pass rate for first-time candidates was 78%, 15% lower than that of the NWU.

 

* Through its Thuthuka Bursary Fund, SAICA provides full bursaries to eligible African and Coloured students at selected SAICA-accredited universities.