I've just taken CT1 and CT3 and I'm looking to take 2 exams for the Sept/Oct sitting. I'm not keen on doing anything too strenuous as I'd like to have a fairly enjoyable summer, hence, I will be stuyding as soon as possible whilst it's May/June to get a headstart. I was thinking of doing CT2 and CT4 (I should get an exemption from CT7) but I was advised by a colleague that CT4 and CT6 might be better as it's more mathematical and less memorising large volumes of text (like CT2). Can anyone give me any advice on which subjects to take? I'm okay at maths, nothing special, but obviously good enough to sit exams CT1&3 and be confident that I pass.
CT 4,5,6 and 8 are a bit harder than 1 and 3, but at the end of the day it is just maths (for those so inclined) CT 2 is more memorising and reading but should be conceptually simpler. Up to you which is better for you. A good strategy is to start one (eg Ct4) and see how it goes, then choose another.
The consensus seems to be that CT4, 5, and 8 are the hardest, and 1,2 and 7 the easiest. People's view of CT3 and CT6 varies depending on how much stats they've done before (or just how good they are at stats type maths). So i'd say CT2 is probably the easiest one you can do next, and if you found CT3 ok, you'll probably find CT6 ok too (but a bit harder). If you didn't like CT3, then i'd go for CT4 instead. By the way, in order of difficulty (easiest first) i'd put the CTs in this order: 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 ,5, 8 (I think that's not too different to what most people would say, and is probably quite consistent with the historical pass rates).
In fact, based on pass rates since the CTs were introduced in 2005, the order (highest pass rate first) is: 7, 3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 8, 4 A few other things you might want to consider: CT5 is, IMHO, definitely harder if you haven't at least studied CT4 first. If you do 'easy' subjects together, then you may well end up having to do all 'hard' subjects in a session! Check the exam timetable - some people prefer to have a bit of a gap between subjects, rather than, say, two on consecutive days. It doesn't hurt to plan ahead a couple of sessions, even if you do have to change your plans after results day. Hope this helps.
Just one other consideration I'd suggest: The summer inter-exam period (April - Sept) is shorter than the winter period (as well as containing less study-conducive weather). So if you're going to have to study two of the harder topics together at some point, its best to do this in the winter session. Also, thinking further ahead, getting through all the CA1 material and up to speed in one session is alot of work (equivalent to approx 3 CTs), so, if you're going to do this in one session its better to do plan to do it in the winter session.
