I received this email question & thought it and the reply might be of help to others: Question: "Please could you tell me whether the core reading as published by the institute and in its entirety will be included in the first part of the CMP for ST9 for the 2012 sitting? I am surprised that the course is being changed so radically (i.e. having text books changed etc) in only a few sittings. Please could you tell me whether the core reading and syllabus have been changed significantly from when this ST was first launched?" Answer: "The Core Reading is incorporated and interspersed into our Course Notes. This being the case, only those sections of the Core Reading relating to Parts 1 &2 of the course will appear in the first mailing of the 2012 Course Notes. The changes are as a result of feedback from students, ActEd and CERA – not entirely unexpected with such a new and developing area. The new textbook (Sweeting) is more accessible than those it replaces. As a consequence, the preparation materials have become less academic and more focused on the application of theory. The syllabus (including the learning objectives) has not been changed materially. The Core Reading has been adjusted. This is largely so as to accommodate the change in textbooks rather than introduce new material. In theory, at least, the old textbooks and Core Reading remain largely appropriate as preparation for the ST9 exam. Certainly, prior studies haven’t been wasted! If you are retaking ST9 then we would recommend using the new materials, because revising from a fresh perspective will be beneficial."
CMP or Course Notes David Thanks for this. This is really useful. I had purchased the CMP for 2011 but didn't actually get around to prepare for the exam. I plan to do so in April next year. I want to know if it is better to purchase the full CMP (retaker) or is it sufficient to buy just the Course Notes (retaker). I want to understand how much the Q & A bank has changed? I am not that bothered about the X-series assignments. Can you please give us some insights on this? PS: I have purchased the Sweeting text book.
There have not been huge changes to the Q&A bank - however, necessarily things have changed to ensure the Q&A ties in with the new textbook. The 2011 Q&A could still be a valuable study aid, but you would have to put up with quite a lot of references to the old textbooks (Chapman/McNeil), differences in notation in the mathematical parts and the odd question which refers to material that is no longer in the course (eg the SOA paper). I would suggest that the small extra cost of the full CMP (retaker) would be money well-spent. I hope this helps. Simon
