THE National University of Singapore's accountancy course has been accredited by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), which means its graduates can be registered as public accountants after three years of work experience.

The Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy) programme, which was started in August 2006, now has 241 students on it.

Another 130 are expected to enrol when a new academic year begins in August.

The recognition from ACRA will put NUS' accountancy graduates on par with those of Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Management University.

The interim dean of NUS Business School Kulwant Singh, explaining the programme's focus on ethics and corporate governance, said: 'Besides imparting the necessary skills and competencies, our programme has a significant focus on imparting ethical values to the students.

'Corporate failures in recent times have highlighted the importance of accounting ethics and sound corporate governance.'

The accreditation did not come as a surprise to the students.

Second-year student Chew Weng Sum, 23, said he believed it was only a matter of time before it came.

On a scholarship from major accountancy firm KPMG since last year, he said: 'They offered me the scholarship before my course was accredited. It was quite obvious they knew the accreditation was on the way.'