EducationNews
18 October 2008 www.the-actuary.org.uk
The hijacking of a courier van was one
of the few contingencies the Profession
had not prepared for in its exam
administration process. In 2005, the
unforeseen happened and four scripts were
stolen when the van couriering them in
Bristol was hijacked.
They were among the 10 000 scripts
completed by 6500 students in two exam
sessions each year at 120 centres around
the world, including Asia, the Middle East,
Africa, the US, Australasia and the UK.
Apart from the hijacking, a complex system
of checks and balances carried out by the
Profession ensures that problems, such as
lost papers, are rare.
Steps in the extensive and complex
process of administering each exam include:
n Development of the papers
This involves between three and
seven examiners setting each paper,
recent qualifiers testing the paper
at first and second draft stages.
Staff actuaries and the chair and
deputy chair of the Exam Board also
scrutinise the paper
n Despatch of the papers
Blank scripts and other stationery need
to be delivered to exam centres, 40% of
which are located outside the UK
n Delivery of completed papers to the
Profession's Oxford office
Five scripts are photocopied and sent to
all the examining team and markers, as
well as to a staff actuary. In a markers'
meeting, the scripts are evaluated to
ensure a consistent approach to marking
and to check the need for changes to the
marking schedule
n Delivery of scripts to one of more
than 150 volunteer markers
Once scripts have been marked they
are then forwarded to a second marker,
before they are sent to a lead examiner
for the subject. Scripts in which a
discrepancy between the two markers
appears are sent to a third marker.
The lead examiner produces a report,
recommending the pass rates for
the subject
n Due consideration
Mitigating circumstances that might
have influenced a student's performance
are considered by the exam board
n Pass rate
The pass rate is then determined by the
exam board
n Appeal process
An opportunity is given for students
to appeal, or attend exam counselling
sessions that aim to help them perform
better in the future.
Head of learning Trevor Watkins said
that despite the Profession's efforts to
ensure the process ran smoothly, it was
not without its risks.
"Given the complexity of the process,
it is not surprising that very occasionally
something goes wrong.
"There might be a minor error in the
paper or a script might be lost. Losing one
script out of 10 000 doesn't seem too bad
-- unless it happens to be your script, in
which case it is devastating. However, we do
have in place a very thorough process to do
our best to avoid that happening," he said.
"Fortunately, apart from the hijacking,
it is very rare that a script gets lost. We also
have an exhaustive series of checks to avoid
mistakes in papers," he said.
"We want to assure students that we go to
great lengths to avoid problems and make
sure the process runs as smoothly as possible
given its complexity."
If you are interested in volunteering to
be part of the exam administration process,
please contact karen.brocklesby@actuaries.org.uk
Actuarial exams --
a testing time for all
The Profession's exam process is fraught with potential
problems, from the chance of hijackings to errors on papers.
Fortunately, a comprehensive management system has been
put in place to ensure that glitches are few and far between
Jupiter
�We want to assure students
that we go to great lengths
to avoid problems and make
sure the process runs as
smoothly as possible �

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