BLAGAB horrors

I hope it’s not just me but... wow, how mind numbing is the core reading on taxation? Not to mention how overwhelmed I feel by how horribly complicated it all seems to be. Maybe I need to read through it a few more times (sadly.. because that was pure pain for me)

Other than that, just broadly wondering at this stage whether this area of the subject has been tested regularly? Hope to find out that it hasn’t

 

Man,
This part of the notes is horrific.I can't seem to clear chapter 9/10 or even understand it's contents.
Reminds me of those 5 step processes in ct8.

 

Haha, I know! I was also trying to think when I last loathed a section of core reading this much - and it was definitely CT8 (to a point where I can't even remember what the thing is about or even called anymore ) and then also some EBCT theory in CT6 (put together in a seriously awful way when I did CT6)

I only bought the actual core reading from the IFOA for SA1 rather than Acted's SA1 material - felt too lazy to read more than is strictly necessary and time is so tight between the July results and September sitting

Good luck with your studies Lewin

 

Are you using P1 notes for your revision?

I find it odd that ACTED do not have flash cards or even ASET for this course.

I only purchased mock exams but i feel very inadequate in my revision arsenal.

 

No, I'm using "Core Reading for the 2018 exams - SA1 Health and Care Specialist Applications" which you can find on the IFOA's website for £95 over here: https://www.actuaries.org.uk/catalog/core-reading?page=1

So it's basically it's just the core reading which is all the bold text you would find in the Acted notes - but they also group this bold text into 14 units only. So the grouping is (I think?) a bit broader than how Acted divides the syllabus into its chapters

As for actual revision, I'm just going to do the past papers, really focus on how the examiners have answered the most recent years' ones and do some extra reading on 'hot topics' that featured in the previous 3 or 4 years. And, of course, hope for the best (read: consistent markers)

What else can you do? What's your revision plan?

 

Thanks very much, Sarah! I totally forgot about looking at the exam question log, so I'm really glad you reminded me at this stage of the study schedule!

Although you can never assume BLAGAB won't crop up in your exam on the basis of past papers' content, it is still a big relief to hear this!! (and my sympathies to SA2 takers)

I actually passed ST1 just by reading Acted summaries (again, because of pure laziness and time constraints), then using the extra time I "gained" to go through each past paper at least twice whilst making notes and lists and the like. I then quickly checked that each summary from the Acted notes said something about each section or main sub section in the actual notes. Most of the time this was the case... when it wasn't, I quickly added a bit to the summaries. But this didn't take more than about a day, maybe two. I managed to pass with a mark of 66 (pass mark was 57) and I've only ever worked in GI. I just found it a lot easier to understand and apply common sense to ST1 than to the GI subjects for some reason.

Anyway, I think my final point or conclusion is that maybe Acted could consider bulking up the Acted summaries at the end of chapters and selling this slightly bulked-up version as a sort of "quick-revise" product. I would have been the first to purchase something like that! And it doesn't even require you to do much more work than you've already done.. just a thought!

 

Hi Sarah,

whats the exam question log and where can i found it? have recently bought sa1 cmp but didnt find anything related to this there.

thank you