- why do accounting students keep repeating?

I have come to know of a group of uninitiated individuals who often remark that they could not understand why students sitting for professional accounting examinations keep repeating certain papers. What prompted me to write this article is not so much because of the lack of understanding but rather the reasons they offer in explaining this situation. Unsavoury remarks are being hurled; for examples, below-average students are being accepted, under-achieving lecturers, low passing rates to penalize students and some even went further to blame it on the ineffective management of the courses by the awarding professional bodies. Surprisingly, amongst the people who made such remarks comprised academicians from universities and other institutions of higher education.

The fact is very few students managed to pass all their professional accounting examinations at the first sittings. Most will repeat certain papers until they finally pass. Some students take 5 or 6 attempts just to pass a single paper. The passing rates for various papers range between 50% to as low as 10% which is true for the more advanced final stage papers. That’s why some professional accounting bodies allow their students up to 10 years to pass all the examinations. Do these students have low intelligence or is it because the awarding bodies are staffed with hellish people who derive satisfaction in failing students? Not true, of course. I come across students who are good in passing examinations but are poor workers. Conversely, there are some students who took longer time to pass their examinations turned out be good employees. Maybe by repeating, they are able to learn more. Heard of the proverb, ‘Failure is the mother of success?’. Here are some good reasons why they repeat:

• professional accounting examinations are ‘external’ examinations. Questions are set externally by the respective professional bodies. Thus, candidates need to cover widely the topics in the syllabi. The do not have direct contact with their examiners. They do not even know who they are;
• professional examinations demand knowledge both in width and depth of the topics. This is especially true (and quite rightly so) in the final advanced stage of the examinations;
• candidates need to keep up with the complexities and rigors of new and revised accounting standards;
• a candidate must have attained a certain minimum academic standard as judged by the professional accounting body to be worthy of calling himself / herself a professional accountant.
• 3 hours written examination which demands not just knowledge but speed as well!

There is also a misguided belief among some students that examiners set questions to fail candidates. In fact, most examiners are sympathetic people who look for valid ways and reasons to pass candidates. But more importantly, it is what lies behind a title that is being scrutinized.

It is every student’s dream that one day he / she can use the title CA (Chartered Accountant) behind his / her name. A qualified CA could choose to go into practice i.e. setting up his / her own accounting firm or he could opt to work as a senior finance personnel in a public listed company. Whichever route he takes, his title says a lot about him. For example, a partner in an accounting firm participating in a business function, will dish out his business cards to business people he meets at the function. A businessman who may be a total stranger will no doubt judge his professional competency by the title he carries. It could be just due to the CA title he carries, that the businessman feels it justifiable enough to engage his firm to be his company’s auditor, tax agent or even business advisor.