The following are interesting facts about the recent examination:

• Ross Mallet (fifth position) and Sunel Botha (joint seventh position) of the University of Pretoria (UP) ranked under the top ten candidates in the exam and both passed with honours (achieved 75% or higher).
• Only 15 of the 3 112 candidates that wrote the exam passed with honours and 10 of those form part of the top 10 qualifiers.
• The national pass rate among all first-time writers in 2012 was 78%.
• UP achieved a first-time pass rate of 95% (first position of the Big Five CA education universities).
• 162 out of UP’s 170 first-time candidates passed.
• UP achieved a pass rate of 91% for African candidates in 2012, while Thuthuka candidates achieved a pass rate of 92 %.
• All 13 academic trainees at UP passed the exam.
• Taking both first-timers and other candidates into account, 168 out of 180 (93%) passed the 2012 QE 1 – the highest pass percentage in SA.
• The Departments of Auditing, Financial Accounting, Financial Management and Taxation are involved in CA education at UP.

The following table provides an overview of the performance of UP candidates over the past five years: 

Year

Pass rate of first-time candidates

Position

nationally

2012

95%

2^nd

2011

96%

Jointly 2^nd

2010

92%

1^st

2009

96%

3^rd

2008

95%

3^rd