• Application form for courses in 2008-2009
  Includes dates and fees for courses currently available
• Course content, including start and finish times [pdf]
• Information for UK students
• Information for non-UK students
• Distance learning version
• Frequently asked questions

The Business Awareness Module is Subject CT9. It involves a 2-day residential course, with pre-course study and a post-course exam, and has been designed to help people joining the Actuarial Profession understand:

• the business environment they will be working in, including the related challenges
• how to tackle business related problems
• their professional responsibilities
• legal principles relevant to the work of actuaries

Attendance at the course and passing the post-course exam is a requirement of qualification for those who joined the Profession after 30 June 2004.

The pre-course study should take approximately 25-30 hours and consists of:

• animated online tutorials covering strategic thinking, and a related case study
• briefing papers for a business game
• online reading material covering legal principles

In order to benefit fully from the course, it will be essential that students carry out all the pre-course work.

Not all of the strategic thinking online tutorials have to be studied pre-course. The remainder may be completed pre- or post-course and may take a further 15 hours. They must be completed before taking the post-course online exam.

The post-course online exam, which consists of multiple choice questions, should normally be taken within 2 to 4 weeks of attending the course, and should take less than 2 hours to complete.

The pass list for the module will be released on the 1st of each month, unless this falls on a weekend when it will be published on the following Monday.

Who must take the Business Awareness Module and when?

The Business Awareness Module must be taken by anyone who registered as a student of the Actuarial Profession after 30 June 2004.

It is recommended that students take the Business Awareness Module within 15 to 18 months of registering.

What does the Business Awareness Module cover?

The module ranges over these business awareness topics:

• strategy
• organisations
• management
• external influences
• business standards and ethics
• legal principles

The main content of the course is:

• industry issues, developments and challenges
• strategic thinking with case studies and problem solving techniques
• a business game supporting the learning objectives of the course
• professional and ethical standards and case studies
• legal principles and case studies

Where are courses held?

Courses are held in the UK (in Edinburgh and London), in Ireland and in South Africa. A distance-learning version will be available for members for whom it will be impractical to attend a course.

Specific queries may be sent to courses@actuaries.org.uk.