Help and Advice

  1. Overview

Advice For Students Studying Subjects CB2, SP6 Or SP9

These subjects have moved away from the traditional "Core Reading" approach. Instead, the majority of the Core Reading is replaced by references to the textbooks listed in the table below. As a result, ActEd's Course Notes in these subjects are not intended to be used as stand-alone courses. Instead, in Subjects SP6 and SP9, the notes aim to summarise the key principles and results and to explain in more detail the most difficult topics in the Syllabus. In Subject CB2, the notes provide guidance through the reading, along with advice and question practice in preparation for the examination. End of chapter/module Practice Questions and a set of Series X Assignments have also been produced.

ActEd's full-price Combined Materials Pack in each subject will include the relevant textbooks, as well as the Course Notes, X Assignments and Mock Exam in the bundled price. However, all of these items may also be purchased individually. ActEd's prices for purchasing the textbooks separately can be found in the table below and the prices of ActEd's other materials can be found here.

CB2 Economics by J. Sloman, J Guest and D Garratt (11th Ed),
ISBN 978-1-292-40533-9 (print)
ISBN 978-1-292-40540-7 (eBook, reflowable format)
£60
£50
SP6 Options, Futures and other Derivatives by J. C. Hull, (11th Ed),
ISBN 978-1-292-41065-4 (print)
ISBN 978-1-292-41062-3 (eBook, fixed format)
Financial calculus: an introduction to derivative pricing by M. Baxter and A. Rennie,
ISBN 978-0-521-55289-9 (print)
ISBN 978-1-139-63618-6 (eBook, reflowable format)
£55
£45

£65
£54
SP9 Enterprise Risk Management From Incentives to Controls by J. Lam (2nd Ed),
ISBN 978-1-118-41361-6 (print)
ISBN 978-1-118-83436-7 (eBook, fixed format)
Financial Enterprise Risk Management (2nd Ed), by Paul Sweeting,
ISBN 978-1-107-18461-9
ISBN 978-1-316-88484-3 (eBook, reflowable format)
£75
£70

£90
£85

Please note:

  1. If you order the CMP at the retaker price you will not receive the textbooks.
  2. Reduced-rate materials - discounts are not available for the CB2, SP6 or SP9 textbooks (unless purchased as part of the relevant CMP).
  3. Printed textbooks are included with the printed CMP. The CMP eBook includes the relevant eTextbook(s) accessible only through VitalSource Bookshelf. More information about Bookshelf can be found here.

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  1. Additional Information

Online Classroom - In Subject SA1

Additional Information

We are pleased to be able to release a mini-Online Classroom for Subject SA1. The mini-Online Classroom includes 28 video units, a question handout and solutions pack. There is also a dedicated SA1 mini-Online Classroom forum which is monitored by ActEd tutors. The mini-Online Classroom may be of particular interest to students who are unable to attend the SA1 block tutorial or are retaking the exam.

The SA1 mini-Online Classroom has been produced primarily using units from the new SA2 Online Classroom. The units in the mini-SA1 Online Classroom as the same as those in the SA2 Online Classroom. Therefore, they may refer to 'life insurance' or products that are less relevant to SA1 (such as with-profits products). However, all the units cover material that is included within SA1 where there is significant overlap between the Core Reading for subjects SA1 and SA2.

The topics covered are:

  • Solvency II
  • Professional standards and guidance
  • Profit reporting
  • Embedded value
  • Capital management.

The SA1 mini-Online Classroom also includes subject specific material on the funding of healthcare.

In addition, the SA1 mini-Online Classroom also recaps some material from the SP1 Online Classroom including:

  • Product design
  • Reinsurance
  • Risk
  • Risk management.

Please note that this mini-Online Classroom does not cover the whole SA1 course. In particular, areas that are not covered include:

  • Product specific details
  • Assessing, recommending and implications of strategies
  • Analysis of experience.

There is no intention at this time to expand the SA1 mini-Online Classroom to include these areas.

We hope that students preparing for the SA1 exam will find this mini-Online Classroom a helpful addition to the ActEd product range.

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  1. ACET

Actuarial Common Entrance Test (ACET) For IAI

ACET

ActEd offers Course Notes and Online Coaching to help students pass ACET. Our Course Notes and Online Classroom cover virtually all of the Mathematics and Statistics parts of the entrance test. Any maths and statistics topics that are not covered are given to you as free downloads below. The study material does not cover the English, Data Interpretation and Logic elements of the ACET test.

There are different packages available depending on how much support is required. The three study packages available are:

  • Bronze Package

    The Bronze Study Package gives the choice of an eBook or hard copy of a textbook. The textbook contains comprehensive notes explaining all topics, numerous worked examples with solutions, and many additional practice questions with summary solutions.

  • Silver Package

    As well as the textbook, the Silver Study Package gives access to our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) containing online Study Manuals, tests and two realistic Practice Exams. The Study Manual gives a step-by-step guide to studying each chapter of the textbook including shortcuts to help efficient study. An online Introductory Test for each chapter indicates how much time to spend studying the material. The online Progress Test at the end of each chapter allows students to check their understanding of the material. The Silver Study Package also includes full solutions to the textbook practice questions. Each Practice Exam contains 60 questions.

    The Silver Study Package gives many more questions than the Bronze Package to help consolidate learning. Access to the online materials lasts up to 13 months from the date of purchase.

  • Gold Package

    In addition to all the benefits of the Silver Study Package, the Gold Study Package gives access, through the VLE, to our comprehensive pre-recorded Online Tutorials. The easily-searched collection of online tutorial units have been produced by our dedicated team of tutors, who have vast experience in teaching actuarial science. This package also gives access to a dedicated online discussion forum.

    Access to the VLE lasts 13 months from date of purchase.

    The price for the Bronze Package is £40
    The price for the Silver Package is £75
    The price for the Gold Package is £110

The maths and statistics topics that aren't covered are given as free downloads below:

Please read the important information below about our eBooks before ordering.

Download a sample of the textbook; download the contents page.

Online Courses: Logging In

Download Acrobat

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  1. Tutorials key dates
  2. Expected availability for study materials

Key Dates

Tutorials key dates

Full details of our provisional tutorial timetable and more details of the application process for tutorials are set out in our Tuition Bulletin.

To maximise your chance of getting a place on your chosen tutorial, you should apply as soon as possible and certainly well before the relevant finalisation date shown in the Tuition Bulletin.

Expected availability for study materials

September 2024 Combined Materials Pack (Core Subjects)
October 2024 Combined Materials Pack (Specialist Subjects)
November 2024 CMP Upgrade 2024/25
(where available, available free of charge from our website)
January 2025 Mock Exam, AMP, Flashcards, Revision Notes
October 2024 ASET (2020-2023 papers)
November 2024 Online Classroom (April 2025 exams)
May 2025 Online Classroom (September 2025 exams)
Nov 2024 (Tentative) Mini-ASET (September 2024 exams)

Please note that eBooks may not be available until around 3 weeks after these dates, but we will release them as soon as we can.

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  1. Overview

Answering Questions Using R

Overview

For a question that uses R, it is necessary to include the R code and the outputs from the calculations, including graphs (if relevant), in the submitted Word document. Possible approaches for completing the answer booklet include:

  1. Incorporate the output and any necessary notes into the script file as comments. At the end, copy all the script (CTRL+A → CTRL+C) and paste it (CTRL+V) into the Word document.
  2. Clear the console window (CTRL+L) and then run all the code (CTRL+A → CTRL+ENTER) so that the answers and code are displayed in the console window. At the end, copy the entire console window (right click → Select all → CTRL+C) and then paste it as unformatted text (right click → Paste Options → Keep Text Only (T)) into the Word document. It may still be necessary to provide notes, either as a script comment or directly in the answer booklet, for some of the answers.
  3. Copy the code and output for each question into the Word document, and then type the answers for that question directly into the Word document.

If you are using a MacBook, the commands above require use of the Command key rather than CTRL, except for clearing the console, which is still CTRL+L.

To copy graphs into the answer booklet from the plot viewer within RStudio, select 'Export' → 'Copy to Clipboard' and press 'Copy Plot'.

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