Reflection on the results of APC 2018

Friday 15 February 2019 saw the release of the SAICA APC 2018 results, which no doubt will be the topic of discussion for some time. The 2018 SAICA paper was a challenging one, and this was evident in the marked decline in the national average pass rate this year.

On our programme we celebrated a number of highlights on Friday, including a 86% pass rate for the UCT programme’s first-time writers, in comparison to the national average of 71%.

We recognise though that Friday’s results were disappointing for many trainees. In particular, the 48% pass rate of African Black candidates is deeply concerning. While the pass rate for UCT’s African Black candidates was 65%, it remains far from where we would like it to be. So although we celebrate the successes of Friday, we also share in these disappointments.

The factors that may affect a candidate’s performance in the SAICA APC are numerous, and are both complex and potentially interrelated. We are committed to engaging with SAICA and the profession to better understand why this gap in success rates in the APC remains and has increased in 2018. We are also committed to supporting African Black candidates, both in seeking to improve our practices on our 2019 programme as we reflect further on the meaning of these results, and in preparing those repeating candidates who partner with us in seeking a better outcome in this year’s APC.

The UCT APC Team

3 thoughts on “Reflection on the results of APC 2018

  1. im extremely disapointed in the Saica results given that i was doing it for the second time and still failed again.it raise a question as to why we as blacks failed that much.are we doing something different compared to whites.Last year the feedback was most people that failed are manual writters which simply means black candidates…we changed to ewritting then things became worst

    No matter how we may justify it sitting there 8hours even though it simulate real life will never be the same as working at clients on prepared working papers which we hardly ever type for more than an hour or 10 pages becauses working papers are well prepared prior

    APC started as this pilot thing now its becoming survival of the fittest and blacks are being affected the most..look at AGSA pass rate as well as SNG 40% and 50% respectively while the rest is 70% upwards

    why is this happening to blacks

    one last thing blacks will never type faster than whites..some of us never used the computers other than for movies streaming even through varsity

    So justifying that e writting is the best is just to let more blacks fail

    Lastly im not in any way saying Saica must drop the standard however let there be standards

    To date when you apply for post they still say big 4 experience even after all those scandals those are the things that Saica must start fixing

    i may have failed and sound bitter now however im of the view i deserved to pass this time around..i doubt we even marked the same compared to other races

    i stand to be corrected

  2. I think SAICA is doing less for trainees as i know 3 trainees in particular, they have been changing training offices and were delayed writing APC by prior employer deliberately.

    Many blacks are struggling to get articles and some training offices have ridiculous working conditions e.g harassment, poor hygiene and mental emancipation. All this is happening around Joburg.

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