CT8 April 2018 results

Dom, I understand you are upset about your situation but IMO you are taking it too far. You cannot tell someone they would have failed this exam because everyone else has a different grasp of the material, different strengths, and different backgrounds. This exam clearly didn't suit you, and the way you prepared, and that's something you need to come to terms with - it still suited 30% of people who prepared and passed the exam.

It comes back to my original point. You, and your experience, is not the definitive guide for how difficult the paper is. The IFoA have a much better idea of how difficult the paper is and they can make adjustments if, and only if, necessary.

Please stop asking me which sitting I passed CT8 in, it's totally irrelevant. Most people who have passed the exam have probably seen enough past papers to be objective.

Re: Question1. You imply students scored 0 marks for parts iii-v, whereas the examiners report effectively says few students got full marks. They are not the same thing.

Please do the SAR, don't doggedly refuse to accept you might have made a few sizeable mistakes elsewhere which actually cost you the pass.

 

I sat CT8 this time and I managed to pass. I attempted probably the past 5 years worth of exams in preparation, and in all honesty, I found this exam no tougher than the previous CT8 exams. That's not to say I found it easy - I've found every CT8 exam tough!

Maybe I just got lucky!

 

OK, so I suspect you have passed a 2016/17 paper, most likely either April 2016 or 2017 which were a breeze by comparison.

If I had drawn a CT8 paper with a 60+% pass rate, the last thing I would be doing is visiting a forum discussing a paper where 918 students have had to suffer a CT8 paper with a 32% pass rate and have the audacity to play down the difficulty of their paper.

The bottom line is, when you sat CT8, you got lucky. And good for you. But just be grateful for that. Please don't pretend that you are here for any other reason than to attempt to further validate your own CT8 pass (which you almost certainly would not have accomplished had you sat this paper). To be quite frank Callum, it highlights that you have some quite selfish and insensitive traits.

 

This post may seem inappropriate here but I believe it’s not:

When I went for my driving licence test, I failed twice and got that in the 3rd attempt.

My wife passed her driving test in her very first attempt. And I never believed that she was a better driver than me.

May be, she did better than me when it came to assessment.

 

Congratulations Beccalouise - it looks as though you didn't make any calculation errors!

 

Dom, you are becoming quite rude in this thread and I won't respond to those comments.

As it happens I was interested in this thread because I also felt unlucky not to pass CA1 last sitting, which had the lowest pass rate in the history of CA1. You might say I couldn't sympathise with your situation more. I've just had some time to reflect.

 

Actually I think you make a very good point.

A driving test comes down to fine margins, one significant error in a split second and you fail.

Only 2 of the the last 184 CT papers have had a lower pass rate than this CT8 exam.
With the exception of ST6, only 3 out of the last 137 ST papers have had a lower pass rate than this CT8 exam.
With the exception of SA6, only 4 out of the last 110 SA papers have had a lower pass rate than this CT8 exam.

When a paper is this tough, it comes down to very fine margins, just like a driving test.

 

Callum, it is not my intention to be rude, I just think that you have been approaching this in an insensitive way.

As you did not succeed with CA1 in Sept 2017 (where the pass rate was 34.5%), how would you react if you'd started a thread and someone who sat CA1 in Sept 2014 (where the pass rate was 53.7%) came along and proclaimed that your paper wasn't any more difficult than theirs, it was just that the 623 students 'just performed badly'? (which obviously isn't true)

You obviously had a tougher CA1 paper than the students in Sept 2014 so it would be very selfish and disingenuous for a person who had the comparative luxury of sitting their exam in Sept 2014 to claim otherwise.

 

I don't think that's quite true - I just attempted the majority of the questions (I agree question 5 was horrific and I just didn't know where to begin!) By my calculations, that allows for 28 marks worth of errors (and the odd part of a question that I couldn't do). Obviously, for those that really struggled with other questions too, that is where having no room for errors comes into play!

I do feel for you - it is often a bit of a lottery as to whether questions that suit you come up! Good luck with the rest of your exams / the alternative route if you choose to take it

 

Dom, you might be better than not only me but many. However, you may see things differently than others, which could be good as well as bad,

because in my last post my point was that there is a difference in a “self assessment “ and an “assessment by someone-else”.

However, you picked the information that supported your own point. Such a skill can make you a very good negotiator..

I hope you get what you are striving for!

 

There is a fair bit less than a 28 marks margin for error. I have covered this in a previous comment but Question 1 & 2 took at least 10 marks off the table for most people, probably more. So doesn't leave a huge margin for error.

Would you mind me asking how you scored? Only one other person that passed has posted their score and it was exactly 60%!

Good for you though - much respect for passing that paper.

 

Now I understand, you were trying to make a different point!

Well I appreciate your compliment and humility, but you scored in the top 31% of students in this paper and I didn't. Regardless of what the margins are, you performed better than me on the day and as far as i'm concerned that makes you a better student than I am.

 

Everyone, thank you for your contributions. I have a lot of things to do so am going to have to retire from this thread.

It seems that those who have passed CT8 in this or a previous sitting are perfectly happy with this abnormally low pass rate whereas the ones who failed are not. Personally, had I scraped a pass in this diet, then I would still be arguing in favour of those who narrowly missed the pass mark.

I will start a thread to highlight the alternative methods of becoming an actuary for those students who might be interested, but participation in any discussions that follow will be limited.