[Registered Qual & Unit Std Home page] [Search Qualifications] [Search Unit Standards]
SAQA All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.
SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY 
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE: 

Bachelor of Commerce: Philosophy: Politics and Economics 
SAQA QUAL ID QUALIFICATION TITLE
15170  Bachelor of Commerce: Philosophy: Politics and Economics 
ORIGINATOR
University of Cape Town 
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education  HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework 
QUALIFICATION TYPE FIELD SUBFIELD
National First Degree  Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies  Finance, Economics and Accounting 
ABET BAND MINIMUM CREDITS PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL NQF LEVEL QUAL CLASS
Undefined  432  Level 6  Level N/A: Pre-2009 was L6  Regular-Provider-ELOAC 
REGISTRATION STATUS SAQA DECISION NUMBER REGISTRATION START DATE REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date -
Status was "Reregistered" 		 SAQA 06120/18  2018-07-01  2018-12-31 
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2019-12-31   2024-12-31  

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.  

This qualification does not replace any other qualification and is not replaced by any other qualification. 

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION 
The programme aims to train students to the Bachelor's level in fundamental Economics, with additional emphases on the political dynamics and philosophical context in which economic policies both public and corporate are framed. It aims, in particular, to convey understanding of the international political economy, particularly as this impacts upon developing regions. This broad area of theoretical learning is complemented by the imparting of technical skills that will support students' ability to apply their knowledge, including basic Accounting, Information Systems, Mathematics, Statistics, Critical Reasoning and (subject to student choice) Finance or Advanced Accounting. The programme's designated target student' ultimately seeks career in economic policy-making, either in the public or private sector, and it is expected that most will go on to postgraduate studies so as to equip themselves to eventually work at senior administrative levels. Students who exit after BCom. will have acquired sufficient technical skills to be marketable for more junior positions in the corporate, financial or public sectors concerned with implementation and delivery of economic policy. 

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING 
A student entering the BCom (PPE) must normally gain admission through either:

(i) regular entrance to UCT's Commerce Faculty o the basis of a matriculation exemption incorporating a minimum Standard Grade C in mathematics and 43 matriculation points calculated according to UCT's weighting system, and with points for Mathematics and English doubled;
or

(ii) regular admission to UCT's Commerce Faculty after transfer from another post-secondary institution or UCT Faculty;

or

(iii) re-admission to UCT after at least one year's prior registration in the Faculty of Humanities' BSocSci. (PPE) programme, in the course of which credit has been obtained for the following courses: STA101F (Mathematics for Economists); STA100S (Statistics) OR MAM100W OR MAM102W; ECO110F/H/S (Microeconomics); ECO111S (Macroeconomics); PLUS PHI109W (Critical Reasoning in the Quantitative Sciences)
OR
BUS110F (Thinking About Business I)
AND
BUS221f/s (Thinking About Business II)

or

(iv) re-admission to the Faculty of Commerce following successful completion of the Faculty's Alternative Admissions programme;

or

(v) accumulation of verifiable life/work experience deemed to be demonstration of levels of proficiency in Mathematics and English at a level equalling or exceeding that necessary for attainment of a Higher Grade C pass in one of these subjects, and a Standard Grade C pass in the other.

RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING (e.g. work or field experience (if applicable)
The University is prepared to test candidates wishing to enter through non-traditional means, to establish whether, in the opinion of Senate, the person is prepared for degree studies in which case an application will be made for conditional exemption. 

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? 
Y 

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES 
(a) Critical cross-field outcomes (generic to all teaching and learning)

The PPE (BCom) graduate is competent to:

(i) Understand and manipulate quantitative information provided in tables, graphs and sets of equations;
(ii) Critically understand written texts of descriptive, prescriptive and argumentative characters;
(iii) Produce written texts of descriptive, prescriptive and argumentative characters to accepted international standards in his or her specific field of training (as these may exist at the time of his or her graduation);
(iv) Find information of professional relevance efficiently and independently and
(v) Use and organise such information to conduct systematic research aimed at providing answers to questions whose resolutions are not antecedently known, or to verifying answers that are assumed on the basis of 'accepted wisdom';
(vi) Understand and critically appreciate the contribution of major artistic and cultural activities and performances to community and national life;
(vii) Use information-technology standard in professional offices (at the time of his or her graduation) efficiently and independently;
(viii) Use the internet to find and access information;
(ix) Understand when and how to acknowledge the limitations of his or her own expertise and elicit the more appropriate expertise of others;
(x) Appreciate the importance of life-long learning and the importance of self-initiative in pursuing it;
(xi) Understand and internalise as a personal value the importance of conducting professional activity within the scope of national, provincial, municipal and international law.

(b) General outcomes (contextually demonstrated general knowledge, skills and values of the programme)

The PPE (BCom.) graduate is competent to

(i) Produce solutions to both familiar and novel business problems as these arise in the course of professional activity;
(ii) Communicate his or her understanding of business problems and solutions to others in ways that are clear but not arrogant or presumptive;
(iii) Critically receive and understand the descriptions and suggestions of business colleagues and clients;
(iv) Understand the difference between personal and social (often corporate, sometimes public) goals, so as to
(v) Understand the importance of commitment to the latter even when they diverge with his or her personal interests;
(vi) Appreciate the contexts in which specific technical competencies identified below can best be integrated with the general competencies just identified.

(c) Specific Outcomes, including professional outcomes, contextually demonstrated

The BCom. (PPE) graduate will be competent to:
(i) Read, critically understand and integrate economic data and reports;
(ii) Produce descriptive, prescriptive and analytical economics reports at a level of sophistication suitable to:
  • internal office reports in response to clearly assigned criteria;
  • memos of professional advice
  • descriptive popular journalism;
    (iii) Appreciate the significance of economic data, reports and analyses in the context of national and international political dynamics, so as to be competent to
    (iv) Evaluate the political implications of economic developments, policies and actions to the level of sophistication identified in (c) (ii) above;
    (v) Appreciate the significance of economic data, reports and analyses to the maintenance of the ethics and values of communities, individual and professional guilds, so as to be competent to:
    (vi) Evaluate the ethical implications of economic developments, policies and actions to the level of sophistication identified in (c) (ii) above;
    (vii) Locate national and international economic data in public sources as required to demonstrate competencies indicated above;
    (viii) Understand, and communicate understanding of, the influence of political and ethical dynamics on international economic interactions;
    (ix) Model bargaining and conflictual situations as formal games;
    (x) Formally solve games as mathematical representations of bargaining and conflictual situations;
    (xi) Appreciate and demonstrate, orally and in writing, the limitations of formal models as representations of economic, political and psychological reality;
    Pass entrance examinations of international standard to postgraduate study in Economics and at least one of the following disciplines (depending on the learner's individual choice of options during the programme): Accounting, Finance or Mathematics. 
    		•

    ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 
    Students' achievement of the critical cross-field, general and specific learning outcomes will be assessed through a range of assessment methods in the final programme (exit level) of the programme.

    For the purpose of stipulating the criteria by which student performance will be assessed, this interim submission focuses on the key sites of integrative assessment which are located in the final year core courses (see integrated assessment for full description of integrated assessment).

    A BCom. (PPE) graduate will be assessed specifically on foundational competencies in critical literacy, critical reasoning, numeracy, and computer-literacy in all prescribed and optional courses from the first year of the programme. Such competence will be assessed, across all programme courses, through a mix of formal written examinations, individual and group projects, individual and group presentations, team problem-solving workshops and simulations. In all such assignments, a learner's performance will be assessed on the basis of his of her:
    (i) demonstration of ability to organise ideas and facts in a logical, coherent way;
    (ii) demonstration of ability to anticipate the responses and objections of an imagined reader;
    (iii) ability to integrate numerical data into prose descriptions and arguments;
    (iv) demonstrated understanding of the need to cite references fairly and accurately;
    (v) demonstrated ability to represent and consider views and perspectives alternative to his of her own.

    A BCom. (PPE) student will be assessed specifically on practical competencies in ability to formulate arguments, research goals, research strategies and public description and justification of goals, tasks and findings from the second year of the programme. Such competence will be assessed, across all programme courses, through assigned individual projects and classroom debate in second year, and through team problem-solving workshops and simulations in third year. The learner's performance will be assessed on the basis of his or her demonstrated ability to integrate these competencies to the level expected of a junior manager delivering a professional report to a meeting of colleagues.

    A BCom. (PPE) student will be assessed specifically on reflexive competencies in ability to integrate and self-consciously appraise performance (by him or her self and others) in all foundational and practical competencies above through participation I the PPE integrative core-course (ECO325S, Applied International Trade Bargaining) in third year. This course is a live simulation of the processes leading to international trade agreements, including political debates with in regional organisations (SADEC, the EU) and international ones (WTO). Students will be assessed in their performance on research into the political bases for their bargaining positions, their skill in describing and defending these positions, their ability to compile draft public reports, and their ability to self-consciously work toward cooperative outcomes with other bargainers. These abilities will be assessed through continuous, feedback-driven observations and commentary on oral performance, and formal examination of written performance.

    The technical skills required of a BCom. (PPE) student will be integratively assessed in the third year in ECO308F (Game Theory), through a mix of written examinations and assigned individual projects. Students will be assessed o the basis of the abilities to understand technical proofs that have not been explained to them in advance, and to solve formal economic bargaining problems similar to, but not identical to, examples that have been explained to them. Successful production of solutions to these problems will allow integrated assessment of skills and comprehension in algebra, statistics, set theory, probability theory, calculus and analytic geometry.

    Student assessments will be differentially scaled against the threshold-levels I these foundational, practical and reflexive competencies as described immediately above.

    INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT
    There are two principal sites of integrated assessment in the BCom. (PPE) programme: ECO325S, Applied International Trade Bargaining, and ECO308F/ PHI308F, Game Theory.

    A BCom (PPE) student will be assessed specifically on reflexive competencies in ability to integrate and self-consciously appraise performance (by him or her self and others) I all foundational and practical competencies identified in Assessment Criteria through participation in the PPE integrative core-course ECO325SS in third year. This course is a live simulation of the processes leading to international trade agreements, including political debates within regional organisations (SADEC, the EU) and international ones (WTO). Students will be assessed in their performance on research into the political bases for their bargaining positions, their skill in describing and defending these positions, their ability to compile draft public reports, their demonstrated understanding of the microeconomic and macroeconomic theory relevant to the issues that arise, their demonstrated factual knowledge of the current inter-nation political economy and its treaty structure and their ability to self-consciously work toward cooperative outcomes with other bargainers. These abilities will be assessed through continuous, feedback-driven observations and commentary on oral performance, and formal examination of written performance.

    The technical skills required of a BCom (PPE) student will be integratively assessed in third year in ECO308F (Game Theory), through a mix of written examinations and assigned individual projects. Students will be assessed on the basis of the abilities to understand technical proofs that have not been explained to them in advance, and to solve formal economic bargaining problems similar to, but not identical to, examples that have been explained to them. Successful production of solutions to these problems will allow integrated assessment of skills and comprehension in algebra, statistics, set theory, probability theory, calculus and analytic geometry.

    Students assessment s will be differentially scaled against the threshold-levels in these foundational, practical and reflexive competencies as described in Assessment Criteria. 

    ARTICULATION OPTIONS 
    This qualification serves as an entry point to this qualification(s)
    1. MPhil (PPE)
    2. Honours BSocSci (PPE)
    3. Honours BSocSci or Honour BCom(Economics)
    4. Honours BCom (Finance), Honours BSc (Mathematics) (depending on student course selection)

    This qualification provides credits for the related qualification(s):
    All other BCom, BBusSci and BSocSci Programmes. 

    MODERATION OPTIONS 
    The University of Cape Town has a system of external peer review and evaluation of each course. One of the aspects of the system is an evaluation of the standards and assessment practices of the department. 

    CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS 
    The academic staff of the University of Cape Town will be used in a manner, which is consistent with the quality assurance system of the University. 

    REREGISTRATION HISTORY 
    As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015. 

    NOTES 
    N/A 

    LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: 
     
    NONE 


    PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION: 
    This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.
     
    1. University of Cape Town 


    All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.