Upgrade to Education Program reflected in strong Semester 1 results

Semester 1 2021 pass rates are shown in the following table:

The Actuaries Institute is pleased to announce that the prize winners for each subject, as nominated by the respective subject chief examiners, are:

The Institute is delighted that the work which has gone into the upgrade of the education system is paying dividends across the new subjects that have been taught in previous semesters. Providing updated content, new ways of learning and a more structured approach to the education process is beginning to improve the performance of our students. 

As expected, students are performing well in the Actuary Program with pass rates for the last three semesters as follows:

The assessment of the CMP subject combines both a significant written assignment and a five-minute recorded video presentation. Students have told us that they have found much of the content useful in the workplace on a day to day basis and we believe they will also be better placed for success in the Fellowship Program. CMP is designed to help students understand workplace required skills of communicating results and demonstrating critical thinking. These skills are tested in more depth in all the Fellowship subjects.

The life insurance and retirement subjects were first delivered in 2019 and we are witnessing pass rates above 50%. The Life Insurance and Retirement Education Faculty monitors the subjects and is satisfied that standards are being maintained. The next table provides some historical pass rates showing improving performance.

Some of our students have now completed the Data Analytics Principles subject offered by universities as part of the Actuary Program along with the Actuarial Control Cycle. We are also excited to be offering the new Data Analytics Applications subject which commences in July this year.

The Institute is starting to collect information which will help us analyse key success factors for students in the Fellowship exams. Anecdotal evidence suggests that attendance at the live tutorials where students can ask questions and interact with the Chief Examiner along with consistent application of study effort of at least 15-20 hours a week from the beginning of the semester are strong factors. Students should commit to their study from the beginning as it becomes difficult to catch up given the volume of material and the way in which the information builds from week to week. 

We aim to continually improve the student learning experience that should help in increasing pass rates whilst maintaining standards. Ideas are often driven by student feedback and from the many Fellows who continue to provide us with their expertise. A theme that we are addressing is to expand material to include more practice questions that range from simple testing of ideas up to questions of examination standard. We hope to convince more students to provide feedback as that will help improve the offering for future cohorts.

There is still a lot to be done as the program continues to evolve but we are well along the first part of the journey and feeling confident about the future. 

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