October 2011 Exam

[mantlegen]

Disappointed by the passing rate - only 13%!!!! Been failing it for 3 times, planning to switch to SA5 instead. Any comments on the paper? I thought it was a less tricky paper than those previous ones. Definitely need to find a way of studying this if i am to continue.

 

[Gay Geek]

I passed SA6 in Oct 2010 at the third turn. I had hoped to clear in the first, but wrote more than I should have that time. In the second, there was a cardinal error - I just couldn't get what stagflation exactly meant!

Also, I feel if you are not in the thick of action in a developed country market, there's a slight disadvantage - at some stage of the writing, you would be exposed. I assume you are from the UK, and have been reading on topical issues i.e. macroeconomics, LDI, pension buyouts, etc.

There's only a thin line between a pass and fail grade. It makes sense to continue SA6 than switch to SA5 just because the SA5 results were relatively better this diet. Indeed 13% is a dampener, but I guess the law of averages would catch up!

 

[Cityboy516]

I also sat, and failed, this paper, although it was my first attempt. I actually thought I wrote a good script and was quite surprised to find I had not passed. A pass rate of 13% is really pretty atrocious!

 

[Sauny Bean]

Third time for me too, and was one of the unlucky 66 out of 76. You don't feel too bad when the stats suggest you never really stood a chance. The last few sessions have seen about 1 in 3 pass - this one is 1 in 7.6!

Didn't think I'd pass as I knew I'd misread the first part of the first question, though I thought Q2 fell out nicely and Q3 was okay. Remember thinking I thought Q2 and Q3 were quite ST5y, but perhaps I wasn't answering them enough in SA6y frame of mind. Agree with Mantlegen that it seemed quite doable. Will be interesting to see the Examiners comments.

Don't think I've ever seen a pass rate this low in an actuarial exam. Must be a record?

If I was considering which SA to take, this pass statistic would definitely put me off and I'd be worried I'd made the wrong choice if I'd just started studying for the April 2012 exam.

Would be interesting to hear from one of the Lucky 10 as to what they think they did to get it?

 

[mantlegen]

In fact, I downloaded the pass list of SA6 in April 11, and looked for their email addresses from the student directory. Some of the good guys did reply me and suggested to read journals, investment conference minutes, etc. Besides, it's the writing skills. Simple but hard to accomplish.

I attempted 3 times. Got 2 FCs and this time a FD!!!! A real failure.

 

[Cooper]

Hi, I also failed SA6 in October which was my second attempt. I was wondering if anyone could provide any advice on how to prepare for the retake in April or what they have done to pass the SA6 exam?

Any help would be appreciated as I am seriously considering changing exams as SA6 seems almost impossible to pass!!!

 

[Sauny Bean]

I've been through the examiners' report now, which says that the pass mark was raised from last time, presumably because the "paper focused more on practical fund management considerations" than recent papers, and therefore "ought to have been more familiar territory". My guess is there were no FAs at least, and there was a reasonable gap between the ten who passed and the next nearest, and that's why they drew the line there.

Some of the answers were standard enough, eg Q1 (i) and (ii), yet to get this solution the question didn't need all the preceding information about funds and LDI which may only have served to confuse. 2(iv) included a lot of detail from ST5 on PEFs.

I spent a lot of time reading various publications and even attending investment conferences in preparation for this exam; I'm sure if I gained any credit from having done so, it was very minimal.