Iran Official Insurance Actuary Exam exam-day guide
Iran Official Insurance Actuary Exam · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Photo ID (national ID card / birth certificate)
Bring the original Iranian national ID card (kart-e melli) or, if not yet issued, the birth certificate plus a recent photo, as the registration body requires. Confirm with the provider which exact document is accepted for your sitting and whether a photocopy is tolerated; treat any uncertainty about document type as needs_review.
Admission card / exam entry permit
Print the admission card issued through the registration portal and check that your name, national ID number, exam level, and test center address are correct. If any field is wrong, contact the provider before test day rather than at the door.
Two or three black or blue ballpoint pens
Bring spare pens plus a pencil and eraser if the answer sheet is machine-read. Confirm with the provider which pen color and whether pencil is allowed for the answer sheet, since optical readers reject some inks.
Simple non-programmable calculator
Actuarial sittings usually permit a basic scientific calculator for interest, annuity, and life-table work. Confirm with the provider the exact permitted models and whether programmable or graphing calculators are banned; do not assume.
No smart devices on your person
Leave phones, smartwatches, and earbuds at home or hand them in as instructed. Even a powered-off phone found at your desk can be treated as a violation.
Printed formula and life-table reference (only if permitted)
Some sittings supply a formula sheet or mortality table; others expect you to know the standard commutation functions. Confirm with the provider what reference material is provided versus what you may bring.
Confirm exact test center location and arrival time
Re-check the address and reporting time on the admission card the day before. Iranian test centers can be reassigned; plan to arrive well before the stated time to allow for security checks.
Plan the route and transport
Do a dry run or check traffic patterns for the morning slot. Budget extra time for Tehran or other large-city congestion and for finding the correct building entrance.
Sleep and light review only
The night before, review commutation symbols, annuity formulas, and reserving identities at a summary level. Cramming new material the night before tends to hurt accuracy more than it helps.
Water and a light snack for after the exam
Bring water and a snack to leave outside the hall; long sittings can run several hours and breaks are usually not permitted.
Read the answer-sheet instructions on the spot
Check whether wrong answers carry a penalty and how many options exist. Confirm with the provider the scoring rule on negative marking; it changes guessing strategy.
Bring a watch if clocks are not visible
A plain analog or basic digital watch helps you pace sections. Smartwatches are not acceptable; leave them at home.
Plan the day
Re-read the admission card and confirm the center address, reporting time, and permitted items with the provider. Assemble your ID, pens, and calculator in one bag. Do one timed mock under exam conditions, then stop introducing new topics and spend remaining time on formula recall and past weak areas.
Review your personal error log: sign conventions in annuity-due versus immediate, discounting at fractional durations, and reserve recursion. Write a one-page formula sheet from memory and check it against your notes.
Do a light pass over life-table and commutation-function definitions, then stop studying by early evening. Prepare clothes, ID, admission card, and calculator the night before. Sleep a full night; fatigue costs more marks than one extra hour of review.
Eat a normal breakfast, arrive early, and keep review to a single summary page. At the door, follow instructions on phones and bags, confirm your seat number, and read the cover page of the paper before starting.
Scan the whole paper, note the mark allocation, and identify the easy computational items. Write down key formulas on scratch paper immediately so you are not recalling them under pressure later.
Work in passes: answer confident items first, flag long multi-step reserving or pricing problems, and return to them. Track time against the number of questions, keep units and discount conventions explicit, and leave time to transfer answers to the answer sheet if one is used.
Check that every answer is marked, verify you have not shifted a row on the answer sheet, and revisit flagged items only where a quick sanity check can change the answer.
Rules to check
Bring the exact ID document the provider specifies, in original form; photocopies or expired documents are commonly refused, so confirm the accepted document with the provider before test day.
Arrive before the reporting time on the admission card. Late entry is often barred once the paper has started, and no extra time is granted for late arrival.
Phones, smartwatches, and any communication or programmable devices must be handed in or left outside the hall; possession at the desk can void your result.
Breaks are generally not permitted during a sitting, so plan water and restroom use before entering. Confirm with the provider whether any supervised break exists for your exam length.
Follow the invigilator's instructions on scratch paper, answer-sheet marking, and leaving the hall; do not communicate with other candidates once the paper is distributed.
Scoring rules, including any penalty for wrong answers and the pass mark, are set by the provider. Confirm the negative-marking policy before the exam, since it determines whether guessing is worthwhile.
Do not remove question papers, answer sheets, or supplied reference tables from the hall unless the invigilator explicitly allows it.
If you believe a question is defective or a reference table is missing, raise it with the invigilator during the sitting rather than after; note the question number for any later appeal.