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Congrats on your achievement!

Now the rules have changed. The only time when you are allowed for counselling is if you have 1 exam left to qualify as AIA or FIA. I'd say it is...

One of my biggest concerns about the exam system is the irregular marking procedures. I've seen huge discrepancies especially in CP2 and CP3...

Infinity, this topic deserves its own section on the forum.

Geraldine, my sympathy goes to you. You are not alone...The aftermath of going through the exams is not brilliant. Was it worth this amount of...

Hi GemmaHayes, Can you please share the SCF's comments (in relation to CP2) or let us know where to find them?

Thanks Darshan. I agree with your points above and this is the exact approach I would use in the exam. However, the model solution from IFOA shows...

:)

I checked the stats a couple of years ago and I've seen some appeals being successful in favor of a student. That however was an extremely tiny...

I would just hate to waste money on an appeal which in 99.9999% is not successful for students. What other methods are there to raise the issue of...

don't think so.

And another follow up query. Should we include info about excel functions used for the data checks?

Thanks a lot! That's great news!!! We finally got it!

Hi JoeKing, do you mind also sending IFOA a chaser about the "audit trail model solution" and "summary report model solution"? I got an email from...

I got a response from the IFOA with the link to where the files are uploaded, but unfortunately the audit trail and summary report are still...

Btw, I am actually quite optimistic about the October sitting. I'm assuming the papers will be error-free unlike in April.

How do you know about lower pass rate for October? Is this based on some kind of empirical data?

I will shoot them another email. Cant believe we need to ask for solutions....1 month after the results have been published.

the solutions are available now

In my recent CP2 submission, I found 15 cases where the marks awarded were different by 100% between marker 1 and marker 2.

I've sent another email as it is not only the excel files missing but also the audit trail solution and report solution.

Hi, I've called the IFOA eduction services. They've asked me to send the email in relation to the missing spreadsheet solutions. I'll post an...

why not creating more of the available hours i.e. 9 am, 10 am, 11 am etc.

cool, let me know what they say....I'm waiting for the solutions as well...

Hi, normally, these are available in the zip file for paper 1 and paper 2....

This is all we get for the errors in the paper 2 spreadsheet provided to 1200 students sitting this exam: "On the ‘Model for candidate’...

resit for me

I'm a bit shocked that there is no adjustment for the pass mark of 60, given the issues with paper 2 spreadsheet.

From memory, for CP3 the reduction of pass mark was only 2 marks while the paper was sent to people 20 mins late. In 20 mins you are expected to...

Will IFOA communicate anything about the error in the spreadsheet and adjustment for the pass marks?

I've seen people being stuck on CA1 or CA3 for 2-3 years. So you never know how quickly you can qualify and can't plan your life/ finances.

Very interesting. Do you code in C++? I think it's the programming skills that can boost the salary as opposed to FIA.

Hi, did anybody hear any communication about adjustment of marks for the papers with errors? I have not heard anything myself other than the...

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting to hear people's perspective. What is it that you do in banking? That definitely pays better than a newly...

Hi Benoy, I have completed the "online exam incident form" and got a response that the online exam team is not responsible for the errors in the...

May seem like a lot upfront, but the London costs are much higher. Worth considering renting and commuting cost pm for your situation and whether...

Easier exam means that most students do really well but only circa 50% can pass anyway :)

I'm under impression that there is more premium in GI than in life or pensions. Correct me if I'm wrong :) London premium in life insurance is not...

Hi Benoy, it would be useful to understand if this is a suitable form. It says it can be used for This form is to be used if you consider that...

Exactly, I was a bit thrown off seeing a different parameter name in column B and a different variable name in column D but decided not to...

I have similar feeling and feedback. The time pressure did not allow me to carry out all calculations in paper 1 properly, in particular the t...

No issues, I uploaded. You can always email them. They respond there is a large volume of emails.

I'm not seeing section for paper 2 in the VLE today....hm....I hope it comes up soon.

yes, it was the same for me today. hope no issues occur on the IT side of things....

or would the key word here be "cash-flow"? if we are comparing or showing "cash-flow" - always choose the line graph. if we are comparing other...

I prefer papers without guidance - means these are less complex? :)

yes, that makes sense thanx. good luck for tomorrow.

yes, it says in the instructions to do this for CP2. but for the excel spreadsheets, I wouldn't include any header or footer....definitely name...

The only thing I can think of is that the original approach does not start from the same point and hence we are using the stacking approach for...

I don't want to be marked down for the wrong choice of chart.

Hi, I'm looking at paper 2 sample solution charts from May 2015 and am wondering if a line chart would be appropriate here since we are showing...

I don't recalling getting the guidance sheets in Sept 2018 sitting.

Yes, I know. I'm just saying it has never worked for me to plan for 30 mins because CP2 is very much hard on the time pressure. So realistically...

I don't think so. Possibly, finish scenario 1 and 2 and audit trail and leave scenario 3?

In my opinion, if you spend 30 mins planning, you are risking running out of time to complete the exam. One other advice on planning that I've...

That's very helpful thank you.

In fact, I have been told by ActEd tutors in a 1 day prep day that the IFOA has a special software to check if any copy/paste or pre-prepared...

Hi, thank you. This makes perfect sense. However, if we are in the METHODOLOGY section, we should be describing all formulae exactly, correct?

hm, " · ....try to add an Overview tab to make [your spreadsheet] to be ore organised, although I wouldn't penalise you for this but it will...

It is a bit confusing to see this: · I'd recommend you to avoid referring to specific rows, columns or cells by number in your audit trail. If...

Hm, why is pyuille's message blank? Is feedback from the markers classified as "top secret"?

Hello, thanks guys for such great info. I'd say that the parameters are based on data and we quote data sources, so it would not be necessary to...

I agree with your approach and also figured out that this method would work best.

I would also be specific just in case.

not all cash flows included in the non-unit BEL would be variable fees

Thank you. So in conclusion, cell reference would only be useful for the METHODOLOGY section and GRAPHS.

Thank you Darshan. This is very helpful.

Can you find past papers' model solutions with this?

Yes, I find the inconsistency across the model solutions to be really confusing.

For point 1, I think the exam solutions typically just put N/A as you cannot do a check on a blank. For 2, there is no points on the marking...

Some past papers required a candidate to create a new tab with DATA_CHECKS, and link the data to the ORIGINAL DATA. Also fixes were required and a...

Hi Benoy, I have never seen any model solution using a "snipping pic" except for the goal seek picture in the excel file. I think the audit trail...

Hi guys, I just went through some sample solutions to audit trail and the DATA worksheet as you said does not really include the signposting....

Thanks, I definitely get it. But when I saw the "area charts" I knew that I would have not picked them for the exam. I would have chosen a line...

Thanks a lot Darshan. I will stick to the rule "maximum signposting" in DATA, PARAMETERS, METHODOLOGY, GRAPHS.

Hi Dar_Shan, thanks a lot for being really eager to help. The exam is coming soon! I was looking at Audit Trail documentation from past papers. In...

Thanks Dar_Shan, I was penalised by the wrong choice of graph in the past though, that's why I do worry a lot....

Would a line graph for illustration of cashflows be acceptable as an alternative solution scoring full marks?

You are not allowed to copy and paste anything. The rules are to do all the work from scratch in 3 hours and 15 mins and have nothing pre-prepared.

I'm just wondering what is this statement based on "....surpassing the required standards anywhere in the world." I personally met actuaries, who...

Well, that's really funny one :D How can someone without sitting ST/SP, SA and P exams or equivalent have any clue about UK insurance regulations...

It's harder to negotiate anything without exam passes. Also, even if you have 10, 20 or 30 years of experience and did not fully completed all...

In conclusion, exams are not worthless, because UK employers are attaching monetary value to each exam pass.

Hi Infinity, when you say "exams are worthless" - this is not exactly right. In the UK, the employers are negotiating/managing student's salaries...

Hi, what I meant was numbers (result values) on the bars. Is that necessary?

Thanks Muppet. I thought that we might have more detailed breakdown/ allocation for each item as per the examiner's report.