Abstract
Over the years, many students have called on the Council of the Institute to increase the number of exam sittings per year. Many reasons have been put forward for this call. By a communique released in August 2020, the CEO announced to all students that the Council of the Institute had approved for the introduction of a three-diet professional examination system. This study was to assess the level of awareness and satisfaction of students and tuition providers of the three-diet system, determine how this new decision will affect students and tuition providers and identify the exam sitting plan of students for 2022 and beyond. The study is of significance to the Exams Unit of the Institute, as it will help them predict and therefore prepare for the students for each of three sittings. The population and sample for the study is made up of all students, as well as registered tuition providers of the Institute. Currently these figures stand at about 14,000 and 54 respectively. A total of 1,333 students and 15 tuition providers responded to the survey. Majority of the respondents are aware of the 3-diet system of the Institute, which commences in 2022. These students got to know of the decision through their tuition providers, ICAG outreaches and from colleague students. A large majority of students (83%) and tuition providers (73%) are satisfied with the decision of Council. For many students, this decision will affect them positively in a number of ways, including the opportunity afforded them to complete the professional programme earlier; assist them to apply previous knowledge faster; help them to split up the papers, and prepare well for those papers; put pressure on them to learn always because of the shorter breaks between exam diets; and benefit more from the one-year subscription (writing 3 times, instead of 2 times). On the negative side, students believe the decision will bring financial constraints on them, because of the increased number of diets per year, shorter period for studies leading to inadequate preparation and the stress the decision will bring to bear on students. Others believe that work-related constraints will prevent them from writing, with respect to the change in dates and getting leave for exams. A large majority of respondents (71.4%) indicate that they will sit or write in all three diets. A good number (9.1%) want to spread out the papers well, so they prefer to write in April and December; with 7.9% planning to sit in April and August instead. For majority of the students, the choice made is because they want to complete the programme early; have adequate time for preparation (23%), or the revision period becomes shorter (15%), work schedules (4%), number of papers remaining to complete the programme (4%), financial reasons (2%), personal and family issues (1%) and other academic programmes being undertaken (1%).
