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Hundreds of CA students hit by timetable bungle

Regulation

Nine hundred students enrolled in the CA program have been impacted by a timetabling issue which has seen some — including several big four candidates — having their completion dates delayed by up to seven months.

By Katarina Taurian 9 minute read

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand recently changed its CA program structure from semesters to trimesters, which a spokesperson told Accountants Daily was intended to provide flexibility for the 10,000 students enrolled in the CA program.

However, several students at the tail end of their studies have contacted Accountants Daily — including from KPMG and PwC — to indicate that their completion dates have been significantly delayed because of the way the new timetable is structured.

To obtain their certification, students have to complete and pass all courses — audit and assurance; financial accounting and reporting; management accounting and applied finance; taxation — before enrolling in capstone. Capstone is the final course.

Enrolment dates this year, for some students, mean they cannot complete capstone as they planned. For example, the tax exam is on 5 September, results are released on 25 September. However, the capstone course starts on 11 September. The next time that course is offered is from February to June 2018.

Accountants Daily understands that CA ANZ has been made aware of this issue by several students, but there are no extensions or concessions being granted to allow students to still take their final capstone course this year where the timetable hasn’t lined up for them.

Accountants Daily has sighted several emails, and also understands that CA ANZ has not made backstop enrolment available for the capstone course CAP 317, meaning that students do not have the option to enrol in the course before knowing their exam results, because the course commences before the results are released.

Collectively, this information suggests that CA ANZ was aware of the enrolment clash, and did not notify students.

However, CA ANZ has been actively responding to students who are affected by the timetabling change, which Accountants Daily has sighted substantial evidence of.

“We are assessing possible solutions to assist students who are affected by this. We have been in contact with students and employers to find a suitable outcome,” a spokesperson told Accountants Daily.

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Katarina Taurian

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