​Stellenbosch University's School of Accountancy is thrilled with the 94% pass rate obtaine​d by the BAccHons class of 2015 in the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)'s first professional exam (Initial Test of Competence (ITC)).

This is the first of two exams conducted by SAICA that individuals who want to qualify as chartered accountants (South Africa) have to pass. The students took the exam in January this year.

SAICA and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia recently announced that SU achieved the best past rate in the country among the SAICA-accredited universities for students who had taken this exam for the first time.

The University of Pretoria achieved a pass rate of 92%, the University of Cape Town 83%, the University of Johannesburg also 83% and the University of the Witwatersrand 74%. The average pass rate was 80%.

SU's Matthys Lourens achieved tenth place in the country.

Prof Pieter von Wielligh, professor in auditing and co-coordinator of the BAcc and BAccHons programmes, explained that the exam was taken by 2 561 candidates countrywide of whom 2 318 took it for the first time (students who obtained their postgraduate qualification in 2015).

"In total, 163 of SU's 2015 BAccHons students took the exam and 153 passed."

SU also had the best past rate in 2009 when the School of Accountancy's students of 2008 achieved a pass rate of 99%.

SU is currently one of 14 universities in South Africa accredited by SAICA to train prospective chartered accountants.

"Given the number of options available to prospective chartered accountants, reputation is of the utmost importance to draw good students as well as good lecturers," says Prof Von Wielligh.

"The excellent achievement by our BAccHons students in the ITC not only underlines the quality teaching offered by the School in a very concrete and visible way but also the quality of students the School draws."

According to Prof Von Wielligh, the School follows a strong student-centred teaching philosophy.

"We strive to offer our students high-quality teaching in a productive environment. Our goal is to encourage independent and constructive critical thinking in our students. We also want to nurture the principle of life-long learning, which is of critical importance in the fast-changing world of the professional accountant. Together with this we place a high premium on the development of ethical principles and many other professional skills. In addition to what the Faculty and University already offer, the School itself also offers various forms of assistance to students who struggle academically.

"Our team of top-quality, top-qualified lecturers are experts in their subject fields and are continuously encouraged to do further research."

The School of Accountancy is very proud of its honours class of 2015's excellent performance.

"Their hard work and perseverance, and also the confidence they put in their lecturers, are admirable. It is even more so when we remember that 2015 was a disruptive year with, among other things, the fire in the Van der Sterr building. This is where the BAccHons students have their classes and their lecturers are situated. And then there was the protest action at the end of 2015."

Coordinating and presenting the BAcc and BAccHons courses require thorough planning, good communication, continuous monitoring and informed decision-making, says Prof Von Wielligh.

Prof Stan du Plessis, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, congratulated the School.

"Congratulations on this excellent achievement and sincere thanks for the hard, goal-orientated and intelligent work that has gone into this."​