CA3: CMP Upgrade 2014/15 Page 1

Subject CA3
CMP Upgrade 2014/15

CMP Upgrade

This CMP Upgrade lists all significant changes to the Core Reading and the ActEd
material since last year so that you can manually amend your 2014 study material to
make it suitable for study for the 2015 exams. It includes replacement pages and
additional pages where appropriate. Alternatively, you can buy a full replacement set of
up-to-date Course Notes at a significantly reduced price if you have previously bought
the full price Course Notes in this subject. Please see our 2015 Student Brochure for
more details.

This CMP Upgrade contains:

all changes to the Syllabus objectives.

changes to the ActEd Course Notes and Series X Assignments that will make
them suitable for study for the 2015 exams.

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1 Changes to the Syllabus objectives

1.1 Syllabus objectives

The section Links to other subjects within the CA3 syllabus has been amended
slightly in that it now refers back to the CT subjects, as follows:

The examination will be based on material taught in Core Applications Subject CA1
Actuarial Risk Management which, in turn, builds on the principles and tools
introduced in subjects CT1 to CT8.

There are no other changes have been made to the Syllabus Objectives.

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2 Changes to the ActEd Course Notes

Section 1.6: The CA3 Exam

This section has been updated to reflect recent development of the practical exams. The
section now reads as follows:

Currently, about 8 weeks before your exam you will be given access to the professions
CA3 Online application. This will given you access to pre-exam material and the
online elements of the practical exam.

The online exam will consist of two parts:

1. A written piece of communication: eg a draft letter, memo or report. You will be
required to create your draft using Microsoft Word.
2. A presentation involving the design of a 5-10 minute presentation (including
slides) and its (oral) delivery. You will be required to create your slides using
Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel.

You will need to draft the written document, create slides and subsequently deliver your
presentation under timed conditions. The whole exam is completed online, via a
dedicated application provided by the profession. You will need a webcam to record
the presentation component of the exam.

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Section 9.2: Articles / Leaflets

This section has been expanded. It now reads as follows:

The general advice we have given earlier is equally appropriate for articles and leaflets.

For example:
Understand your audience (Who?). What level of detail will they need?
Be clear about your purpose (Why?).
Use short, sharp sentences.
Avoid actuarial language, unless the document is specifically intended for
readers who are familiar with such terminology (ie it isnt jargon for them).
Structure your document carefully.

In terms of the format of an article, you should include elements very similar to a letter
or an email, ie:

a title
an introduction (indicating for whom the article is intended, and signposting
forward)
headings (to help guide the reader through the article)
a conclusion/summary section
an indication as to the author's name, the capacity in which they are writing and
the date of the article. This might be achieved by a final paragraph saying "Peter
Smith, the author of this article, is an actuary working in....". Alternatively such
information about the author might be included within the introduction.

In the exam, it is always best to be cautious over style. For example, if you are asked to
write an article about annuities for a consumers magazine, avoid trying to win the
confidence of your imagined readers through sly insinuations that annuity rates are poor
because of unnecessarily prudent assumptions. Although controversial comments are
common in some magazine articles, the examiners expect your writing to do credit to
the profession. Therefore, be objective and balanced (all right, dull, if you like!), rather
than wacky, emotive or controversial.

A creative title can help to attract the readers attention, but dont waste time in the
exam trying to think up something clever.

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Section 12.2: Tips on good delivery

This section has been updated and expanded. It now reads as follows:

Delivery style

Avoid rushing often a consequence of nerves or a misplaced attempt to be

conversational. Conversely, dont try to talk deliberately slowly. Take a natural
pace.
Pause briefly but deliberately after each key message this has the effect of
emphasising the importance of the particular point you are making.
Ideally, to make the presentation more interesting, vary your delivery somewhat
both in terms of pace and the pitch of your voice.

ActEd tips

At the start of any presentation it is generally courteous to ask your audience

whether they can see and hear you clearly. When presenting to a webcam
during the online exam you should still ask such a (rhetorical) question so as to
demonstrate that your focus is upon the needs of the audience. (This is in
addition to checking that the recording levels are ok by using the practice
facility in the online application.)
Avoid jokes always disastrous unless you are a natural comedian/comedienne
(even then it is best to avoid them in exam situations!).

To help you get a feel for some of your personal characteristics, ask colleagues
occasionally what they think of your presentation style and/or make a self-assessment
by critically appraising a video recording of a presentation you have made. Use the
Presentation Feedback form in your pre-exam workbook (within the professions online
application) as a guide. (The feedback form is reproduced in an appendix to these
notes.)

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Delivery mechanics

Make sure you are very familiar with the format of the examination well in
advance of your exam day by using the rehearsal facility within the professions
CA3 Online application.
Ensure your webcam is positioned so that it picks up your upper torso (not just
your head). This is so that the examiner can see your hand gestures clearly. The
examiners will not penalise you if this means that you must move forward briefly
every time you need to click to the next slide.
Use your hands to emphasise points (perhaps simply by gesturing towards
yourself or the webcam) but dont indulge in too much hand waving as this can be
distracting.
If you have any problems with the online application during the examination then
telephone the profession and ask for help immediately. Your examination
instructions will contain the appropriate contact details.

ActEd tips

Look at the webcam as much as possible, but dont fixate on it, as your audience
might find such staring unnatural or intimidating.
It is good to flick your eyes away from the webcam on occasion (eg so as to
refer to notes or cue-cards). However, it is best stop speaking if you need to do
so for any length of time, as otherwise it looks like you are reading a script and
the examiners will penalise you for a lack of engagement with your audience.
People can, over time, develop irritating habits (mine is unknowingly to click
the top of a pen on and off, other people say umm or OK a lot during
presentations). Know what these are and practise so as to eliminate them. (Ive
stopped holding pens when making presentations!).

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Section 14.3: Pictures and graphics

The ActEd tips in this section have been updated. They now reads as follows:

ActEd tips

CA3 is fundamentally about being a good communicator it isnt about being a graphic
artist or entertainer! Dont get distracted from your main tasks that of identifying the
key messages and getting them across to your audience efficiently and in a professional
manner.

However, it is worth becoming familiar with the process of inserting simple clip-art or
graphics into presentation slides using Microsoft PowerPoint. This will give you the
option of doing so in the actual exam.

Note that:

in the CA3 exam you must not use any online resources, and so you will be
limited to the simple clip-art library that comes as standard with PowerPoint
animated clip art wont work in the professions CA3 Online Application, and so
it shouldnt be used.

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3 Changes to the X assignments

Where calendar years are referenced in assignments X3.1, X4.1 and X5.2 they have
been rolled forward by one year.

The marking schedules for the assignments have been updated to make it clearer that
these schedules are consistent with guidance published by the Institute and Faculty of
Actuaries. If you are having your assignments marked you will be told how to obtain a
copy of these new marking schedules when you receive your marked script.

There are no other material changes to the X assignments.

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4 Other tuition services

In addition to this CMP Upgrade you might find the following services helpful with
your study.

4.1 Study material

We offer the following study material in Subject CA3:

ActEd solutions with exam technique (ASET)
Mock Exam A
Mock Exams B and C in the Additional Mock Pack (AMP).

For further details on ActEds study materials, please refer to the 2015 Student
Brochure, which is available from the ActEd website at www.ActEd.co.uk.

4.2 Tutorial, Online Classroom and Mock Exam

We offer the following in Subject CA3:

a Preparation Day (1-day tutorial)
the Online Classroom
a Mock Exam Day.

For further details on the above, please refer to our latest Tuition Bulletin, which is
available from the ActEd website at www.ActEd.co.uk.

4.3 Marking

You can have your attempts at any of our assignments or mock exams marked by
ActEd. When marking your scripts, we aim to provide specific advice to improve your
chances of success in the exam and to return your scripts as quickly as possible.

For further details on ActEds marking services, please refer to our Student Brochure,
which is available from the ActEd website at www.ActEd.co.uk.

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5 Feedback on the study material

ActEd is always pleased to get feedback from students about any aspect of our study
programmes. Please let us know if you have any specific comments (eg about certain
sections of the notes or particular questions) or general suggestions about how we can
improve the study material. We will incorporate as many of your suggestions as we can
when we update the course material each year.

If you have any comments on this course please send them by email to CA3@bpp.com
or by fax to 01235 550085.

IFE: 2015 Examinations The Actuarial Education Company