Attended an exam last week, was sitting near the exit. Was quite surprised when a couple of different people got up headed out the door and reappeared a couple of minutes later, I assume having visited the toilets. What surprised me was that none of them either informed an invigilator of what they were doing, nor were questioned when returning. One person left a couple of times. While I accept that people may need to leave to use various facilities, are you not supposed to at least inform an invigilator of what you are doing?
What centre was this? In the exams I've done people always seem to inform the invigilator. Possibly they asked discretely without you noticing? I can't see why anyone would need the toilet more than once in a 3 hours exam unless they have a medical problem or are cheating.
so this could mean a candidate taking a phone/devise with all the core reading on it to the toilet for a quick memory jog!? (think that came out ok!)
think the profession / invigilators place a lot of trust on everyone being professionals-in-training and so they wouldn't cheat... ...that one has been proven wrong before!
Guess that reinforces my suggestion of open-book exams in the future...to prevent cheating and also prepare us for the REAL world where the answers aren't always found in books.
If cheating is possible, someone will always have a go. I just wonder how many "qualifieds" there are out there who paid other people to sit their exams before the photo ID came in? Don't tell me you never worked with a qualified actuary before and had doubts about how they ever passed the basic stats exam, let alone the more difficult ones.
It is always interesting to see how trust is managed. Companies trust you with their secrets but not with the stationary store which they lock. The Profession trust us with our bathroom breaks but not with calculators.
lol. I think that hits the nail on the head right there. I don't understand why people don't put these silly rules into perspective when they consider implementing them.
I'm a massive fan of open-book exams. Most of the exams I sat for my first degree were open-book. It makes much more sense, as you need to know the subject well anyway, in order to know where to look to check your formula, and because in the real world, you'll never need to answer something without having the option of checking. The main problem I see with open-book exams for the profession is the lack of decent reference material. IMHO, the notes just aren't up to the job.
I think especially the "A" series of exams (CA and SA) where the focus is on application, open book exams is a must. The "T" series it may be argued that the student must demonstrate proper knowledge of the theory.
