54.5% in all semesters for CA Admission - ICAI

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has made it mandatory for BCom graduates from the University of Mumbai to have an overall pass percentage of 54.5 per cent in all the six semesters of their commerce studies to be eligible for direct entry to the CA course. The move has been prompted after the MU adopted the credit-based grading system (CBGS) last year. According to ICAI officials, as University declares results with grades of all six semesters, the ICAI had no option but to accept the same to avoid confusion.

Speaking about the new system, CA A. Karim, a member of ICAI said that in the past if a student had secured 55 per cent in the final year, he could get direct admission to the CA course. “Since the University adopted the CBGS system, there was confusion as to whether the old criteria was still valid as students were given two grades one for the final year, consisting of two semesters and an overall grade for all the six semesters.

“Many students have got grades equivalent to 55 per cent in the final year but their overall grades are below 55 per cent, hence there was confusion about which grades to accept for admitting students directly to the CA course,” said Mr Karim.

The matter was taken up by the Board of Studies of ICAI last week where it was decided to consider the overall grades and not only the final year grades for direct admission.

However, students who secured more than 55 per cent in the final year but their grades suffered due to their below par performance in the earlier years were not too happy with the decision. “Until now only the final year results were considered important and hence students studied hard to secure above 55 per cent. The institute should have announced the decision or made the new system applicable after two years. Now aspiring CAs will have to appear for the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) for getting admitted to the CA course as grades of many students for the first two years when added up with final year results will not add up to 55 per cent,” said Hiloni Shah, a student of NM College.

Justifying the decision of ICAI an official said, “The grading system ensures that university or college education of all the three years is given equal importance by students,” said R.V. Raja, executive officer, ICAI, Mumbai. (Asian Age)