By Nancy Akullo
Head of Communications
Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda
The Public Accountants Examinations Board (PAEB) of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) has released the December 2024 ICPAU examinations results.
The results are for the Accounting Technicians Diploma (ATD), Certified Tax Advisor (CTA) and Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPA-U) courses whose examinations were conducted from 2-6 December 2024 at the 7 ICPAU examinations centres of Arua, Fort Portal, Gulu, Kampala, Mbale, Mbarara and Nkozi.
There were 6,795 candidates compared to 6,375 in May 2024, an increment of 420 candidates (6.6%).
For ATD, there were 94 candidates. The average pass rate was 51.0% compared to 54.7% for May 2024, indicating a slight decline in performance.
In terms of age, 56.7% of the passes were scored by candidates in the age bracket of 18—24 years, followed by candidates in the age bracket of 25—29 years at 27.6%. The remaining 15.7% were by candidates of 30 years and above.
15 students completed the ATD course compared to 17 in May 2024. Of the 15 students, 10 (66.7%) are female and 5 (33.3%) are male. The cumulative number of students who have completed the course has now reached 1,872.
With effect from 1 January 2024, ATD was transferred to the Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB). As from that date, the continuing students were given a period of two (2) years to complete the course under PAEB exams, after which any remaining students will be examined by UBTEB. Therefore, the last ATD exams diet under PAEB will be conducted in December 2025.
CTA had 146 candidates. The average pass rate was 48.5% compared to 52.3% for May 2024.
In terms of age, 23.6% of the passes were scored by candidates below 30 years and the remaining bulk of 76.4% were by candidates of 30 years and above.
12 candidates (1 female and 11 male) completed the CTA course through the December 2024 sitting compared to 7 for May 2024. This brings the cumulative number of students who have completed the CTA course to 100.
There were 6,555 candidates for CPA-U. The average pass rate was 35.6% compared to 43.7% for May 2024.
In terms of age, 768 (19.2%) of the passes were scored by candidates in the age bracket of 18—24 years, 1,577 (39.5%) by candidates in the age bracket of 25—29 years, and 1,037 (26.0%) by candidates in the age bracket of 30—34 years. The remaining 611 (15.3%) of the passes were scored by candidates above 34 years of age.
PAEB noted that 67.1% of the passes were presented by candidates attempting papers for the first time.
“We note here that the fresh entrants have more potential than their older counterparts because most of them are fresh graduates from institutions of higher learning with relatively lighter responsibilities, so they are encouraged to leverage these advantages for better pass rates,” said CPA Prof. Laura Orobia, the Chairperson of PAEB.
Female candidates generally performed better than their male counterparts in CPA. For instance, out of 21 positions for top candidates, 11 were scooped by the females. Out of those who competed the course, 55.9% were female and 44.1% were male.
111 students completed the CPA-U course in May 2024, compared to 81 in May 2024, bringing the cumulative number to 5,242 since the course's inception.
The general decline in performance was attributed to failure to grasp the basic principles of accounting, such as the double entry rule, preparation of financial statements, understanding of various standards, and accounting for Value Added Tax.
The declining performance was further attributed to failure to apply the knowledge and theory in the practical scenarios of the questions, and insufficient preparation.
The chairperson of PAEB encouraged candidates to embrace a positive attitude towards the exams. She further suggested remedial measures, including undertaking studies with ICPAU-recognised tuition providers, attending student engagement sessions, utilising examiners’ reports, past papers and solutions of previous diets, and seeking counselling from the Institute, as may be required.
Representing the President of ICPAU, CPA Ronald Mutumba, the Vice President of the Institute challenged students to position themselves for the numerous opportunities that accountancy offers.
“Accountants offer more than just audit and assurance services, therefore, as an accountant, you can consider tax consultancy, insolvency practice, business valuations, and business restructuring, among other opportunities,” advised CPA Ronald Mutumba.
“Students should change their mindset from the expectation that opportunities lie solely in employment,” said CPA Mutumba.
“Gain expertise and experience through polishing your soft skills and growing your network,” he added.
The Vice President urged CPA finalists to enrol for ICPAU membership and pursue continuing professional development through the Institute’s masterclasses and other seminars.
The CPA (U) course, which is benchmarked on the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) International Education Standards (IES), aims to develop competent professional accountants capable of positively contributing to both the profession and the national economy.
Graduates of the CPA(U) programme are qualified to work as financial and management accountants, finance managers, tax and financial consultants, chief operating officers, and chief executive officers.
ATD is designed to produce competent accounting staff with a wide range of technical knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable them to support professional accountants.
CTA produces competent tax competent tax experts who can contribute to the economic development of the country.
The results of the December 2024 examinations were released on 6 January 2025 at the Protea Hotel by Marriott Kampala Skyz.
The 323 finalists from the December 2024 examination diet will graduate on 6 March 2025 at the 15th ICPAU graduation ceremony, along with those from the May and August 2024 examination diets.
The next ICPAU examinations diets will be conducted as follows:
- 19th – 23rd May: This diet is for all courses, at all 7 centres.
- 18th – 22nd August: This diet is for CPA only, and at the Kampala centre only.
- 1st – 5th December: This diet will be for all courses, at all 7 centres.
END.
