When would you advise sitting CA3. Ive heard of people doing it quite early on and some people leaving it right to the end or more commonly not passing it right to the end. Does the exam assume knowledge of many other exams?? Are the notes quite comprehensive?? Cheers J
I would recommend doing CA3 once you've got most but not all of the CT's. It can be a tricky one to pass and can take some people many attempts before they crack it - so I reckon the earlier it's attempted the better. As far as the notes go, when I did it (which was not too long ago), the notes were pretty basic. Just do as many past exam papers/acted assignments as you can. I also found it useful at work to make use of any opportunities available to explain complex things in writing especially to non-actuarial people.
For me, I'd say you need to have studied all CT subjects ie not necessarily passed them all. They say the qns are based on the CTs so it would be annoying if it was on something from the one(s) you hadn't seen. That said, they do often give you the answer which you then have to 'translate' so maybe not being up to speed on the technical side should matter. But I'm risk-averse!! There could be something said for having done CA2 as part of this is drafting summaries eg slides so you may pick up some hints there. I wouldn't leave it to close to the last though. I can't think of anything worse than having this one left to qualify on given its reputation of pass rates! Sorry, past it some while back so can't comment on current material.
Take it after you have finished CT series. I made a very big mistake in leaving it with my SA paper. As a result, now I am in the camp believing that the institute should scrap this paper.
