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Q&A Bank

M

misterh

Member
Ok this is my first time using Q&A bank and am surprised at the level of detail in the solutions. They seem to go into way more detail than the past exam paper solutions - a lot of the time into what seems like too much detail to the point that they are expaining really basic things, coming up with some crazy alternatives and even qualifying them as such in the answer. It almost seems like they are religiously sticking to their 1/2 mark per point rule so for example have to come up with up to 44 points for a 22 mark question which probably might have only 15 to 20 "sensible" points in the answer. Is this 1 mark per important point and 1/2 per other point how the actual papers are marked? Are we really expected to go into up to a hundred points per question? Am sorry its just not the impression I have been given til now from just looking through past exam papers on the subjects I've done til now. Is this just something on the Q&A Bank solutions to try to go into way more detail as a learning tool. Am just having a panic attack going through these - I've done the past papers and was happy with the solutions - the solutions seem to deal with "specifics" whereas some of the Q&A Bank solutions are soo basic and hypothetical!!! I understand a certain level of thinking outside the box is required but there does genuinely seem to be a different level of detail and volume in the solutions from the 2 sources? Which one is more accurate? Is this just my interpretation? Thanks for any feedback....
 
misterh...I also got the same impression..initially a couple of years back..but then thought, more is better than less. Teaches you to think outside the box and into details..which skill you should acquire as a practicing Actuary.

However, note that in an exam, always start with the points that will earn you the biggest/highest marks...remember pareto principle...80/20 rule?? then go into the minute details later to build up your marks.

I appreciate it takes effort to comb through the Acted solutions. Maybe you should have started with acted solutions and then build upto the Examiners reports to have the bigger picture of what is more important.
hope this helps
 
Answering questions in the SA subjects is different to STs and CA1. Try not to think of it as a half mark per point, but more about explaining the most important points in full first, then talking about secondary points after.

For example, if you get a CA1 question you can fire out points in any order you like and you will get a half mark for each correct one.

However, in SA2 if you take this scattergun approach you will not be rewarded since the examiners expect you to pick out the most important points, talk about these first, and go into more detail about them. Generally you will get a few marks for each well explained point, and half marks for secondary points.
 
thanks for the replies am glad isn't just me that thought this. like you say the more, the better - it has opened my mind to a different answering style (bullets vs. essay style). I was more confident with the essay style solutions I was going through as these bullets can be hit or miss on the secondary points - I am hoping some of the ActEd solutions are overkill as regards the lenght of answers (which sometimes seem to include some over simplified and conversely some over analysed/hypothetical points especially compared to the exam solutions). Anyway its better to be aware of the different styles and try and cover both bases I guess. thanks again
 
Ok I know am going over old ground here but I am going over past papers and the structure of the solutions is very consistent (a consistency I am happy with and have only known as I have never used ActEd Q&ABank or Mock Papers til now) - big question with solution consisting of 5 to 8 major points each of which gets expanded upon with 3 to 5 short paragraphs finished by looking at alternatives and maybe 3 to 5 bullets on related issues mentioned but not expanded upon. The ActEd solutions are very different - hundreds of bullets every point aimed at a mark rather than a more conversation like answer. There seems to be a definite developed point driven vs. mark driven bias in the 2 sources.
Two things - are the solutions on the website part of the actual marking scheme ie. was this what the exams were specifically marked against or are they just a guide? Secondly, can any past or current marker or tutor please advise the best approach to use? If am aiming at bullet points i am writing like a lunatic for 3 hours if am expected to give structured answers am thinking for a half an hour and maybe writing for 2 to 2 and a half hours. It really determines how I would write my paper and I don't remember seeing any guidance regarding the structures of answers anywhere. Thanks for reading
 
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