Pass rates old and new

More questions and lower pass rate, then. So if you type as fast as you write you're even more pressed for time than usual. Were people told about this before the exam?

 

It depends on the course. Maths pass marks tend to be relatively stable for each individual paper but some change will be seen each year. However, there was a large shift after the recent specification changes. Changing from modular to linear had a massive effect. As the specifications settle down the number of candidates each exam board attracts are shifting a lot.

I should have said that for A level, only grades A and E are set this way, not involved at GCSE but would guess grades 1, 4 and 7. The other grades are found using interpolation.

 

I think it would give us all some comfort if the institute explained exactly how they mark the papers, calibrate and scale the raw mark and how their excel file works. Clear explanation from start to finish.

 

Not even once has this been explained in all these years.

 

https://www.actuaries.org.uk/studying/after-exams/marking-guidelines sets out the script review process and details of the application of scaling.

The pass mark is set on the basis of a minimum competence (or wording to that effect) so it makes sense that the chief examiners will vary the pass mark from year to year depending on the difficulty of the paper.

If the pass mark was set at the same all the time then some posters on here would complain that the 20XX paper was way easier or way more difficult and the pass mark should be adjusted!

 

Proud actuary's link fails to satisfy the reasonable request from Nr-actuary. There is not even one worked example.

They also say they take many months to come up with a paper that's supposedly of comparable difficulty to previous ones. It doesn't add up.

 

That would be equivalent to GCSE/A level exam paper timescales.

If similar process should be roughly:

First draft written
First draft checked and suggestions for improvement made
Second draft written
Second draft checked by numerous people and suggestions for improvement made
Third draft written
Meeting to agree main paper
Checked by someone sitting paper as if it was a real paper
Revisions made if needed
Current version proof read
Revisions made if needed
Paper signed off

Easy for this to drag on for months.

 

mavvj, I think you missed the point being made. How does such a long process results in papers that don't have a similar pass mark or pass rate...

 

Because people are flawed. Here's the A grade raw mark for one exam I know of:

73, 61, 62, 64, 72, 67, 68, 59, 72, 56, 71

 

Your points are incoherent. Those who have memorised definitions very well and wrote them down, which is surely the most time-efficient way to score on those bookwork questions, are being accused of plagiarism. Also are you saying those people who are being accused are in the statistics or not, as they've not been given a pass or fail grade yet have they...

 

Ace's points are perfectly coherent, well considered and salient.

 

Then why does IFoA recognise IAI exam passes which have a constant pass mark. How are they able to come up with exam papers with same pass mark but IFoA do not?

 

Do the pass rates fluctuate for the IAI exams?

 

It's fair to ask why the much hyped (i) guinea pigs and (ii) undefined 'academic judgment' fails to settle an exam paper with consistent pass mark before any candidates sit the exam and (iii) why candidate performance information would be required at all?

 

Why the fascination with a consistent pass mark? Do you think it's wrong that it varies from sitting to sitting? If so, why?

 

Yeah it's strange isn't it that a proud actuary comes to this forum never having heard such topics discussed by actuaries before.

 

Very strange post that probably raises more questions than answers.

 

So why is it that IFoA are unable to hire someone to produce an exam paper with pass mark of 55?

 

i guess no one forces you to take the exam. just quit if youre not happy about it. im assuming its a normal distribution, guys complaining here lie on the tail of the distribution

 

Subject Historic pass rate
CT1 63%
CT2 60%
CT3 64%
CT4 47%
CT5 54%
CT6 56%
CT7 70%
CT8 52%
CS1 59.9%
CS2 46.3%
CM1 47.5%
CM2 35.6%

 

Hmm a bit like those that complain about wrongdoing, impropriety and corruption.
I wo t mention any names