An opportunity to take actuarial exams

The Actuarial Profession offers the opportunity for people who have not joined the profession to take its exams. The subject, Financial Mathematics, is being offered to all candidates worldwide.

• Applying for the exam

Who can take the exam?

The exam is suitable for:

• university students who are interested in becoming actuaries or enhancing their career prospects in finance
• staff in financial services who are interested in becoming actuaries
• staff who work with actuaries and want to develop their numeracy skills
• employers who want to determine whether their staff have the potential to become actuaries

Anyone may enter for the exam and you do not need to meet the entry requirements for the Actuarial Profession to be eligible. However, you will need high level numeracy skills to pass. You will be welcome to sit at any one of our centres worldwide.

Please note that if you are under the age of 18, you will need special arrangements to sit your exam, as this will have to be at your school or college and not at one of our usual centres. We suggest that you contact us when submitting your application form so that we may ensure the arrangements are made in good time for the exam.

The Certificate in Financial Mathematics is not offered to current, lapsed or resigned members. If you have previously joined the Profession as a student member then you will be required to reinstate your membership in order to sit this exam.

What will I learn?

The aim of the Financial Mathematics subject is to provide a grounding in financial mathematics and its simple applications. On completion of the subject, you will be able to:

• use a generalised cash flow model to describe financial transactions
• use the concepts of compound interest and discounting to analyse compound interest problems
• describe how a loan may be repaid by regular instalments of interest and capital
• show how discounted cash flow techniques can be used in investment project appraisal
• describe the investment and risk characteristics of different types of asset available for investment purposes
• calculate the delivery price and value of a forward contract using arbitrage free pricing methods
• understand the term structure of interest rates
• understand simple stochastic models for investment returns

Successful candidates will receive a Certificate in Financial Mathematics.

How do I apply?

The entry period for the April 2010 exam has now closed. The application form and instructions for the next exam session will be available for downloading here when the entry period begins.

• Important exam dates
• Exam entry fees
• Exam centre locations
• Other exam information

How can I prepare?

The Financial Mathematics subject is CT1 in the Core Technical stage of actuarial subjects. You can access the reading and other exam information in the Students area of this site.

• Syllabus and reading for Financial Mathematics (CT1)
• Other exam information

Both The Actuarial Education Company (ActEd) and the University of Leicester provide study material and tuition for this subject.

Are any other subjects available?

No, but the trial could extend to other subjects, such as Finance and Financial Reporting and Probability and Mathematical Statistics, in the future.

For any enquiries, please contact the Exams Team by email examinations@actuaries.org.uk, or on the Exams Hotline Tel: +44 (0)1865 268259.