paper format / R

[James123]

Hi,

I’m sitting CS2 in April which will be my first exam since the whole syllabus change a number of years ago.

im currently working through the course notes (the 1220 pages book) and can see there’s many pages where R is mentioned. I’ve never used R in my workplace or in any prior exams.

I know there’s 2 exams for CS2 - exam A is done on Microsoft work and B is done using work and R?

I’m confused for the R parts is it just a case of learning the bits of code in the course notes I’m working through currently or is there other course notes I need to order?

Can anyone recommend any introductory courses to R which will get me to the required level for this exam or is there anything that acted or the IFoA offer?

thanks in advance

 

[Andrew Martin]

Hello

That's right, there are two exams for CS2, Paper A, which is completed in Word, and Paper B which is done in R (although what you actually submit is a Word document containing your code and output). You may find it helpful to read through the IFoA's latest exam handbook, which is here:

https://actuaries.org.uk/media/dijjp1c1/examination-handbook-01-september-2023.pdf

Note that this handbook is for the September 2023 exams. However, as far as I'm aware, I'm not expecting any significant changes to how the CS2 exam will be run in April 2024.

For learning R, if you purchased a copy of our Course Notes, then you should also have received a log in to the Hub. On here we have our PBOR (Paper B Online Resources). There are some introduction documents to get you started with R and then some material for each of the chapters in CS2.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

[James123]

Hello

That's right, there are two exams for CS2, Paper A, which is completed in Word, and Paper B which is done in R (although what you actually submit is a Word document containing your code and output). You may find it helpful to read through the IFoA's latest exam handbook, which is here:

https://actuaries.org.uk/media/dijjp1c1/examination-handbook-01-september-2023.pdf

Note that this handbook is for the September 2023 exams. However, as far as I'm aware, I'm not expecting any significant changes to how the CS2 exam will be run in April 2024.

For learning R, if you purchased a copy of our Course Notes, then you should also have received a log in to the Hub. On here we have our PBOR (Paper B Online Resources). There are some introduction documents to get you started with R and then some material for each of the chapters in CS2.

Hope this helps

Andy

thanks. Just having a look at the paper B online resources now, I’ve had a skim through and there seems like a lot of content to cover, with different code to learn for each chapter etc.

for someone who has never used R before this seems like a lot to try and learn and practice to a point where I’d be able to quickly know what code to use for all the possible different questions.
How much time are we expected to spend on the Paper B resources and how well should I know this coding? Should I know it where I can instantly type the appropriate codes for different questions or is the exam set such that I can refer back to the pdf’s to get the appropriate code etc and paste it over.

unless I’m missing something, there’s a lot of content to get through in the Paper A notes. To then learn a whole new software and programming language from scratch to a point where I can instantly code answers to 21 chapters worth of different questions seems a bit ridiculous and impossible amount of content/learning to get through in 1 session?

as this is my first time sitting the exam, maybe I’m just misunderstanding the level of competence of R required or how it needs to be applied in the exam situation and the time pressures? Any insight would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance