The excellent performance of its chartered accountancy students once again placed the North-West University (NWU) among the top universities in the country.

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.

This year the NWU delivered 101 successful first-time candidates, compared to last year’s 93.

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

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN) also released their results, and the NWU boasts a 92% pass rate for its Namibian candidates. The university also has 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 Prof van der Merwe.

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 project, SAICA places fully bursared Black African and Coloured students at selected SAICA-accredited universities