Accountancy Examinations

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 85, 4 January 1935, Page 11

Accountancy Examinations

Sir, —I was interested to see Mr. Willis’s letter in your issue of December '2B. As Mr. Willis states, there is room for improvement in the examination methode for book-keeping, stage 111, and I believe that this is worthy of investigation by the Senate of the University of New Zealand. The suggestion that there be three papers is quite a good one, bur to my mind, there are two important factors which could easily be remedied by the Senate with little inconvenience to itself ami everyone else. Firstly, I would suggest that the tradition of publishing the results before Christmas be totally destroyed and that a longer time be given the examiners in which to mark the papers. It seems to me that the examiners have a most difficult job to mark all the papers in the short time and also maintain an even standard.

Secondly, the writer would suggest that where such a huge number of papers is to be marked, the examiners should not he appointed for more than one year, or two years at most. A careful scrutiny of the papers of any examiner will show at first a paper designed to discover what the student knows and then a gradual trend to one which has as its object the discovery of what the student does not know. The renowned Hope and Moody question is evidence of this. Also, last year neither of the examiners set a theoretical question, the reason being, of course, that a theoretical question takes too much time to mark, although it is by far the best means of finding what a student knows, and is most dreaded by the coaches. The present examiners both set them in previous papers, but this year there was only a very small question which might be called one of theory. With regard to the time element, I can only remark that one of the eight who passed in the famous (or notorious) 1913 papers, is reported to have once remarked that the man who thought to'put the “time allowed, three hours” in italics on the book-keeping papers was a real humorist.

I would suggest that a mid-year examination be held. If this examination were open only to students who could complete, a much smaller number would be sitting and the examiner could set. a paper to which he could give due consideration. —I am. etc.. ANOTHER PIPPED ONE. Wellington, December 29.