Just like you I share these frustrations. Then I looked at the IFoA website, the student consultative forum section, and find that the SCF have patiently, since June 2014, expressed deep concerns about this exam. They've explained that students were not understanding at all why they had failed (or passed!) it & that it felt like a lottery. They've made very reasonable requests of help on jargon, sample pass/fail presentations, so that we can all have a fairer shot at passing this exam. Unfortunately it looks like the help was not actioned and therefore in my view these meetings are a waste of time as nothing is really being done. To be frank about it, it looks like SCF is more like somewhere for them to direct complaints at and only hear about them twice a year.
So what can we do? In a school or university setting, if you had pass rates as low as this then students could go to the teachers or professors and complain. For us, our teachers are the acted tutors. I think acted need to have emergency meetings with the profession to figure out exactly what's going on & completely update their provision on CA3 so they can get people passing this.
I've recently sat CA3 but even if I end up passing it this time, I will not have the same kind of feeling or celebration or pride at my hard work, as deep down none of this feels right, as it just feels like a lottery.
A figure of 60% has been quoted as a likely pass mark: well I had over 60% average in the presentation in its previous format years ago & ended up with an FB. They refused to disclose the marks to the written question. Surely it wasn't THAT bad? It doesn't add up.
Last edited by a moderator: Nov 4, 2016