Factors Affecting the Qualifying Examination Performance of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod

ng Valenzuela BSA Students: A Basis for Advocacy

Rationale

Accountancy is a profession that plays an important and key role in all societies. As the

world moves toward global market economies, and with investments and operations crossing

borders to an ever-greater extent, professional accountants need a broad global outlook to

understand the context in which business and other organizations operate (Commission on

Higher Education, 2006).

The program Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) meets the minimum

requirements under CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) Number 27, Series of 2017, entitled

“Revised Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy,” and

complies with the most recent competency framework of the International Education Standards

(IES) issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The graduates of this

program shall be categorized as belonging to Level 6 of the Philippine Qualifications Framework

and ASEAN Qualifications Framework and shall qualify to take the Certified Public Accountant

(CPA) Licensure Examination given by the Professional Regulations Commission, as well as

assessments leading to certifications in Accountancy by global professional Accountancy

organizations.

As described in the CMO, the BSA Program prepares students in providing assurance and

audit services for statutory financial reporting; tax-related services; management advisory

services, specifically partnering in management decision-making, devising planning, and

performance and control systems; and providing expertise in financial reporting and control to

assist various stakeholders in making decisions. The goal of the BSA Program is to produce

competent and ethical public accounting professionals who possess the knowledge, skills, and

attitudes that will enable them to continue to learn and adapt to change throughout their

professional lives.

Many fresh graduates from different schools aiming for a better future choose to take up

the BSA Program. However, before the students grasp the title of becoming a Certified Public

Accountant, they must overcome a lot of obstacles, and one of this is passing the qualifying

examination. Qualifying examination is given to Bachelor of Science in Accountancy students in

order to assess whether they are qualified to continue the program and see how prepared they are

for the future examinations. It is in fact a policy set by the school to all programs that have board

examinations.

In Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela, “qualifying examination is a set of

examinations given to incoming second year B.S. Accountancy students who failed to meet the

grade retention policy of 2.00 to First Year Major Accounting Subjects.” This examination is

mandatory to the said students and failure to take the exam will automatically result to a failing

remark on the said examination. Furthermore, students who receives a remark of PASSED are

the ones that will be allowed to continue to enroll under the B.S. Accountancy Program in

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela. Meanwhile, students who receives a remark of FAILED

shall be required to shift to another course of his/her choice.

Students who failed to meet the grade retention policy of 2.00 to First Year Major

Accounting Subjects shall be required to take the Qualifying Examination. Students can also

only take the test/s on the Major Accounting Subjects which they fail to achieve the required
grade in the retention policy. These subjects are as follows: (1) Financial Accounting and

Reporting [FAR1], (2) Conceptual Framework and Accounting Standards [FAR 2], (3)

Intermediate Accounting 1 [FAR 3], and (4) Cost Accounting and Control [MAC 1].

Last school year 2018-2019, the College of Accountancy conducted a Qualifying

Examination for the incoming second year students. Out of the five sections, three sections

remain to continue the accountancy program. Since B.S. Accounting Technology is not available

in Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela, those students who failed the examination were left

with no choice but to shift to other courses. Given this situation, the researcher come up with the

idea of studying the factors that affects students' performance in Qualifying Examination and to

create an advocacy that will help the next batch of examinees to pass their examination.

The Vision and Mission of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela is to provide an

efficient and effective institution of higher learning for human development purpose and to

produce skillful, productive, competent, competitive, civic-minded and God-loving human

resource. As part of this institution, the researchers aim to be part of the attainment of the said

vision and mission. This research study will seek to find the factors that influence accounting

students’ performance in taking the said examination which in turn could serve as a means of

attaining the said mission and vision. Researchers will involve passers and non-passers of

Qualifying Examination held in the year of 2019, the recent and latest to come up with more

accurate conclusion. Moreover, this study will use the descriptive method as the research design

and survey questionnaire for data collection.

The results of this study will help the examinees to lessen the possibility of failing the

examination. This study will provide a guide by means of blogs as well as vlogs to the

accountancy students who will take the examination. Through these, students will become aware
and will make necessary preparations before taking the Qualifying Examination. Also, the

College of Accountancy faculty members will know the importance of their position not only in

the department, but most importantly in the academic excellence of students. Furthermore, the

officials of College of Accountancy can use this as a basis for improvement of the curriculum of

the BSA Program.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the factors which affect students’ performance in

Qualifying Examination as a basis for advocacy program. Specifically, the study will seek to

answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of?

a. Male passers

b. Female passers

c. Male non-passers

d. Female non-passers

2. To what extent do the following factors affect the students’ performance in the qualifying

examination?

a. Extrinsic Factors

b. Intrinsic Factors

c. Personal Factors

d. Miscellaneous Factors
 3. Is there a difference between the response of the passers and non-passers in the

following?

a. Extrinsic Factors

b. Intrinsic Factors

c. Personal Factors

d. Miscellaneous Factors

Research Design

The research design refers to the overall approach that researchers choose to combine the

various components of the study in a logical and consistent manner, in order to effectively solve

the research problem; it is the blueprint for data collection, calculation, and analysis (Sacred

Heart University, n.d.). Researchers must choose the most suitable design to achieve the study's

objectives; and it is important to note that the type of design to use is dictated by the research

problem.

This thesis employs a quantitative, non-experimental design that makes use of the

descriptive technique. Quantitative research design is a formal, systematic method of obtaining

numerical data from a large number of samples describing the topic of interest in order to clarify

what is being researched. Descriptive research is a quantitative method that aims to identify the

current state of a variable that has been defined; and it is meant to provide detailed knowledge

about a phenomenon (Winston-Salem State University, n.d.). The researchers will use this design

because the study's main purpose is to evaluate the factors influencing students' performance in
qualifying examinations; specifically, the researchers want to identify the respondent's

characteristics, calculate, and compare the results.

In a descriptive research, there are a number of methods for collecting data, but the

researchers will utilize a survey questionnaire as part of the data collection process. The

respondents will be given the survey questionnaire using the Cluster Sampling method, and the

data will be analyzed and interpreted using various statistical methods.

Significance of the Study

The generalization of this present study will make a great contribution to the knowledge

in relation to the qualifying examination in Accountancy course. In particular, the crucial

findings of this investigation may be highly important and beneficial to the following:

To the Accountancy Students

The first-year students will benefit the most because they are the ones who will take qualifying

examination. The result of this study will help the next batch of examinees that are dreaming to

be a CPA and does not want to be eliminated in the course. Through blog and vlog, examinees

will be conscious of the factors that influence the performance in qualifying examination, and

before taking the examination, they would be able to be more prepared and vigilant.

To the COA Officials

The outcome of this study would give ideas to the officials of College of Accountancy that

would be useful in designing policies and creative teaching programs, especially in the subjects
that will be taken by the examinees. It will also be a premise in the improvement of the

educational program or curriculum and the provision of a trained faculty.

To the COA Faculty Members

The result of this research study will enlighten the minds of the faculty members of the College

of Accountancy on what adjustments will they do on the factors that affects students’

performance in qualifying examination because they play a significant role in the students’

progress. Also, this will prompt them to teach more effectively and creatively in order for the

students to be more educated about the subject and be prepared on the examination.

To the Future Researchers

The output of this research study can serve as a guidance, reference, or a comparative material

for someone who would like to do a similar research – to deepen the point of the study and

enhance the understanding about the factors that affects students’ performance in Qualifying

Examination that could contribute to a new wave of development.

Bibliography

Commission on Higher Education. (2006). Revised Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy [White paper]. https://ched.gov.ph/wp-

content/uploads/2017/10/CMO-27-s-2017.pdf?fbclid=IwAR103Yh-

4j3sf9gZczpDVYKJfgu5Rnb9PrHT8ARJ7g-g2FtlX9XkjhHqVTA

Sacred Heart University. (n.d.). Organizing Academic Research Papers: Types of Research

Designs. https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185902
Winston-Salem State University. (n.d.). Key Elements of a Research Proposal Quantitative

Design. https://www.wssu.edu/about/offices-and-departments/office-of-sponsored-

programs/pre-award/_Files/documents/develop-quantitative.pdf