Coronavirus effect on exams

Is anyone faced with having to work from home plus home school their children plus study for an exam?
Even if the exam is postponed by a month or so, I have given up all hope of being able to prepare for it, with two children in the house all day every day, whilst continuing to meet work deadlines.

 

This is the same situation that I have found myself in now... And I know of another colleague who is the same situation as well.

 

if the exam is postponed by a month then surely that will impact the September exam sitting too? Part of me thinks they're going to just cancel the April exam and say we sit that exam in September. If they were to postpone it then it would be May/June which is when GCSE/A Levels are due to be sat and they have already been cancelled

 

I totally agree. Getting a refund of IFoA is almost impossible. They should cancel and give everyone their money back. There should be no dithering about it. Members should put their own health first.

 

You can be assured that they will intimate about the exams at the earliest, and not wait till the last hour. They will be giving an update soon. Do not worry. They cannot make their decision based only on their government's decision. They will have to keep in mind that their are students giving exams from all over the world. They will be giving an update imminently, and then they will be sticking to it.

This is not possible as students would keep their notes handy and all may not be having access to that kind of internet services where they would sit for straight 3 hours with fast speed. there are many issues that they will have to take care of. so this is not a viable option.

 

On cancellation of the exams they will surely give a refund, but they will not cancel the exams. They will postpone the exams for sure.

 

If they cancel these exams and ask all to sit for September diet, they will have to give a pass result to everyone. People plan their exams in according to their availability. This option is not viable as well. They may postpone September exams as well. But NO CHANCE OF CANCELLATION.

 

No option is viable really. I don't what this to happen either but what else can they do? As much as I wish they would I doubt they're going to pass everyone

 

New update up:
https://www.actuaries.org.uk/studyi...date-covid19-students-booked-april-2020-exams

So essentially exams kind of cancelled but maybe not. Should we still be studying?

 

Website has been updated:
https://www.actuaries.org.uk/studyi...date-covid19-students-booked-april-2020-exams

'We appreciate that this is a stressful time for our students and many are keen to have more information about whether our April examinations will be going ahead as planned, given the current Covid-19 situation.

We would like to confirm that we do NOT expect to be holding our April 2020 written assessments in examination centres.

We have come to this decision to protect our students’ wellbeing following the advice of governments in the countries where our students study. We are, however, keen to explore any ways that will still enable us to run our examinations during this health crisis, mindful that students have told us about the level of learning they have already undertaken, and their desire to maintain progress on their qualifications; we are continuing to look at options including moving to online assessment, or possibly to a postponement, as other associations have done.

We expect to provide an update on this announcement next week, and whatever our final decision, as valued members, our students will be given options for their April examination registrations which respond to their own personal circumstances. As soon as we are able to confirm arrangements, we will do so..'

 

So basically we’re no clearer on the situation. We do not expect to be holding April exams in our exam centres....not we won’t be

The wait continues...

 

It would be pandemonium if they tried to do the written papers online. What are your thoughts on CP2/CP3 still happening? I am trying to balance my workload with these and SP6, I'm not sure whether it makes sense to just stop studying SP6...

 

In exactly the same position as you on SP6. Hoping for some clarity very soon on whether the online exams will run to know where to focus my study.

 

There have been a couple of people on here saying cancellation is not viable, please explain why? Yes people have studied a lot for them but that's not the worst thing if we have to sit in September. I can't see them putting written exams online. The online only exams may still continue. I think the communication from the ifoa has been poor. In my opinion they should bite the bullet and cancel this sitting offering a full refund to those affected.

 

If they do cancel written exams, with no online alternative, I wonder:

• will the computer element to the CM/CS exams go ahead and be used as an overall exam?
• will they reopen entry for CP2/3 to allow some candidates the chance to progress?

Hopefully we will hear more definitive plans early next week

 

Unfortunately, I doubt they'll do either. They will probably argue that paper a+b still need to be sat together and I wasn't able to do CP2 last sitting due to it being "overbooked".

 

My best guess it that CP2 and CP3 will go ahead with their exisitng entrants, all other exams postponed. I don't think they have anything like the amount of time to set up online written exams, and it opens a whole can of worms with people having access to their notes and being in unvigilated environments.

 

I agree, I feel that the written exams will be postponed, however I think the postponing will simply cause more issues ie when will they postpone them to? What effect does it have on the September sitting?

 

I think it would be very difficult to even set a date for the postponed exams, given in a few weeks/months things could be totally different as COVID-19 seems to be an ever-changing situation, but I do think they will be held at a later date once things have settled down possibly late June/July. However I don't think it causes more issues postponing the current dates. Just to take a step back from the exams and considering the bigger picture, it would actually be quite reckless and unsafe to carry on with an exam sitting during these times as I imagine a proportion of students would prefer to avoid the risk of contracting the virus and/or becoming a vector. That's not to mention those students who may have underlying health conditions who need to self-isolate. I also can't imagine invigilators & exam locations making special exceptions for the actuary exams, when pretty much every other state/college exam has been cancelled and colleges closed.

In my view the Sept sitting will carry on as normal with little effect from this postponement. I think it's possible that a separate result publication date will be established for the postponed sitting, which may be very close to Sept or even after but I guess it's the circumstances we're finding ourselves in. I imagine the IFoA will be keen to return to a normal schedule once this is all over.

 

I agree with sentiments above, the update really gives little further clarity to students.

I think CP2 and CP3 will probably still go ahead as normal for students already booked onto them, that makes a lot of sense given the only obstacle I can see students having is trying to arrange some peace and quiet in a potentially crowded flat/house.

Regarding written exams, I'm resigned to the fact that cancellation of this diet is the only viable option then fingers crossed we're out the other side of this mess by September. Moving written exams online destroys consistency of exam process for students and basing the whole grade on part B less than two years after its introduction seems even more crazy. Postponement sounds great in an ideal world however if things normalise enough for us to do exams, then they have probably normalised enough for people to go on holidays etc. so this brings a host of other problems for us.

Do the sensible thing and cancel the written exams as early as possible. It might hurt given the work that has been put in already and the delay on our qualification but it will give us clarity so that we can focus on the most important things just now.

 

Completely agree, I think the only sensible option is to cancel them. It will allow us to plan what to do in this time, in the grand scheme of things a six month delay to qualification etc is not the end of the world. I would like the ifoa to provide more clarity though as I still see no option but to continue studying until they actually cancel the examinations.