The ultimate study guide for IFoA Actuary Exams

Firstly, a disclaimer - everyone studies differently and this is just my opinion only. Despite the recent exam changes which appear to be going ahead - this guide is actually useful for most exam types and structures.

Spend time actually understanding the material

This I think is the most pivotal point - it goes beyond simply just passing the exam in front of you. Tutors that recommend speeding through the notes and focusing on questions are not wrong if the only objective is to pass that one exam. But what's the point of passing the exam if you don't understand the material. You should aim to master or at the very least understand the course notes. What do the writer's of the notes and exams want you to know?

Understanding the notes at least ensures you know what to speak about when confronted with a real life actuarial problem. Also, more importantly, understanding the content for one exam will mean that you will be in a better place for the subsequent exams. This is important especially in the earlier exams which lay the foundations in the later exams. I am also convinced that understanding the material better helps you to write the exam - as the exams nowadays are all about application. I.e., how do you apply the notes to real life scenarios? Well if you don't understand the material then how can you apply it.

Attempt questions in exam conditions

Once you understand the material sufficiently - sufficiently meaning you are able to explain 90%+ of the material to a fellow student - then I recommend attempting questions in exam conditions.

I know. Exam conditions suck. But get used to it - earlier the better.

Sitting exams in exam conditions helps to identify gaps in your understanding. The idea here is to focus on the medium hard questions as these present enough of a challenge to get your brain thinking but not too hard that you have writers block and end up just sitting panicking and doing nothing. If the question is too easy then it is wasting your valuable revision time.

It is not just about how hard you study but also how efficiently you study.

For the super hard questions where you don't know where to begin - this is where you need to revisit the material and make sure you understand these topics. Do not focus heavily on marks at this stage, the main focus is checking your understanding and making sure you can identify which topics the question is asking about.

Reread and consolidate

If you identify gaps in understanding or if you are unable to pick up a lot of the marks from the questions you are attempting then you should reread these notes and gain a better understanding.

Then, once you've reread certain topics, you need to consolidate your notes. The point of consolidation is to have short notes that highlights areas where you are struggling. These notes can then spark your memory and understanding of the topic. The notes should be comprehensive enough to answer a bookwork question. So even if you understand a topic fully it is worth noting down the main points of that topic. Write it down, type it up - as long as you are making the notes yourself (not using AI).

Once you have consolidated notes you no longer need to refer back to the main notes. This is a position where you can identify your progress - too long notes mean you are not understanding many topics and need to reassess, too short notes shows you understand a lot of the material (but may also show over confidence).

Attempt past papers

This might sound controversial but you do not need to do many past papers at all. Papers before 2020 are not alike papers now, mostly due to the move online, syllabus changes and a move to more application based questions. As papers are focused on application you should practice application and higher order questions to prepare for the exam. So skip the bookwork questions! Remember you need to study efficiently.

This is the point where you need to focus on how many marks you are obtaining for a question. Try to identify patterns in your answers. Are you answering the question too narrowly? If so, you need to generate more ideas. Are you writing too many irrelevant points? If so, plan the question, break it down into subparts, and spread points throughout the subparts.

One benefit to doing more past papers is being able to identify patterns in questions which enables you to pick up on what topic is being asked. But I would only do this if you have an abundance of time, otherwise the pay off is quite low in my opinion.

It goes without saying that past paper questions should be done in exam conditions. If you are not doing past papers in exam conditions then (I believe) you are just fooling yourself.

If pushed for time you can just read the past papers - so reading the question, thinking what you may write down, and then reading the answers. But beware that simply reading material is not as good as writing stuff down when it comes to memory and understanding.

To close...

I hope the above helps in revising. If you want to ask questions or are interested in exam coaching / mentoring then please feel free to get in touch with me.