CA TRAINEES
Your SAICA LORs and PDS Aren't Doing What You Think They Are
How CA trainees can use SAICA LORs (Learning Outcome Review) and SAICA PDSs (Professional Development Summary) submissions to build judgement, reflection and professional competence.
The 2026 training regulations reduced how often a SAICA LOR needs to be submitted. As an assessor, I can see why that change was made. There are periods during a training contract when client work, project deadlines and academic commitments quite rightly demand immediate attention. The change gives trainees useful flexibility during those periods.
It also places greater responsibility on trainees to continue reflecting on their development when no formal submission is due. Ideally, trainees remain engaged with their development throughout the assessment period, using the additional flexibility when work pressures genuinely require it.
In practice, reflection is often postponed, sometimes repeatedly. By the time a Learning Outcome Review is due, trainees can find themselves reconstructing months of experiences from memory, when much of the detail, feedback and context that made those experiences valuable has already faded. Fewer required submissions do not make reflection less important.
How professional competence develops
Competence develops over time. First, you recognise a pattern. Recurring themes, risks and relationships become visible. Then you use that understanding deliberately and consistently in your work. Finally, you create with it by adapting what you have learned to unfamiliar situations and exercising judgement when there is no template to follow.
A good Learning Outcome Review often captures movement along that continuum. It shows how understanding developed, how it was applied in practice, and how it informed future decisions.
Learning Outcome Reviews create an opportunity to pause and reflect on where you are in that development process, and what may help you take the next step.
Your work is where the learning happens
The trainees who gain the most from the process do not wait until the end of an assessment period to think about what they have learned. They reflect while the work is still unfolding, when lessons, feedback and challenges are easier to recall and make sense of.
A Learning Outcome Review should capture how your understanding has developed over time. At its core, it answers a simple question:
What do I understand now that I didn’t understand six months ago?
A strong Learning Outcome Review gives an assessor enough detail to understand the situation, your role and why the experience mattered. It then goes further by demonstrating what you learned, how your thinking changed, and what you would do differently in future.
Evidence tells the story. Reflection explains the learning.
Evidence records the experience. Reflection shows how that experience influenced your understanding, judgement or future approach.
What SAICA is actually assessing
Learning Outcome Reviews provide evidence of how a trainee’s understanding, judgement and professional behaviour develop over time. They should draw on real experiences and demonstrate how those experiences contributed to professional values, continuous learning and professional growth.
A strong SAICA LOR captures more than events. It demonstrates how you interpreted those experiences, what you learned from them, and how they influenced your future approach.
One thing to do differently
Before your next LOR, choose one piece of evidence and answer three questions in writing:
- What did I learn?
- What would I do differently next time?
- How has this changed the way I approach similar work?
Used consistently, these questions help you notice development while it is happening. They also make the eventual Learning Outcome Review more accurate, specific and useful.
Questions trainees ask
What is a PDS in a SAICA training contract?
The Professional Development Summary (PDS) is a structured record of your development as a CA trainee. It is prepared on SAICA’s Electronic Assessment Tool (EAT) for your summative assessment with your assessor. It documents your exposure to competency areas, your reflections on what you’ve learned, and evidence of growth over each (four to) six-month assessment period.
What is a Learning Outcome Review (LOR)?
A LOR is the formative component of the assessment process. Ideally LORs are completed monthly (minimum – every second month). Trainees link their technical learnings to the competencies and provide evidence of the PVAAs (Professional Values, Attitudes and Acumen). Most importantly, regular LORs support reflection on development areas.
What's the difference between documenting and reflecting?
Documentation records an experience. Reflection explores its significance.
A strong reflection considers what was learned, how your understanding changed, what feedback influenced your thinking, and how you would approach a similar situation in future. This is where much of the developmental value of the process lies.
Want to get more value from your Learning Outcome Reviews?
Many trainees find themselves reflecting only when a submission is due. Building the habit earlier can make your reviews more specific and help you develop professional judgement while the work is still fresh.
I work with CA trainees on reflective practice, professional development and the practical application of SAICA’s competency framework in day-to-day work.
Deepa Daya is a CA(SA), registered SAICA assessor, and accredited brain-based coach with over a decade working with CA trainees. She is the founder of Daylight Edge, a consulting, training, and coaching practice based in South Africa.