Milpark’s Mentorship Programme: Support for PGDA Students

Milpark offers excellent teaching from the academic lecturing staff, and as PGDA student support, the option of working alongside mentors to enable students to succeed.

Where lecturers are able to devote their time to academic rigour and content, mentors volunteer their time to focus on:

● Confidence building

● Time management

● Exam readiness

● Practical insight and managing tasks

● Adapting to the online learning environment

● Interpreting feedback from tests, and adjust for later assessments

● Setting realistic goals

● Study support for PGDA students

Because Milpark PGDA mentors are alumni who have completed the qualification recently, they understand the academic and emotional demands of the work. As Senzo notes, “What made PGDA bearable for me is the mentorship program.”

Milpark connects students to mentors through a structured communication channel, and students are able to reach out via online check-ins and messaging platforms. They are uniquely positioned to offer the kind of support that students need. Mentors are not required to be constantly available, but the short conversations, voice notes and check ins are often exactly what students need.

Because the PGDA programme is taken by professionals who are working while studying, it is not only demanding of their time and energy, but has the potential to become isolating, especially when studying remotely. A PGDA mentor keenly understands both the emotional and academic demands of the qualification.

As a result of their personal experience, and even their own setbacks, students have a safe space to ask questions they may not feel comfortable raising in formal academic settings. Senzo remarks that “the mentorship program builds confidence by giving students a sense that they're not alone in the process.”

Students who work with mentors usually adjust faster to the pace of online learning, and improve their study strategy and their marks. The practical guidance on how to plan their time, and how to approach each module in the context of Milpark’s learning model is invaluable when shared by someone who has already done so.

Normalising challenges and reducing self doubt is key, and professional habits linked to the CA pathway, such as reflection, problem solving, and the ability to adapt are developed.

Senzo’s CA(SA) journey is one of resilience and relatability, and has proved him one of the best mentors students have had to work with. He himself was mentored by a Milpark PGDA mentor, and attributes much of success to the support he had.

After completing his undergraduate studies in accounting and computer science at Nelson Mandela University, Senzo found himself teaching mathematics and IT in Idutywa, a small town in the Eastern Cape. While teaching, he decided to return to resume his SAICA qualifying journey and enrolled in the PGDA at Milpark because the flexibility suited his work schedule.

Senzo became a mentor because he understood how difficult and isolating the PGDA year can be and he wanted to support others in the way he had been supported. He chose to “to pay it forward, to be there when someone needs help, to lend an ear when they need someone to listen, to provide guidance, and most importantly, to cheer.”

Senzo draws on both his teaching background and his own PGDA experience to guide students, and focuses on confidence, mindset, study structure and emotional support rather than technical content of the CTA context. He uses his own results and setbacks to show students that improvement is possible, and that early marks do not define their potential.

The decision to become a PGDA mentor is usually easy for alumni who have experienced the support of a mentor, because they can see the value in offering accounting mentorship to others for the benefit of the broader accounting community.

In addition, because the experience is, as Senzo points out “fresh” in their memory after recently completing their own PGDA, mentors understand the academic and emotional demands of the course, and can offer first-hand experience in their mentorship for accounting students.

They understand the practicalities of the course, from the three week study cycle to the online learning model, and the pace at which students need to work. They have also moved through their own self doubt, course pressure, and the challenge of balancing work or personal commitments with their studies.

On top of that, alumni have practical insight into the SAICA route, including board exams, board courses and articles, which helps students see their PGDA year within the wider CA pathway. Being able to speak from their own lived experience, PGDA mentors are reliable sources of support for Milpark students.

Learn More: Milpark's PGDA mentorship programme for future CAs

Many Milpark postgraduate accounting alumni use mentoring as a way to contribute to the profession, and develop their own communication and leadership skills, which enhances the quality of support they are able to offer.

Developing their own leadership habits and skills by being a consistent support to PGDA students requires empathy that benefits their own lives, especially when working with clients in auditing and accounting contexts

While strengthening their CV to support future applications for leadership roles during or after articles, mentors often find fulfilment in knowing that their online PGDA support has significantly helped someone else progress professionally by offering, as Senzo identifies, “valuable advice and insight about career prospects.”

“Mentorship is not about being perfect or being available 24/7. It's about showing up when it counts, and following through,” observes Senzo. Milpark's academic team and PGDA mentors are with their students every step of the way and the consistent, empathic support enables their climb to success.

If you are the next person to offer guidance and support, get in touch with us today and become a PGDA mentor.