I'm not sure I fully understand this way of thinking. Why on earth should some students be able to progress just because they were lucky to pick those exams? 1 of my 3 exams has been cancelled, with 2 moving online. I will sit these 2 and am feeling quite well prepared for them. Nonetheless, I feel that the situation is completely unfair and all exams should have been cancelled. There are now thousands of students who will be 'held back' compared to their peers, in terms of qualifying and any salary increases that come with passing exams, time spent studying etc. All exams should have been cancelled if they were unable to accommodate everyone - all members should be considered equally. The IFoA have clearly valued money above ethics here. What seems most ridiculous is that the cancelled exams are the ones which already had online components!
A few point RedCoat. Firstly, why are you interested in making a comparison with peers? If you are referring to your peer group as the cohort sitting the cancelled exams then you are all in the same position. If you are looking at other people and are annoyed that they are making progress whilst you have stalled (due to something out of your control) then, to be frank, I think that's only an issue you can solve by changing your perspective. If you try to be the person who qualifies the quickest or earn the most money then be careful... chances are that someone will qualify quicker and there will always be someone who earns more money. Not that I'm suggesting either metric is an appropriate measure of success. In terms of IFoA putting profits first, how is this the case? Everyone has been offered the chance to cancel if they want. Do you think online exam platforms are free, or cheap to set up in a short space of time?
For those of you who are complaining about a "privileged few", let's not forget that a great many people in the retail/aviation/hospitality sectors aren't concerned about exam rises - they are concerned about losing their job, or for the NHS, social services and key workers - the very real danger of being exposed to this horrible virus.
If you have concerns around your health - cancel the exam. Health is far more more important than any exam.
If you are unable to sit an exam because of family and unable to have a peaceful environment - I'm sorry to hear that. Cancel your sitting and enjoy the time spent with your families. I'm sure our key workers would love to spend more time with their families at this difficult time.
If you are unable to sit the exam because of lockdown and you don't have technology then I'm sorry. However, you will be able to pick an exam up in future sittings.
The very fact that many of you seem so concerned about lack of progress/being unable to sit an exam reflects how privileged we actually are. Yeah, you might miss out on exam increase - people are losing jobs, taking unpaid leave from work etc... many of them would love to have a cancelled exam as a key concern.
I feel for all of you who have missed out. I'm not trying to belittle how much effort and time you'll have put in but remember this is a global pandemic - people are thinking on their feet and trying their best.