IFoA SP7

It is a written, constructed-response examination: you answer long-form questions in prose, often with calculations embedded. A calculator is permitted. The IFoA publishes the current paper structure, any split between sections, and the time allowed on its website, so check there rather than relying on second-hand accounts, since arrangements have changed over time.

It is a Specialist Principles paper, so it assumes you are comfortable with the core techniques and tests whether you can apply them under time pressure to unfamiliar scenarios. The calculation steps are rarely the hard part; the marks are lost on explanation, on assumptions, and on not answering the question as set. Candidates who have worked in general insurance find the context easier.

Most candidates budget several months of part-time study alongside work, front-loaded on the technical chapters and back-loaded on timed practice. The useful measure is not hours logged but the number of full past papers written under exam conditions and marked. Track your scores by syllabus area and revisit the weakest ones rather than rereading notes you already know.

Resits are generally possible at subsequent sittings, subject to the IFoA's current rules on attempts and any limits that apply. The specific rules, deadlines and fees are published by the IFoA and can change, so confirm them on its website before you plan a resit. Treat a failed attempt as diagnostic: identify which syllabus areas cost you marks.

Start with products and the operating environment, because every later topic is illustrated through them. Then take pricing and reserving together, since the data and methods overlap. Move to reinsurance, then capital and solvency, which draw on reserving. Asset-liability management and enterprise risk management come next, and professionalism is best revisited throughout with past-paper practice.

The recurring causes are running out of time because early answers were too long, ignoring the verb in the question, giving generic lists instead of applying a method to the stated scenario, and skipping the discussion marks that follow a calculation. Poor arithmetic discipline in reserving and capital questions also costs easy marks. Practising full papers under timing exposes all of these before the real sitting.

Enough that you should be fluent with chain ladder and related reserving methods, exposure and experience rating, reinsurance recoveries, and basic capital and discounting arithmetic. The exam is not a mathematics test, though: a calculation is usually a platform for a judgement question about assumptions, data quality or sensitivity. Show your workings so partial credit is available.

The IFoA publishes exam dates, entry deadlines, fees and the current syllabus and exam regulations on its own website. Those details change between sessions, so this page deliberately does not quote them. Check the official site before booking, and read the examiners' reports for the sittings closest to yours.

No. This is independent study material and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. Always treat the official syllabus, regulations and examiners' reports as authoritative, and use independent notes only as a supplement to them.