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Command verbs

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Ton up Member
Hi guys,

I read about the command verbs used in IFoA exams on their website and its very helpful but I still have a question.
1) When a question says "Describe" and is allotted 10 marks: says "List" and is allotted 3 marks; says "Suggest" and is allotted 5 marks, do we need to cover 10 points in details, 6 points briefly and 10 points with little explanation respectively?

The command verbs and Revision notes suggest so but I want to be doubly sure.
Please share your thoughts.

Thanks!
 
Sanjoli Choudhary said:
Hi guys,

I read about the command verbs used in IFoA exams on their website and its very helpful but I still have a question.
1) When a question says "Describe" and is allotted 10 marks: says "List" and is allotted 3 marks; says "Suggest" and is allotted 5 marks, do we need to cover 10 points in details, 6 points briefly and 10 points with little explanation respectively?

The command verbs and Revision notes suggest so but I want to be doubly sure.
Please share your thoughts.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hi Sanjoli

Thank you for your question. This is a tricky one to answer, as there are no hard and fast rules.

I think your suggested number of points would often be right, but it very much depends on the situation in the question and the amount of detail that you give.

For example, consider a question that asks us to describe the consequences of reducing the level of underwriting. We could make the following point on anti-selection:

Less underwriting will mean that the insurer is more exposed to anti-selection. This will lead to the need to increase premiums to cover the increased mortality risk. The higher premiums will discourage healthy lives from applying for insurance, further adding to the level of anti-selection.

So we've discussed one point (anti-selection) in detail, which I think meets the describe objective. But this point is probably worth more than one mark. I could probably rewrite this as three separate bullet points under the heading of anti-selection and score 1.5 marks.

So I prefer to think of marks in terms of bullet points. Each bullet point may score half a mark. In a describe question I'd have many bullets under a heading - the more headings I have, the fewer bullets under each heading I need to get the marks.

Good luck with your studies.

Mark
 
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