Coronavirus effect on exams

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20200323_224543.jpg Country is in literal lockdown.

Can only leave the house for bare essentials (food, hospital, helping elderly, once a day exercise or funerals if they are an immediate relative ofcourse...).

Grandparents and older parents locked up and need our help as we tend to be younger.

IFoA says "still considering holding exams".

Students say "Go home IFoA, you drunk..."
 
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Yellow_Tables said:
Well well well.

Big announcement from the PM tonight, only leave the house under 4 circumstances. UK on lockdown.

Only thing left is for the IFOA to make a decision on these April exams. I’ll be sitting waiting patiently (not) for the communication to arrive tomorrow.

I wonder if this changes things for the decision making process. As someone else mentioned, Global pandemic and safety v studying for an exam I could sit fairly in 6 months? Pretty even if you ask me....

I’ll expect a cheer of applause in this forum by 9.05am tomorrow seeing as the IFOA will be timely with their clear and obvious update on April exams.... o_Oo_O
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9.21 am - still waiting for an update :(
 
This is so ridiculous, so insensitive of the IFOA. And mind them, all of us are affected by this, and I hope they do the right thing by coming out today to cancel the exams.
How do they expect us to have the peace of mind to even relax and study with all that is happening.
 
The cancellation/postponment should've been taken out of OUR hands a long time ago. I don't see why the IFOA is holding out so long ....
 
I think this is a good thing, no downside for anyone really. If you wish to cancel exams due to your own circumstances then you can but if you are keen to push ahead and do them then the IFOA are examining every possible chance of allowing students to do that. I'm really keen not to delay progression by six months.
 
DM261 said:
I think this is a good thing, no downside for anyone really. If you wish to cancel exams due to your own circumstances then you can but if you are keen to push ahead and do them then the IFOA are examining every possible chance of allowing students to do that. I'm really keen not to delay progression by six months.
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I disagree, this announcement gives zero indication of how the exams will be taken the exams are too close for the IFOA to be taking a week to make decisions.
In these times the priority should be to focus on students wellbeing not being a cause for untold stress due to indecision.
 
DM261 said:
I think this is a good thing, no downside for anyone really. If you wish to cancel exams due to your own circumstances then you can but if you are keen to push ahead and do them then the IFOA are examining every possible chance of allowing students to do that. I'm really keen not to delay progression by six months.
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I am really keen not to delay by 6 months either.

Thats why they should postpone by 2 to 3 months.

This time would allow:
Everyone to know what the format of the exam is going to be - fair
Let everyone change how they are studying for the exams i.e. no point in memorising lists and assumptions as the notes will be next to you - fair
Give the IFoA time to put appropriate procedures and rules in place as well as communicate them which they currently find impossible - fair
Enables people to make a choice as to whether they wish to sit it or postpone to September - fair

From their announcement we still dont know if they mean only online exams or the exams split into two parts.

Furthermore, they say in one sentence "online exams will happen as planned" and then in the next - "we are continuing to look at options ... possibly to a postponement"

Can they still postpone the online exams? What are they talking about...
 
DM261 said:
I think this is a good thing, no downside for anyone really. If you wish to cancel exams due to your own circumstances then you can but if you are keen to push ahead and do them then the IFOA are examining every possible chance of allowing students to do that. I'm really keen not to delay progression by six months.
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I wholeheartedly disagree.

If i cancel my exams because of my circumstances and allow others to progress beyond me, i am disadvantaged through no fault of my own.
Without wanting to start an arguement, this sort of selfish and individualistic behaviour is what the problem is currently proving with the IFOA.
All students should be in the same boat. Anyone who sees it as a progression delay needs a reality check.

What happens if exams go ahead and you fail in April? Mitigating circumstances due to all this?
 
DM261 said:
I believe CP2 and CP3 are going ahead in April even if the written exams are postponed/cancelled.
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Thanks for the reply.

Is it convention to call CM2 a written paper now? I would agree CM2A is written but CM2B is surely an online paper? Why do the IFoA find it so difficult to communicate clearly what it is that they mean...
 
Ah, they have updated it. They explicitly state CP2 and CP3 are the only online exams on their post. The rest I guess are all written papers.
 
I'm very disappointed with the latest statement.
@DM261 - Yes I agree that there is more clarity in the sense that you can choose to cancel - fair enough.

However...consider the situation for people who would still sit the exam (myself included).
We are still no better off.
I am taking CP1 and we are 4 weeks out from the exam yet we STILL do not know for sure if we can sit the exam.

Scenario 1
We wait a week, we study for a week more. We remain in a mental limbo for yet another week. (bearing in mind we are all in a national crisis).
Suddenly the iFoA make an announcement - they cancel. How would you feel?

Scenario 2
The iFoA announce that exams are still carrying on as planned but online.
Imagine the level of distraction we all would have endured. Our mindset is all over the place at the moment because of this uncertainty.
But for arguments sake, let's consider someone who has been mentally unaffected.
How will they invigilate the exams?
How will they ensure no system failures?
What if someone wants to take the exam but has no laptop or access to internet?
What if they are a parent who has studied hard but doesn't have a feasible, quiet place to sit the exam at home?

These are all serious questions. Again, I have studied hard like many others but we need to have a reality check here.
This is a once in a generation crisis. Exams come and go and will always be there. Family, health and mental well-being however will not!
 
This is such bad communication from the institute! They've just updated the page to say CP2 and CP3 will go ahead as planned.

I feel like we should all email them and say we need an answer this week! it's unfair to ask us to wait another whole week especially with exams so close. That's another weekend worrying whether exams will happen or not.

Postponement really is the best option as they can sort out their system if they want the exams to go online and we can learn about it too.
 
Yellow_Tables said:
I wholeheartedly disagree.

If i cancel my exams because of my circumstances and allow others to progress beyond me, i am disadvantaged through no fault of my own.
Without wanting to start an arguement, this sort of selfish and individualistic behaviour is what the problem is currently proving with the IFOA.
All students should be in the same boat. Anyone who sees it as a progression delay needs a reality check.

What happens if exams go ahead and you fail in April? Mitigating circumstances due to all this?
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Couldn't agree with you more. There are bigger things at play here, people do need a reality check.
I'm not trying to start an argument, just voicing my honest opinion.
 
Cannot believe they have just kicked the can down the road again. It was awful waiting even this long for an update, to be told we have another week to go is a slap in the face.
 
I'm still in shock that a delay of a further week is what they have decided is the best update right now.

It is so unlikely that the institute is going to read this forum, so if you are genuinely upset by this non-decision then email them to voice your annoyance.
 
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