ST9 before CA1

[Epsilon7]

Hi there,

I expect to complete all my cts this year.
Further, I am planning to skip the CA levels for the moment and proceed to ST exams.
I am interested in ST 9 ( Risk management) .
My concern is :
1. Is it advisable to proceed like this
2. Has anyone done so before and passed the exam
3. I understand that risk management topics are introduced at CA1 level, in this sense am I disadvantaged if I take the ST9 paper first.

I will be pleased to hear from the tutors and those who have been through this or anybody else
Thanks

 

[Simon James]

I'm sure you will hear from someone who has passed ST9 before CA1. However there is a reason the "Core" subjects are designed to be tackled before the "Specialist" ones - the clue is in the name

You don't say why you want to skip CA1?

 

[Epsilon7]

Hi Simon
Thanks for the respocnse
The reason I am skipping CA1 is because I have been told by other students that it`s time consuming and bulky ..so I thought why not tackle the rest first.
As a tutor would you advise me to do take ST9 first, is it doable?

 

[Simon James]

It'll be interesting to see what other students say. You might find ST9 is also time consuming and pretty bulky!

 

[ActuaryLad]

Hi

The Actuarial Lookup website provides some interesting insights on this topic (see the exam sitting breakdown at the bottom of the page): http://www.actuarial-lookup.co.uk/exams/38

The analysis is based on 494 that have passed both CA1 and ST9. 8 people passed both in the same sitting, and 21 passed ST9 before CA1. This shows that it is doable pass ST9 before passing CA1.

You should wear your actuarial hat when interpreting the data/analysis. It is worth noting that:
- The exam is still relatively new, and so "exposure" for passing CA1 before ST9 is higher.
- The data used is publically available data on the IFOA website and as a consequence it does not include any information on fails, and when candidates first sat ST9 in relation to CA1.

Hope this helps
Amit

 

[Simon James]

Hi

You should wear your actuarial hat when interpreting the data/analysis. It is worth noting that:
- The exam is still relatively new, and so "exposure" for passing CA1 before ST9 is higher.
- The data used is publically available data on the IFOA website and as a consequence it does not include any information on fails, and when candidates first sat ST9 in relation to CA1.

Another warning when looking at this data: many experienced qualified actuaries take ST9 for CERA. They may appear as having taken ST9, but not show as having taken CA1.