The SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) will allow candidates who wrote its botched board exam on December 1 to rewrite the eight-hour test at the end of March 2022 without having to again pay an examination fee.
The accountancy body will release the results of its 2021 Chartered Accountants’ Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) exam in February 2022. Saica will announce the exact date of the rewrite “in due course” and will allow candidates to use their own or firm-provided laptops, though it will still provide laptops to those who require them.
“Saica confirms that comprehensive risk-mitigating measures have been put in place to ensure that the events that took place on December 1, 2021 do not repeat,” the professional body said in a statement late on Thursday. “This includes measures around improved connectivity and appropriate technical support being in place on the day of the rewrite.”
Saica’s December 1 board exam, the final hurdle for prospective chartered accountants to receive the coveted CA (SA) qualification, descended into chaos when it made a last-minute decision barring candidates from using their own or firm-provided laptops. Drama ensued when the thousands of laptops Saica hired experienced a litany of technical glitches ranging from missing batteries, failure to start, runtime errors and an inability to connect to the Wi-Fi network which later crashed.
About 2,700 prospective accountants attempted to sit the exam, which incurs a payment of R6,022 per candidate, at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. However, the broader contingent of candidates who sat the exam at the two dozen centres around the world totalled 4,935 people.
According to media reports the avalanche of technical failures that occurred during the exam, which was meant to finish by 5pm, forced many candidates to work until midnight in an attempt to complete it. Many simply gave up and walked out, with media reports indicating that several candidates left the exam venue in an emotionally distraught state.
“In the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the 2021 APC sitting, Saica is focused on delivering a credible response to this challenge and will timeously communicate exact dates early in 2022 once the logistical imperatives are firmly in place,” the professional body said.
While candidates who succeed in passing Saica’s chaotic December 1 board exam may elect not to sit the rewrite at the end of March 2022, those who choose to do so will be permitted to try to better their mark. Saica will then assign the higher of the competency levels achieved in the two assessments.
The overall exam results and accompanying statistics for Saica’s 2021 board exam, including both the initial December 1 exam as well as the March 2022 rewrite, will be published together at a date yet to be announced.
With Rob Rose.
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