North-West University top SAICA results

Cheers rang out on the Friday afternoon of 31 March as the South Africa Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) released the results of the Initial Test of Competence (ITC: qualifying exam part 1). "It gives me great pleasure to announce that, with a 94% pass rate for first-time candidates, the NWU achieved the first position in the country in terms of pass rate. No other university had a pass rate of 90% or above. The national average pass rate for first-time candidates was 81%, said Prof Nico van der Merwe, Programme Leader: Chartered Accountancy.

In total, 93 of NWU's candidates passed, which is the highest number in the history of NWU. The NWU also had a combined growth of 40% on its African, Coloured and Indian passes compared to the previous year.

ICAN (the Namibian institute) also released their results on Friday, and the NWU also achieved a 94% pass rate for its Namibian candidates. NWU had two candidates in the Namibian Top 5 list, being Filippus Shikongo (2nd place) and Leo Hamunyela (joint 5th place). "If we combine the SAICA and ICAN numbers, the NWU delivered 110 new CAs to the marketplace in this exam, which again is our highest number ever," said Van der Merwe.

Two of the NWU's subject groups achieved a top three ranking nationally in terms of total marks: Financial Accounting (1st place) and Auditing (3rd place).

"Congratulations to our academic trainees, who all passed! I would like to thank all of the colleagues in the School of Accounting Science. Without your commitment and superhuman effort, none of this would be possible. I would also like to take this opportunity for the continued support of senior campus and institutional management," said Van der Merwe.