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Practicing Past Year Papers

C

calibre2001

Member
Hi,

I'm planning to take CA3 for the first time. Practicing questions are definitely going to be my main study diet. My question is how do you mark your answers and award points? I find it tricky because:

-sample answers do not cover all the technical points
-a range of different points are acceptable i.e. it's subjective
-no clue about how much marks go to language, presentation etc

Is it like ST subjects where it's usually 1/2 mark for nailing the correct points?

I'm not in a position to use utilise Acted markers, so it's a little more tricky for me. Hope you guys would advice. Thanks.
 
Marking your own CA3 papers is difficult, yes, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't practice. A couple of points.

You will appreciate the sample solutions more if you spent time trying the questions.

If your answer has technical points that the sample doesn't then ask yourself if their inclusion is appropriate, "neither here nor there", or inappropriate for your target reader and message.

Ask a friend, family member, or other layperson to read your scripts. This will give you an idea of how well your communication is to a layperson.
Ask a colleague to look at scripts/ provide feedback for communication done at work to get a feel of what is appropriate for writing to your boss.

Do practice early and wait a couple of weeks to mark it. This way you may have a fresh perspective and possibly a more objective view on how well you did.

Always think of what could be done to improve it.

Read examiners' reports and try to avoid the "common pitfalls".

I don't think marking is to a schedule of 1/2 marks like ST's. Either you cover the critical ideas well or you don't.

If at all possible to get Acted marking, make the effort since this is the probably the most useful subject to get marking for.
 
OK so you can't afford series marking.... but could you stretch to say getting just a mock?

Alternatively get a second opinion ie let someone else read it thru and give comments. Its often the comments that are important rather than the mark. Could you swap with someone to see how their style compares to yours?

Common mistakes seem to be :

using actuarial words
wrong layout
spelling

the examiners reports should hopefully point you to mistakes so these can help assess how you get on.

Good luck and do practise properly!
 
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