Coronavirus effect on exams

100% agree with everything you've written here Yellow_Tables

 

Can I ask anyone who is concerned and would like their opinions heard to post a reply on the IFoA's Linkedin page? John Taylor the president of the IFoA released this message earlier on Linkedin:

"Dear students of the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries, You will see from the link below that IFoA has announced today that many exams in the upcoming diet will be available to take online in a home environment. For those students who remain keen to sit exams, IFoA has spent the last few weeks reconfiguring many exams so that they can be undertaken in "lockdown" circumstances. I hope this is a very positive development. Equally, we recognise that some students will not welcome the additional stress of exams in the middle of a pandemic and associated restrictions. Therefore, IFoA is offering refund options for those students. In working hard to offer this choice, IFoA was keen to support the preferences of both groups. You can now make your own choice, taking into account your circumstances, including your own physical and mental health. Thank you for your patience as we confirmed that such a choice could be offered"

Might help if everyone comments.

 

Thanks cm16.
Not trying to cause any confrontation but I’m struggling to see why all students aren’t on the same page here

 

especially when there are students to whom the current plans and set up will not suit.

Why not allow students of the CM and CS subjects to print out their exam and scan back up their answers - if they have those options available to them -

 

IFoA actually replied quite quickly to my query about if I could switch from CM2 to CB1... too bad that couldn't be done. Like they say, the rich get richer.

 

Love how the replies on that post are positive from all those who are, funnily enough, already qualified and the brave students who have commented have voiced their concerns...

 

Which is why i'm urging everyone to show some solidarity as students and voice our opinions.

 

Sorry to see this. I'd have hoped they'd have been more flexible given the situation.

 

Can you please post your concerns on the IFoA's Linkedin page or John Taylor's posts about exams please. It seems everyone wants to have a view on here but no one wants to write anything on there where it would make a difference in my opinion

 

I think the IFoA failed with their communication.

But their plans are not terrible.

What do we consider fair? That if you're disadvantaged by their best effort (given the circumstances) then everyone shouldn't have a shot?

They could never come up with a solution that suits everyone.
Some candidates would have felt cancelling the exams completely would be unfair on them...for whatever reason..
If there's political unrest in one part of the world, should exams be cancelled for everyone?

If you believe the IFoA should have postponed the exams to September, why not consider your personal circumstance as a postponement (i.e. cancel, get a refund, re-register)?

I don't intend to argue or be confrontational. I just believe candidates have been given an option.

 

Hi all,

I came across this document wrt the April exam diet. Go through it. It'll give you some perspective into it.

 

So us that don’t have a choice just have to accept it?
Our views clearly matter less.

I’ve grown up and always believed everytging should be fair for ALL involved, not a selection.

If no solution for ALL, then none should go ahead. One for all and All for one.

 

where did you get this... not sure candidates were meant to see this

 

So because the workload for markers and examiners would be too much, they've decided not to facilitate CS/CM online?! How can there be a greater risk of 'collusion' in these papers if a substantial number of governments are requiring citizens to remain in their homes? This collusion statement has little or no bearing in my opinion and the decisive factor here is the increased work on the markers side with little thought or respect to the work put in by students

 

At the risk of becoming the defender of the institute here, I'll say the CAS offers some exams only once a year because they do not have enough markers...
So workload is not a crazy reason... think of markers as volunteers...

 

It's been doing the rounds this afternoon

It's interesting that they say "We are confident this can be achieved in time for April examinations"

What happens if it doesn't work for students in the exam?
And i'll go a step further and say - initial plan was for the software to be used in April 2020, but because of issues they pushed it back to Sept 2020 - have these issues now gone away?

 

Why couldn't the IFoA do this?

 

Do you have access to the ACCA forums, if such a thing exists? I'd be willing to bet many candidates will be disappointed that there wasn't an attempt to run them and making arguments against the ACCA...

 

Nope sorry, someone had just posted the picture above and thats all I have access to.

 

The IFoA are giving people the option (aside from the CS/CM ones) - if you don't want to sit your exam then don't do it.

You're saying that they should have consulted, others are complaining about long it's take them to communicate.

I'm not having a go at you personally, far from it. Just trying to highlight that different people have different opinions on the best way forward.

Make the decision that is right for you... best of luck if you decide to sit your exams.

 

Reminder for those of you in the UK, 8pm - applaud the NHS. There's many things we can disagree on but I'm sure that sentiment unites us all