Hi I'm after some opinions as to whether people who have sat/are sitting ST4 think that it is much harder to do it without having taken CA1 first. I am in the situation where I have done 7 CTs, and now need to decide to either do CA1 over the summer (which will be more work) or to do CT8 and ST4. Any advice?
Hey, Personally I'd recommend doing CA1 first as a lot of it is assumed knowledge in ST4. Also ST4 seems to becoming more of an applications paper (less technical and/or bookwork) which is a lot different to anything you would have seen question wise in the CTs. Workwise if you are sitting CT8 and ST4 both for the first time there is likely to be little difference in the amount work to do for either choice. Hope this answers your quesion
Its not impossible to do CA1 over the summer but no time for an extended holiday I'm afraid! The danger is that if you fail or aren't ready then the syllabus change will kick in. How do you feel about the subjects you are just sitting/sat? If you are mega confident then go for CA1. If not and you could want to resit, then go for the CT. You can possibly expand -- have you done CT9 and CA2/3. Not upto speed with what you have to have in the bank/passed before you do these so could be a red herring.
I have got CT1-4 and just took CT5-7 which I was reasonably happy with. I am on the CT9 course in June. The problem is that you are no longer allowed to apply for CA2 without all the CTs and can't apply for CA3 without all the CTs and CA1. So I though it would be best to speed up the process by taking my last CT, but that leaves me with only an ST to go with it...
Any further thoughts/advice ? I have just sat for my last CT and have registered for CA2 in September. I intend to leave CA1 for April 2017 and rather attempt ST4 in September. Anyone ever successfully attempted ST4 before CA1 ?
I teach both CA1 and ST4 so hopefully well placed to answer! Yes – there is some overlap of material in the two courses. Though I don’t think it makes a great deal of difference which order you do them in. Whichever one you do first you may be at a relative disadvantage for, but then you will be at a relative advantage for the second one so I think it evens out. CA1 is a tough but doable summer sitting. (I took and passed CA1 in the summer of 2005.) Best wishes Stuart
