Classics degree students fare better
Young people wishing to train as accountants after university would be better advised to study classics rather than accountancy as their degree subject, according to analysis of last week's English ICA results.
Only 55% of candidates who had studied accountancy at university passed the institute’s Final Admitting Exam, compared to an 88% pass rate for classics students.
Phil Armitage, the institute’s Director of Education & Training, said: ‘It’s disappointing that the pass rate (for those with accountancy degrees) is particularly low this year, and it serves to reinforce the institute’s policy of giving little exemption for accountancy degree students.’
In total, 2510 students sat the FAE, with a pass rate of 75%. In the FAE, students were given more freedom to structure their case study reports and content, which for some candidates to be a tougher test of communication skills than in the past.
Phil Armitage said this had been a conscious decision.
He said: ‘The case study has been more structured than in the past. This time the students were required to do the structuring for themselves, it was less prescriptive. Technical skills are a given, and we are now seeing students improving their communication skills.’
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