Trainee accountants achieve record pass rate

The accountancy jobs market is set to gain from a brilliant bunch of newly qualified professionals in the near future.  

A total of 604 candidates completed the Professional Stage exams of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in September, achieving the highest ever pass rate for the Audit and Assurance paper.

According to Mark Protherough, the ICAEW’s Head of Operations and Director of Learning and Professional Development, the examiner was “very impressed” with the performance of those who sat the exam.

“We are also delighted that students from both Cyprus and Singapore are on the Annual International Order of Merit for the Professional Stage examinations. These are students who have passed the Professional Stage in the last 4 sittings and have scored the highest average marks.

“These results not only reflect favourably once again on the quality of the candidates, but also on their tutors, their employers, the examinations and the examination process,” he added.

According to the ICAEW, the pass rates for the respective papers were:

• Business Strategy – 77.8%
• Financial Reporting – 73.2%
• Financial Accounting – 87.7%
• Audit and Assurance – 84%
• Taxation – 82.1%
• Financial Management – 85.7%