I just got my SAR for the Sept 2020 exam as I expected my downfall was paper 2. Paper 1 my mark was 65% which was okay but as for paper 2 I had an embarrassing 32.5%. I was really disappointed with my paper 2 performance. Upon reflection, paper 2 I really found it challenging as compared to paper 1 and that made me panic in the exam hence affecting my overall performance as I did not manage to finish the paper and left significant marks on some questions. I am resitting the exam in April 2021 and I need to secure a definite pass this time around. I guess my main focus would be to focus on paper 2 type questions and some weak areas that I noted last session. I did assignments last sitting and my marks were okay but paper 2 questions did not really score well at times particularly the last assignment were I got 52% as for the rest I was scoring above 60%. I also had online classroom and ASET. This time I intend to take the mock exam and also purchase the additional mock pack for practice. I hope this will help me with exam technique particularly for paper 2 questions. Would this be sufficient for me to secure a pass? What are your thoughts? Regards,
To secure a pass you need to actually perform well in the exam(s) on the day(s), so nobody can tell you whether you’ll certainly pass or not based on your description of your preparation. It sounds like you’re doing a lot right with your preparation though, and if I were you that would give me confidence in my ability to pass. Absolutely be targeted and focus on your weak areas (those areas you hate to practice!) the most. Getting feedback from marking is a good idea, in particular for paper 2 which has fewer past paper questions. I find nothing quite beats past papers themselves though - often the ActEd questions and mark scheme are better designed than the IFoA exams though, and it’s good to get used to the curve balls and nonsense the real exams can throw at you. I also found marking my own past papers equally if not more valuable than doing the questions. Good luck.
Hi Nyaman, From your P2 marks, it might be that the structure of your responses doesn’t allow you to cover sufficient areas of the course to score well, particularly on the longer parts. The main issues from your responses might be: There are many areas of the Core Reading where you could improve your knowledge. You tend to focus on too narrow a range or points, whereas you need to include a greater breadth from across the course. Developing a clear and consistent structure to your responses will help you to score more fully. You must focus on answering the specific question posed. Firstly, there is no getting away from the fact that you need to know the course inside and out in order to pass. Successful students will score virtually all of the available marks on the questions that require you to recite Core Reading. You have to make sure that you keep up with these students by scoring these marks. Dedicate separate study time specifically to learning Core Reading. This is a mundane activity, but short bursts of 30 minutes or so on a very regular basis is the way to tackle this. I would divide the Core Reading up into a number of sections (maybe 100 or so) and just keep reading and writing it out until it sticks. Tick off the sections you are familiar with and just focus on those you don’t know. This technique will give you a great foundation on which to develop your answers. Secondly, you then need to use the information given in the question and your knowledge of the course to generate ideas. Aim for at least 2 per mark (with the odd extra point if you have time). For the longer parts in particular, use the reading time to note down the areas of the course that you want to incorporate in your answer. Have a list to hand of all of the stakeholders that come up in the course and use that list to generate further ideas. Similarly, put together lists of ‘buzzwords’ that could help with idea generation, eg key topics / chapter headings from across the course. I give you some examples from what I did: The structure of your responses is key to being able to show you have the knowledge needed in a logical and clear way. You should make a short definition at the start of questions where relevant, but this should only cover a line or two. After the introduction, group your points under relevant sub-headings, focusing on points most relevant to the question first. Each sub-heading should be worth a mark or two. Write in short bullet points, over a line or two of writing. Long paragraphs and prose are not needed. Make sure that each bullet you write is directly relevant to the example given in the question. After writing out the key points under sub-headings in can be useful to make quick additional points that although relevant are secondary considerations (the usual points are tax, professionalism, regulation etc.). Have a wide range of additional points that you can use. Finally, spend a sensible amount of time on each question. Lastly, make sure that you are using past exam papers intelligently and efficiently. Don’t try to ‘learn’ the answers to past questions and don’t use up time writing out answers to ‘bookwork’ based questions. Go through all of the application-based and scenario-based questions that you can find, going right back to the start of CP1 (2005) and use them as brainstorming practice: give yourself a few minutes to scribble down lists of the areas that you would need to cover (just one-word or two-word phrases even) and keep going until you feel that you have enough for the number of available marks. Then compare it with the model solution, and see whether there are any ‘obvious’ areas that you missed out – and then think about why you missed those areas. Did you miss some information in the question that you could have made better use of? Did you forget to think about regulation / legislation / taxation? And so on. The more you work on spotting what areas you feel that you have missed (but should have thought of), the less likely you are to miss them next time round. Personally ASET and Online Classroom were enough for me to pass. I hope this gives you a little bit of light to focus on. Hang in, there is an end to this tunnel! Best of luck in your next attempt!
Hi Nyaman, I'm in the same position as you. I passed Paper 1 with 62% but failed Paper 2 miserably. I'm planning to retake in April and intend to practice more Paper 2 type questions. I also panicked in the exam and didn't leave enough time to complete the second half of the paper so will be doing more timed past papers as part of my preparation.
