The results for the June sitting that were released today morning show that more students are failing core accountancy subjects under the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) course. Only 127 candidates completed the CPA course in June out of 5,643 candidates that attempted the examinations.
Only 14.4% candidates who sat the CPA examinations passed the Financial Reporting subject. This was a reduction from the 19.7% candidates who passed the same subject in the November 2017 sitting. Similarly, only 14.4% of candidates passed the Financial Management subject, a drop from 23.2% who sat in November 2017. The Public Sector Accounting and Reporting subject continue to tussle out students with only 15.7% of candidates passing as compared to 17.5% candidates passed in November 2017.
Other key but failed subjects are Advanced Financial Management with a 9.8% pass rate and Auditing & Other Assurance Services subject in which only 17.4% of candidates passed. This failure rate creates fear in many university students who then on end up giving up and not sitting for the examination, something that negatively affects the level of education in the country.
On asked about the situation, the president of The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda – ICPAU Frederick Kibedi expressed concern over rising number of students failing accountancy examinations and promised that emphasis is to be put on rectifying the falling grades.
“There are many causes for the poor performance. This includes if the candidates are ready for the exams, do they get nervous when presented papers, and many others. This is something we are not glossing over. We are trying to solve it as a professional body”, Kibedi said.
It should be noted that numerous students from numerous universities opt to partake in the CPA course to supplement their university degree and become more marketable.
