UMALUSI



Province of the

EASTERN CAPE

EDUCATION

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assessment and Examinations, Bundy Park, Buffalo Road, Schornville, KWT

* Private Bag 4571*KWT * 5600* REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

* Enquiries: Mr V A JOSEPH Tel: +27436047810/9 Fax:043 604 7789/08654664627

* Email:Varkeychan.Joseph@edu..za

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHIEF MARKER’S REPORT

INSTRUCTIONS

1. The Chief Markers are required to complete this report during the marking session. The aim of the report is to provide a feed back and to help subject advisors and educators to improve teaching and learning.

2. The report should be informed by discussions between the Chief Marker, moderator, senior markers and markers of the particular subject. NB: There should be one report per subject per paper.

3. The report must be detailed, informative and indicate question by question performance of the candidates and mark distribution of centres.

4. Reference may be made to the topics identified below as well as any aspect the Examiner wishes to bring to the attention of the subject advisors and educators.

5. The report must be submitted in hard copy and an electronic version to the centre manager at the marking centre.

6. All markers reports must be handed in with the hard copy.

7. The electronic report should be emailed to varkchan.joseph@edu..za

6. The centre managers then forward the reports to the Directorate of Assessment and Examination (Att: Mr. V A Joseph) in King William’s Town.

|SUBJECT: | |

| |ACCOUNTING |

|GRADE: |12 |PAPER: | |

| | | |1 |

|DATE OF EXAMINATION: | |DURATION: |3 HOURS |

| |11 NOV 2009 | | |

1. ANALYSIS OF QUESTION BY QUESTION PERFORMANCE OF THE CANDIDATES

Give a detailed account of how the candidates performed in each question. In doing this, the following steps should be followed:

1.1 The aim/objective for setting the question (what skills, knowledge, values and attitudes were being tested by asking the question)

1.2 Relevance or relation of the question to the Los and Ass.

How did the candidates perform in the question?

1.3 Where did candidates lack expertise or fail in giving an appropriate answer to score high marks in the question?

QUESTION 1

|This question required knowledge of reconciliation and management of creditors. Emphasis on noting errors / omissions and correcting |

|them. Learners needed to understand internal control mechanisms and the skills involve good communication negotiations and social |

|interactions. Knowledge of current trends and cash management is useful. |

|This Question was poorly answered. Learners confused debtors and creditors. This surfaced in both the calculations - increases (CR) |

|and decreases (DR)); and also in the interpretations of internal control. The creditors list with DR and CR columns also confused |

|learners – who did not know where the workings should be done. It was disappointing to note that, this section, which commences in |

|Grade 10 and is re- enforced in Grade 11 and 12, was not answered well. |

QUESTION 2

|Focused on stock management and control skills. A knowledge of stock valuation methods and the use of statistics in taking decisions|

|is needed. An understanding of current trends, the state of the economy and the market for the products is essential. |

|The calculations were poorly handled. Candidates lacked insight in responding to the interpretive questions. Educators need to focus|

|more attention to this section (which appears simple) and examples from various sources must be attempted. Learners must be given the|

|opportunity to evaluate two different stock items using the different stock evaluation methods. |

QUESTION 3.

|This question dealt with manufacturing. It required a good knowledge of production and costing concepts. The skills needed includes |

|identify cost structures (fixed / variable) and determining production quantities to maximise profitability. The relevance of |

|break-even analysis in making projections was also tested. |

|Candidates from the well performing centres scored very high marks, unfortunately, the underperforming majority lacked understanding |

|and further lost a maximum of 3 marks for foreign items in the notes. The calculation for break-even and the explanations were poorly |

|answered – clearly a lack of adequate preparation for this section. It is evident that educators focus on the production cost |

|statement and pay little attention to analysing and interpreting costing information. Much of this section must be covered in Grade |

|11; and merely re-emphasised in Grade 12. Hence, calculating and commenting on financial indicators would not be abstract to them at |

|Grade 12 level. |

QUESTION 4

|Financial statements, auditing and reporting was tested. Learners needed to display an understanding of accounting principles, preparing |

|statements according to specific guidelines and the relevance of uniform standards (auditing). The question also focused on an ethical issue |

|of a director taking advantage of his position in the company. Well performing centres took great advantage to boost their marks. Although |

|the format was given, the majority underperforming candidates failed to capitalise and further lost marks for foreign items. The interpretive |

|questions posed problems. Learners had difficulty expressing themselves (the language barriers). Candidates tend to repeat the questions or |

|copy parts of the passage from the question paper. Majority of the learners have not prepared for the auditing questions. This section was |

|not covered by many schools. Many candidates could not see the ethical problem presented by the disposal of the computer (the question is |

|based on the premise that learners would be able to calculate the loss). Terminologies such as “fairly present”, GAAP Principles, IFRS etc |

|appears to be foreign and candidates need greater exposure here. |

QUESTION 5

|This question required learners to prepare the cash flow statement. A knowledge of cash management (inflows / outflows), and the analysis of|

|financial information to be used in decision making is necessary. Candidates lost many marks for failing to show outflows of cash |

|(brackets). Calculations of Tax / Dividends and Assets purchased proved to be challenging, as these notes were note specifically required. |

|Learners were able to calculate the ratio but they had difficultly in explaining the results. This requires insight. Poor reading and |

|writing skills further disadvantage learners from underperforming schools which are in the majority in the Eastern Cape region. Terms such as|

|share premium, Net Asset Value etc. should not appear as foreign or unfamiliar in Grade 12. Once again, it was clear that educators focus a |

|lot on the accounting aspects and very little time on the analysis and interpretation aspects. Use of examples from exemplars and from other|

|sources (textbooks) is useful in this regard. |

QUESTION 6

|Knowledge of budgeting and the use of budget information (variances) in assessing management decisions were tested. Skills needed |

|include the management of debtors (credit sales), procurement processes and cash management. Although this appears to be an easy |

|question, a fair percentage did not attempt this question; possibly due to poor time management. Many failed to grasp what was |

|required of them . Reading, interpreting and analysing skills is demanded and candidates failed to do justice, in addition, |

|candidates were also restricted in furnishing responses eg. Question 6.2 and Question 6.3. Those who did attempt it showed lack of |

|adequate preparation, as this type of question was predictable. It is also a section that should have been well covered in Grade 11. |

7. ANY ADVICE THAT YOU COULD GIVE TO EDUCATORS TO HELP

LEARNERS TO REACH THE EXPECTED LEVELS.

| |

|Preparation for the Grade 12 NSC examination in Accounting must start as early as in Grade 7, because subject choices must be made in|

|Grade 9. Where the basic foundation (terminology/formats/structures/procedures) are taught. In an ideal situation, educators must plan|

|from Grade 10 – by looking at the subject framework – and ensure that the various skills and knowledge needed are prioritised at |

|different phases within the three year period. Example, Ledger accounts and Control Accounts must be enforced in Grade 10. Grade 11 |

|must re-enforce the year-end adjustments, asset disposal, budgets and cost accounting. If this process is managed effectively, it |

|would leave more time to deal with the Grade 12 sections (especially Companies) more extensively. Emphasis can be given to Reporting, |

|Ratios, Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Indicators as well as addressing the language barriers of many learners. There must a|

|clear progression from Grade 10 to Grade 12. Educators must identify learners weaknesses at an early stage. Exemplars, past papers, |

|and papers from different provinces must be used to cater for individual differences. Districts can employ the mentoring and buddy |

|teaching system ; ideas can be shared and common understandings can be fostered. |

8. ANY OTHER COMMENTS

|Subject Advisors must take a more active role in co-ordinating activities within their respective districts, to ensure that learners |

|reach an acceptable level of readiness to sit for the final examinations. It is disappointing, as markers, to mark scripts of |

|learners who do not even display the competency level of a Grade 10 learner. |

|Although the number of learners taking Accounting is impressive, career counsellors at schools must play an active role in assisting |

|Grade 9 learners in making subject choices. Ill-prepared learners merely cost the Department time and money. Although CASS cluster |

|sessions attempt to achieve some uniformity, more needs to be done. Continuous workshops and regular inspections will ensure that the|

|syllabus is covered before the Trial Examination commences. |

| |

SIGNATURE OF EXAMINER/MODERATOR: _____________________________

|[pic] | |

| |SIYASEBENZISANA/ WORKING TOGETHER/ SAMEWERKING |

| |Quest for Excellence through high powered performance |

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