A Godsend for the part time CTA/PGDA community

I entered IAS with my wife during 2019 in a final attempt to obtain our CTA/PGDA before giving up on the career. We had tried many places and many times before and it had always been a disaster (Mostly UNISA, but Monash also) as we were part of the much maligned "Part time" or "Distance" students. As such, I can only speak to our experience as "Part time" students, which, historically have not had a great pass rate and even fewer choices in Universities.

For the longest time after UKZN closed it's part time doors for the CTA program, UNISA was the only game in town and cared nothing for their students (No, I'm not being mean, I'm being factual. I've been a student of theirs since 2008, so trust me when I say I do know what I am talking about). Monash started up their part time program in 2014 which did not fare particularly well either.

So, when Gary emailed us back in 2016 and then 2017 (There were some regulatory delays) about his idea for the IAS myself and my colleagues were over the moon about it. An ENTIRE university dedicated to JUST CTA/PGDA, run by seasoned Chartered Accountants who used to run entire departments over at Wits university and with a focus on helping their students pass was amazing. The reality was above and beyond expectations.

To be clear, CTA's TRUE pass rate has always been abysmal. The only reason larger universities can boast higher pass rates is because they cheat: They only accept students who were already doing exceptionally well in undergrad by themselves and they DO NOT offer any sort of part time program. IAS is more accepting of people's circumstances and as such allow a wider selection of students into their program the larger universities and by attempting to provide a part time course for one of the toughest qualifications offered by most educational institutions (CTA/PGDA) they are definitely choosing to put themselves out there in an attempt to help, which I for one appreciate.

I've been doing this a long time, so believe me when I tell you that CTA is where potential CA's go to die. Gary and IAS's attempts to try and change this, especially for the part timers such as myself and my wife is frankly fantastic.

By limiting his entire university to JUST CTA/PGDA, IAS is specializing in a field that is exceptionally tough and his focus yields plenty of rewards for us. For example:

* At IAS, the year is split into two halves and two intakes, which saves people considerable amounts of their lives as opposed to other Universities such as Unisa where it is once a year or nothing. If you are struggling, at least the worst outcome is that you lose 6 months, as opposed to losing an entire year of your live at the attempt. UNISA in particular is quite bad at delaying their supplementary exams by several months after the initial exam, which meant for most of their Bcom/Bcompt graduates that getting a Supp was the same as failing for the purposes of getting into CTA the next year, but IAS's mid year registration mercifully offers a solution.

So beyond the above practical considerations, my experience at IAS during 2019 was nothing short of profound. Gary and his team were exceptionally good at focusing in on our weak areas and forcing us to confront them. Their embrace of technology meant that even during the difficulties of part time studies, I was always able to stream or catch up on my lectures and a solid website system ensured that I was able to track what was required of me.

It was not a smooth ride, as CTA always is. By mid year both my wife and I were nearly failing and only progressed to the next semester by the skin of our teeth. But by talking with our lecturers, putting in every extra second we could into our studies and never giving up hope, we managed to pass the final exams and qualified.

We then went on to pass the ITC and APT first time.

I could not recommend IAS highly enough. Thank you Gary and team!