Hi all, Not too sure if anyone is still struggling to pass this SA1 exam. Luckily, I have passed it on my 2nd attempt in Sept 2021. Maybe just to share a bit of my own experience and most of them I think are quite aligned with Agoodoot's previous comments: I make sure at least 4 full sets past papers have been done and under very strict exam condition. This might be the most obvious thing to do before taking an actuarial exam. However, it's quite tempted just to read up answers or just finishing those questions I am familiar with when doing past papers as long as it's getting closer to the exam dates. So yeah, ensure full set past paper have been done in 1 go under exam condition instead of breaking them into pieces. Mark my answers harshly based on mark scheme as I didn't purchase the marking service from ActEd due to missing timeline. If there are 2 similar points, then I only get 1 point (i.e. 0.5 mark) rather than multiple points. If the point I mentioned is not on the mark scheme, then no mark is given. Most likely it won't be there when examiner is marking because I am not stating the most obvious. Referring back to Agoodoot's first point, break down my answers into points instead of providing very long answers. Additionally, write more points than the required marks. Let's say if the question is for 4 marks, normally 8 points is sufficient. However, I write more than 8 points, for example 10 points. This is to ensure that as many points as they can be picked up by the examiner. Similar to Agoodoot's second point. Not only the product cycle is useful for generating points, but also 2.3 the course structure can be quite useful (Products, Product design, Pricing, Claims management, Underwriting, Reserve, Capital Management, Reinsurance, ALM, Experience analysis, Tax, Regulation, Role of the state etc). I put these headings down first, then start to generate different points below each heading and made my answer more structured. As the exam has now become CBT and allowing open book, I made the mistake during my 1st attempt for leaving some contents not so familiar and hoping I can look up on materials if it show up in exam. Looking up the book during exam even for just 1 sub question will result in very high chance of not being able to complete the exam in time and giving out free marks to examiner. Best is to avoid looking up any material and be well prepared on exam date. Based on the above, I was able to improve my result by 11 marks. Hope the supplement helps and best of luck for all those sitting the SA1 exam! Best regards, Danny
