Can I Use ICAN or Other Professional Certs for Direct Entry?

JAMB has clarified that professional certifications such as ICAN and ACCA are not accepted for direct entry admissions into universities, despite previous indications that some institutions might have considered them.

Usually, when aiming to pursue admission to a university through direct entry, you hear that you can use qualifications such as IJMB, JUPEB, ND, NCE, HND, RN/RM, or BSC. Indeed, many universities accept one or several of these qualifications for direct entry admission into the 200-level of their courses.

However, you might find yourself at a loss if you intend to use a professional exam result such as ICAN or ACCA. Will JAMB allow you to use these for the direct entry application? If so, which universities accept professional certificates for direct entry admission?

In this post, you'll find answers to your questions and related concerns.

JAMB Affirms ICAN or Professional Certifications Can't Be Used For Direct Entry

On one occasion, JAMB openly declared that professional certificates are not part of the requirements for direct entry applications. This was in response to a concerned aspirant who contacted the board:

For the 100th time, how do professional certification (ICAN) holders go about registering for DE?!! This nonchalance & lack of information is getting irritating at this point. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to different places and the JAMB office on this issue.

While he did not report the responses he got from visiting the JAMB offices, he claimed, we can pretty much assume that the official response given here supersedes any other replies.

I personally believe that there is more to explain about the current position of the board regarding the use of professional certificates for the direct entry admission process. Before now, most universities openly stated in their official admission brochures that they accepted ICAN and other relevant professional certificates for DE. So, the latest assertion could be taken as the most recent development or more information should be demanded from the board.

As an education consultant, I knew before now that most universities did accept ICAN and similar professional certificates for direct entry admission. However, when the board affirmed that ICAN and professional certificates are not accepted for DE, there is something they're not telling us, and that should be "no longer accepted" instead of "not accepted."

As a result, I had to check the JAMB brochure to be sure if the change had been reflected in the board's official book of admission. My findings were that the online-updated brochure, which could be accessed here, did not show that any university is accepting these certificates. We could only find such acceptance in the outdated version of the brochure.

For example, still in the outdated brochure, for Accounting, it was stated that ABSU and DELSU accept holders of the following qualifications:

1. Complete pass in the Intermediate ICAN Examination or equivalents; and
2. Pass in the final exams of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries (except UYO and DELSU) plus UTME requirements.

Similarly, EBSU accepts AAT, Intermediate ACCA, ICAN, or ATS final certificates provided such a candidate possesses ‘O’ Level credit passes in English Language, Economics, and Mathematics.

Even OAU accepts a) ND upper credit in Accounting, also ICAN/ACCA examination at the professional level or ATS (Stage III) examination of ICAN b) Advanced Level passes in Economics, Accounting, Business Management, plus Government and Geography or ICAN/ATS I, II, and III.

To this end, if you've read that professional certificates could be used for DE admission, that was right until now. If you download the PDF file of the JAMB brochure right now (if it has not been taken down or updated), you'll see exactly several universities accepting various professional certificates for DE.

Acceptance of Professional Certificates in Universities' Official Brochures

In an attempt to know if the latest update has been updated, I paid visits to different universities' admission portals and checked their admission brochures. Below are my findings:

Osun State University (UNIOSUN) still retains the old information (may change later) as the university claims it accepts candidates with ICAN ATS (Final Level) and Foundation pass of recognized professional bodies; ICAN, ACCA (London), CIMA (UK), CIBN, CITN, and others who are members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) may be considered for direct entry.

Checking the 2023 admission brochure of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), it's observed that the university has not been accepting ICAN or any other professional certificate for its admission. Further study shows that the university will consider any relevant professional certificates for direct entry admission into its distance learning center.

Obafemi Awolowo University, on the other hand, includes ATSWA (Final Stage), and ICAN or ACCA (Foundation Level) as its DE requirements for Management and Accounting - as per the 2023 admission brochure, while there is no trace of any other professional certificates for any of its courses. Similarly, for admission to part II of its Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Obafemi Awolowo University's Distance Learning Centers still accept ICAN and other professional certificates. Accordingly, the university DLC accepts the following:

1. ATS-ICAN final stage certificate,
2. the final stage of the Association of Nigerian Accountants (ANAN),
3. the final stage of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), 
4. the final stage of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

The University of Benin (UNIBEN) shows a similar pattern as research into its full-time undergraduate programs doesn't show any course accepting ICAN or professional certificates. However, for its part-time programs, the university listed the following professional certificates for its admissions:

An online-based university, Miva Open University also accepts ICAN, ICMA, CIBN, AAT, ACCA, ATS, AIB, and CISN.

Final Thought

Even though there are hundreds of universities in Nigeria to study, this article is not comprehensive research, so to speak, the writing only aims to establish any reality about the acceptance of ICAN or any other professional certificates for DE. As such, with the data available, it's safe to say that probably from the year 2024, there won't be any university accepting these professional certificates for direct entry admission.

However, if that's all you've got to use for DE admission, you may consider the open and distance learning or part-time programs of various universities that still accept it for their DE admission.

Sources:

1. Department of Management and Accounting, Obafemi Awolowo University. (n.d.). Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Retrieved from https://www.oaucdl.edu.ng/home/?q=ug-accounting
2. Miva Open University. (n.d.). Direct Entry for Miva Open University. Retrieved from https://miva.university/direct-entry-at-miva-open-university/
3. Osun State University. (n.d.). Department of Accounting, Banking and Finance. Retrieved from https://www.uniosun.edu.ng/index.php/admissions-general-info/colleges-departments-and-programmes/college-of-management-and-social-sciences-okuku/department-of-accounting-banking-and-finance.html
4. University of Lagos. (2022). 2022/2023 Admission Requirements. Retrieved from https://unilag.edu.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022-2023_Admission_Requirements.pdf
5. University of Lagos, Distance Learning Institute. (n.d.). Important Information to All Newly Admitted Students For the 2023/2024 Academic Session. Retrieved from https://dli.unilag.edu.ng/18556-2/#:~:text=O'%20Level%20Certificate(s),Exemption%20Certificate%20for%20Direct%20Entry.
6. Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. (2023). Requirements For Admission Into Part I And Direct Entry Into The Faculties. Retrieved from https://oauife.edu.ng/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/OAU-ILE-IFE-Admission-Requiremants-into-Part-1-and-DE-for-Faculties-1.pdf
7. University Of Benin Benin City, Nigeria. (2015). Admission Into Part-Time Degree Programmes Of The University Of Benin 2015/2016 Session. Retrieved from https://waeup.uniben.edu/documents/pt22015/file.pdf
8. Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). (n.d.). Faculty of Administration. In JAMB Brochure. Retrieved from https://ibass.jamb.gov.ng/assets/uploads/brochure-degree-admin.pdf

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