CT, CA1, ST and SA subjects | CA2 and CA3 subjects

The exam counselling service is offered on behalf of the Board of Examiners. The aims of the service are to help students understand:

• Why the paper was failed
• How to improve their performance in that subject
• How to develop exam technique generally

Application form: CT, CA1, ST and SA subjects
Application form: subject CA2 courses
Application form: subject CA3 courses

Exam counselling policies

CT, CA1, ST and SA subjects

The exam counselling service is available to students who have failed an exam in either of the last two sessions. We will retrieve your scripts from the examiners, and if you can make arrangements to be at one of the Institute and Faculty offices in the UK (Oxford, London or Edinburgh) you can meet for up to one hour with a staff actuary who specialises in the relevant subject. You will be able to discuss your performance on your scripts and how you can improve in the future. We should warn you that you will not be able to take your scripts away and you will not be able to see the actual marks you attained. You will also receive a short report to remind you of the main parts of the discussion.

The cost of £225 for one paper or £340 for both CA1 papers may seem expensive but you are getting several hours of an actuary's time for your money. To ensure you get the most out of your counselling you should have reviewed the exam papers before your meeting and thought about any specific questions. Please note that for the South African Fellowship paper, exam counselling is offered by ASSA. Exam counselling will not be offered for the UK Practice Modules (P0-P6) or CT9.

We would normally expect you to attend a meeting if you are based in the UK. If you are based overseas and cannot make it to a meeting, then we can provide you with a comprehensive written report with comments on your performance and advice to aid your next attempt at the exam. If your company has video conferencing facilities we are prepared to consider this possibility. We should warn you that you will not be able to see your scripts or have copies of them.

Following the April exams there is a short space of time available for counselling before the September exams. Therefore you should be aware that some counselling sessions may have to take place within a short time of the forthcoming diet and if demand is very high we may not be able to accommodate all requests before the next exams. We will do the best we can to arrange convenient dates but some sessions may have to be held later in the autumn.

Following the September exams we invite you to give us some indication of when you would like your counselling. We will do our best to try and meet your wishes. However, there are occasionally delays in the locating of scripts so we cannot guarantee that we will be able to offer all of you the dates you request.

Closing dates for counselling applications

The closing dates for exam counselling applications will always take the following pattern:

For the April exams
3 weeks plus the following weekend from the publication of the results for the CA, ST and SA subjects.

For the September exams
8 weeks plus the following weekend from the publication of the results for the CA, ST and SA subjects.

These closing dates are applicable where students wish for counselling to take place prior to the next exams.

Applications for counselling will be accepted on both of the two previous diets up to the next exam counselling closing date. After this, counselling will only be available on the immediately previous exam diet.

CA2 and CA3 exam counselling service

Face to face exam counselling in subjects CA2 and CA3 is also available. Please see the application forms for further details.

As for other exams, the aims of the service are to help students understand

• Why the paper was failed
• How to improve their performance in that subject
• How to develop exam technique generally

Application form: subject CA2 courses
Application form: subject CA3 courses

Upon receipt of your completed application form and payment, the Courses Team will retrieve the work that you submitted for the exam, and will contact you to arrange an appointment at one of the Institute and Faculty offices in the UK (Oxford, London or Edinburgh). You can meet for up to one hour with a staff actuary who specialises in CA2 or in CA3. You will be able to discuss your performance on your work and how you can improve in the future. We should warn you that you will not be able to take your scripts away and you will not be able to see the actual marks you attained. You will also receive a short report to remind you of the main parts of the discussion.

The cost for this service is £225. This may seem expensive but takes into account the Staff Actuary's time for reviewing the script, preparing and attending the meeting.

Students are reminded that the earliest that an appointment may be made following acknowledgement of the application form by the Courses Team will be 6-8 weeks. This is to allow sufficient time for the Staff Actuary to review the script and prepare the report.

Closing dates for CA2 and CA3 counselling applications

Each course has its own closing date.

Closing dates for CA2 applications
Closing dates for CA3 applications