Hello Among the approved calculators, is there a particular one that’s better than the others? https://www.actuaries.org.uk/studying/prepare-your-exams/authorised-calculators Any help or recommendations with reasons would be much appreciated Thank you!
Why do you need a calculator? Who uses one in the modern workplace? A decade to pass exams which demonstrate that I’m competent in using a calculator, but only a basic one approved by the IFOA mind.
Personal preference I suppose, but I like the Casio ones. If you're buying a new one, try to get used to it when doing your revision. I found that being quick on the calculator can definitely help with time pressured exams like CT5.
The recommended ones are all pretty standard, boring calculators. The exception is the hp-12c which is only permitted in because it was there before they started to restrict calculators and now they can't get rid of it. If you get quick at writing macros the HP can be quite useful.
Doesn’t having a calculator that can write macros defeat the object of having a standard calculator list? The calculator which I inadvertently used in ST3 which didn’t require a calculator other than to perform addition and subtraction, didn’t have any macro Capability cost me an extra 2 years of study. How can it be the case that such a calculator is permitted?
Oh that reminds me of a time when someone sitting the CT4 exam had to go around the university looking for someone with an approved calculator because they happened to have the unapproved Casio fx-95 calculator, which as far as I know doesn't have any functionality that the approved Casio fx-85 doesn't already have. Luckily for them this was found before the exam started, so no penalties were applied.
