Contacting us

To contact us, the following should help you:

Team	E-mail	Telephone	Fax
Admissions	admissions@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268209	+44 (0)1865 268233
Business Awareness Module	bam@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268209	+44 (0)1865 268233
Careers	careers@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268228	+44 (0)1865 268222
Examinations	examinations@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268259	+44 (0)1865 268222
Examination Counselling	examcounselling@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268225	+44 (0)1865 268244
Exemptions	exemptions@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268255	+44 (0)1865 268233
Libraries	libraries@actuaries.org.uk
	Edinburgh	+44 (0)131 2401 311	+44 (0)131 2401 313
	London	+44 (0)20 7632 2114	+44 (0)20 7632 2111
	Oxford	+44 (0)1865 268208	+44 (0)1865 268211
Modelling	modelling@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268212	+44 (0)1865 268233
Professionalism Courses	professionalism@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268214	+44 (0)1865 268233
Work-Based Skills	wbs@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268248	+44 (0)1865 268222
Publications	publications@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)1865 268242	+44 (0)1865 268253
Subscription renewals	membership@actuaries.org.uk	+44 (0)131 2401 325	+44 (0)131 2401 313

Hours of business are: Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.00pm.

Student Handbook 2006/2007

This is in the process of being updated and will appear on the website in the next few weeks. You will only receive a hard copy if you are a student based in the UK. However, all students will receive a link via e-mail when it becomes available.

Work-Based Skills

Work-Based Skills has been in place for nearly two years. Therefore for those of you who:

• joined between mid 2004 and mid 2005 you should by now have submitted one or more learning logs for review
• joined from mid 2005 to date you should either have submitted or be preparing to submit a learning log for review

It has come to light that a number of students are completing their learning logs but not submitting them to us for review during this quality assurance period.

Blank supervisor forms and learning log review forms can be found on the web-site under Work-Based Skills.

If you are unable to undertake Work-Based Skills for any reason please let us know so that we can update your record accordingly.

We are currently experiencing an increase in the number of learning logs received as the scheme gathers momentum and you may not receive an immediate response. We aim to feedback to you within 4–6 weeks of receiving your learning log.

Please do remember if Work-Based Skills is applicable to you then you cannot transfer to the class of Fellow until your learning log has been completed demonstrating three years practical experience which has been signed off by both a Fellow of the Profession who is familiar with your work and the Profession.

You can contact the Work-Based Skills team on wbs@actuaries.org.uk if you have any queries.

Business Awareness Module

Changes to the Module are being planned in order to introduce the basic knowledge that actuaries need about legal matters. Such changes will take place with effect from November 2006.

The dates of UK courses for the rest of 2006 and for 2007 are as follows:

2006
1/2 November	London — this course is now full
23/24 November	London — this course is now full
2007
17/18 January	London
24/25 January	Edinburgh
2/3 May	London
16/17 May	London
6/7 June	London
13/14 June	London
31 October / 1 November	London
28/29 November	London

As a reminder please note that you are expected to take the Module within 18 months of joining the Faculty or Institute. The maximum number of students that can be accepted on a course is usually 72 but can be less depending on the available meeting rooms. Please help ensure you can attend the date of your choice by applying as soon as you are eligible.

Further information about this module is given on the website. If this does not answer your query, please contact: bam@actuaries.org.uk

Modelling Module

Based on the feedback we have received from students, employers and assessors during the first year of this module, we have decided to make the following changes to the course for 2006 and 2007:

Eligibility

Before you are able to start working through this module you must have:

• seriously attempted subjects CT1–CT8 or their earlier equivalents (having gained a pass, FA or FB)
• one year’s work experience (instead of the current mandatory attempt at CA1 and CA3)
• your employer’s approval to attend
• worked through the sample projects and considered the other relevant material on the website

This means that students and employers have greater flexibility in deciding when to take this module.

You are reminded that the key assessments for this module are the clear communication of a spreadsheet model and results through both the audit trail and summary.

Course content

Various small changes have been made, including working on Excel techniques as part of the pre-course work, and having a fuller discussion on spreadsheet design and approaches to audit trails during day one of the course.

Venues and dates

Demand has increased significantly and so we are planning more courses and increasing the number of places available on each course. In future, courses will only be held in Edinburgh or Oxford, with the majority in Oxford in order to facilitate cost effectiveness and meet demand.

Invitations to apply for courses will be released during the year.

Further information about this module is given on the modelling pages.

If this does not answer your query, please contact: modelling@actuaries.org.uk

Overseas courses

If you are based overseas you are encouraged to attend courses in the UK or one organised by your local actuarial society: Contact details.

The Actuarial Society of India and The Actuarial Society of South Africa are offering business awareness and modelling courses, and the Singapore Actuarial Society is offering modelling courses.

After successfully completing a module overseas you will then apply (and pay) for an exemption from the UK module in the same way as for other subjects.

Distance learning version

We are developing a distance learning version of each module aimed at students who cannot attend a face-to-face course.

The Modelling Distance Learning module is almost complete and we expect to invite applications for this in September 2006.

It is intended to launch the Business Awareness Distance Learning module in the first quarter 2007.

Examinations

By the time most of you have looked at this edition of the Education Noticeboard the majority of the September examinations will have been sat and the examinations team will be in the process of ensuring your scripts are being marked.

We hope the session has gone well for you and it seems a good opportunity to remind you about some of the processes.

Approximately 20,000 examination papers are sat each year in over 100 centres worldwide. Each session requires somewhere in the region of 180 markers as each examination script is marked twice and borderline cases are marked a third time and possibly a fourth. It takes a lot of effort to organise all of this within the tight deadlines so in order to help the examinations team we do ask that you keep to the closing date deadlines. Overseas deadlines are 7 weeks before the examinations start as the team need time to prepare/pack stationery and permits to send to overseas centres. UK deadlines are 4 weeks before the examinations start as stationery and permits are sent out to centres and students two weeks before the examinations start. Late entries are not accepted. Whilst one or two extra papers may not seem a lot to one student we do have a large number who miss the deadline. The logistical impact of trying to organise extra seating or extra markers can affect the service given to the majority of students who do meet the deadline.

We cannot stress enough the importance of getting your examination entry form in on time. In fact the earlier we receive it the earlier you will receive the e-mail confirmation saying you have been entered. (This is why it is important for you to check that your records show the correct e-mail address, by logging on to the members’ area of the website and selecting which address you would prefer us to use for correspondence — note that hotmail accounts are unreliable and often e-mail confirmations to such accounts do not get through.)

Many students leave their examination entry form submission until the closing date. This runs the risk of the form not being received by the team and it being too late for the omission to be corrected. This then means that the student cannot be entered for the examinations for which they have studied. Faxed entries suffer in particular and even if you have a confirmation that transmission was successful this is no guarantee that it has been received by the examinations team. You should therefore confirm your entry has been received by calling the examinations team after you have sent your form through and before the closing date. On the closing date the examinations team are immobilised with the number of telephone calls and e-mails received requesting confirmation of entry and a larger than expected number of students requesting an examination entry form. We are currently looking at ways to reduce this happening and further updates will appear in future editions of the Education Noticeboard.

The team work very hard to run the examinations but not everything will go according to plan for all of you. However, if you have any thoughts or suggestions then please let either your Student Consultative Committee representative know or e-mail the Registrar at Napier House.

Examination results for the September 2006 examinations

Pass lists will be published on the following days:

CT stage subjects: 17 November
Other subjects: 1 December

These will be available on the website at 22.00 hrs GMT on the night before the relevant publication date. Individual results will be posted to arrive on the date of publication.

Cheating in the examinations

During the marking of the April 2006 examinations we spotted evidence of cheating by students. You should be aware that such cases are dealt with severely.

Examination histories

Issues have arisen with moving the data from several databases onto one. Thank you for advising us of any omissions. We are correcting them for the next release. We would also like to thank you for your continued patience. We realise that it is frustrating for you but hope to have a new release available in the New Year.

2007 examination dates

April

Date	am	pm
11 April	CA1 (Paper 1)	CA1 (Paper 2)
12 April	CT1	ST1
13 April	CT8	ST5
16 April	CT2	ST3
17 April	CT5	ST4
18 April	SA1-6	UK Practice modules
19 April	CT6	CA3
20 April	CT4	ST6
23 April	CT3	ST2
24 April	CT7

September

 

Date	am	pm
24 September	CA1 (Paper 1)	CA1 (Paper 2)
25 September	CT1	ST1
26 September	CT8	ST5
27 September	CT2	ST3
28 September	CT5/CPFE	ST4
1 October	SA1-6	UK Practice modules
2 October	CT6	CA3
3 October	CT4	ST6
4 October	CT3	ST2
5 October	CT7

Closing dates for receipt of 2007 examination entries

	April	September
Overseas:	19 February	6 August
United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland	12 March	28 August

Examination results for the 2007 examinations

	April	September
CT1-8	22 June	7 December
CT9 (Business Awareness Module)	at the end of each month
CA1, CA3, STs, SAs, UK Practice Modules	6 July	21 December
CA2 (Modelling)	3–4 weeks after examination sat	September
CPFE	-	21 December

Student Consultative Committee

The next meeting of the Student Consultative Committee will be on 3 November 2006. Agenda items for discussion are needed by 20 October 2006. If you have any issues you want raised please let your local representative know or write directly to Trevor Watkins at Napier House.

Core Reading and changes documents

Core Reading for the 2007 examinations is now available. Documents detailing changes to the Syllabuses and Core Reading for the 2007 examinations are available on the website. Fully copies of the Core Reading can be obtained from the Publications Department

NUS Student Card

We are currently negotiating with the NUS for an Actuarial Profession Student Card for the 2006/2007 academic year.

We should have full details, including an application form, shortly and will e-mail them to you when we have them.