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Cat Models

R

RedCoat

Member
Hi,

I'm wondering if any tutors could shed some light on how the cat modelling chapter in the core reading has changed over the last 10 years or so, if at all? I've been working through papers from around 2013-14 and am finding that questions seem to consistently ask for information quite a lot beyond the current CMP (especially if just looking at the core reading itself). Whilst I could probably do a decent job of answering them having now worked through these past papers, I don't really see how it would've been possible just based on the very short chapter as it currently stands, without having explicitly worked with them. So I guess I'm hoping to hear that the scope on cat models has reduced since then, or otherwise I'll just have to find lots more past paper questions!

Many thanks.
 
The material in that topic has hardly changed at all I'm afraid! You should be prepared to answer questions from any topic that stretch your understanding from the CMP alone. It would be a very mundane subject/career if all questions/work limited themselves to the material in the CMP! The good news is that you've realised that you can do a decent job having worked through those past papers, which is why past paper practice is so important.
 
Thanks Ian! Slightly daunting but useful to know. I can appreciate more knowledge than just that available in the CMP being required to score well, especially in the Specialist exams. Nonetheless, given that nearly all cat model questions in the exam reports seem be followed by comments about candidates having limited/superficial knowledge and therefore scoring poorly, you might think the Institute would expand a little more in the chapter itself!
 
We can certainly suggest that to the IFoA for the future. Also, it might interest you to know that there's a cat modelling chapter in SA3, which expands on the material in SP8. Some of that material might have helped with SP8 questions in the past...
 
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