Why the time pressure anyway?
I really do hate to be a moaner but the error aside(during the exam I sat there trying to convince myself I had done it right and that the examiner had clearly made an error) I am yet to get a good reason that exams such as CT5 are as time pressured as they are.
I am annoyed that I was unable to finish this exam, seeing as (again, error aside) I barely spent any time thinking, I didn't check over my answers; in essence I did not spend any unproductive time.
The only crime I may have been guilty of is being thorough with the way I write mathematically (I define many of my parameters explicitly). This is the way I was taught to do mathematics and I do not believe it makes me a bad mathematician as it is not an area of study that usually requires unnecessarily speedy delivery.
My understanding of CT5 when I sat down for the exam on Tuesday was certainly at the level necessary to pass an exam on the material. However, I may very well have failed because I tried to ensure my work was well laid-out (which might make me a bad actuary, I suppose).
If the purpose of the exams, as most qualifieds will stress time and time again, is to produce the most able actuaries, I am at a loss as to why we are not given enough time to finish all the work comfortably, and maybe even (perish the thought!) check over our answers? Surely, this means that many able students will fail even thought they have met any job requirement necessary (being able to find the covariance of a whole of life and a term assurance in six minutes flat is, in my opinion, not a key skill necessary for the profession... and I have my doubts the vast majority of qualifieds would be capable of doing so).
Perhaps I am totally misguided?
Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2007