'Relevant' Past Year CA3/201 questions

Discussion in 'CA3' started by calibre2001, Jul 18, 2010.

  1. calibre2001

    calibre2001 Member

    There is no longer a CA3 exam, but only a 2 day assessment course. However there are still pre-course written exercises & a written test. The Institute also mentioned that written communication questions will be to audiences with some financial knowledge. So I have a few questions:

    a) Can I assume that when practicing past year papers I should just avoid communication to layman questions?
    b) How relevant are past year questions anyway? Are the new written questions of the same difficulty or do they test on slightly different things?
    c)I've never seen the pre-course written exercises before. Are these like being given 11 CA3exam type of questions?
     
    calibre2001, Jul 18, 2010
    #1
  2. Blitmund

    Blitmund Member

    (a), (b): In my experience (having attempted both versions), the questions on the new course are very similar to those on the old paper, in terms of both content and the level at which the answers should be pitched. There are still "communication to layman" type questions, and any difference in the knowledge you can assume in "communication to professionals" questions is at most marginal. Remember that one of the people you'll be making your presentation to (and who will be assessing it) will actually be a layperson, whatever the question says!

    So I'd say it's well worth working through the Examiners' Reports for the old version to get a feel for what they're looking for.

    The biggest difference between the old and new versions is that for the new version you need to be confident about speaking in public. If you're not, I'd recommend that doing a course in public speaking would be a good way of spending some of your study time.

    (c): No, the workbook for the new version is mostly a set of exercises covering various general points about communication. Only one or two of the exercises are similar to exam questions - most of the tasks are quicker than that.
     
    Blitmund, Sep 23, 2010
    #2
  3. David Wilmot

    David Wilmot ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    An interesting question and response.

    With regard to the 'layman' examiner, I assume that you are referring to the instructor who is a communications trainer but not an actuary. This person sits in on the presentations that form part of the exam. They assess the communications skills but do not assess the technical content. The technical content is only assessed by the other examiner(s) who will have actuarial qualifications.

    However, I do agree that past papers are relevant for practice as they test the same core communication skills (e.g. identifying the specific questions asked, choosing what information to convey, communicating using non-complex language etc.).

    I am intrigued by your comment that the new exam has included 'laymen' as recipients. My clear understanding from the syllabus and from conversations with the Profession is that recipients will not be 'laymen' (i.e. having no business or actuarial knowledge/understanding) but, rather, will have some level of business knowledge as a minimum. Perhaps you can email me, confidentially, a specific example that I can query with the Profession. Please do not post this information as that would breach the terms of agreement that you signed. My email is davidwilmot@bpp.com.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2010
    David Wilmot, Sep 23, 2010
    #3
  4. Blitmund

    Blitmund Member

    Thanks David.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 23, 2010
    Blitmund, Sep 23, 2010
    #4
  5. Nutan

    Nutan Member

    I was wondering if there have been any developments on whether the exam questions will target the layperson or not?

    I am sitting the exam next month and it would be useful to know what to concentrate on in preparation.

    Thanks.
     
    Nutan, May 15, 2011
    #5
  6. David Wilmot

    David Wilmot ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    CA3 Recipients

    The overall intention of CA3 is to test ability to explain actuarial concepts to those who don't already understand them. Typically we expect the audience to be non-actuaries. However, unlike prior communcation exams, this doesn't mean you will be asked to explain compound interest to your granny! This is because the syllabus states that recipients who are non-actuaries will have "some business knowledge". (I'm assuming that granny's never have business knowledge - which is rather inappropriate - but I'm sure you get the idea!)

    The syllabus does also refer to student actuaries and senior actuaries. I think the idea behind this is to replicate what might happen in the office so there may be a practice-specific technical issue that junior students would need explained to them and/or there may be scenarios where a senior colleague would not be familiar with or want to know the detailed technical points underlying the work but would want more of an overview.
     
    David Wilmot, May 16, 2011
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  7. Nutan

    Nutan Member

    David,

    Thanks for your reply.

    I have been doing the course preparation work today that we are required to submit before attending the course. In the coursework at least, it seems that they are still asking questions which require explanations to the layperson. Maybe the exam questions will be more upto date on the change to the syllabus though.
     
    Nutan, May 18, 2011
    #7
  8. David Wilmot

    David Wilmot ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    I suspect that the exercises to which you refer are designed to test the ability to explain actuarial terms in simpler language - an important skill.

    If you can be more specific as to the exercises you are concerned about I could be more specific in my reply. To maintain confidentiality on the specifics of the workbook (of which I have a copy), maybe you would like to email me at davidwilmot@bpp.com?
     
    David Wilmot, Jun 1, 2011
    #8

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