Guide to SOA Written Exams
How to be Successful on an SOA Written Exam
1.Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide useful information for candidates taking FSA-level writtenanswer examinations. In addition, we have included examples that illustrate many of the concepts. We hope this proves helpful as you prepare for your exam.
1.1. Strategic Principles
In 2010, the SOA Board of Directors adopted a set of strategic principles for education. The full set of principles is available at http://www.soa.org/education/general-info/edu-strategic-principles.aspx. For you the most important one is #6:
Assessment Methods Principle:Select assessment methods that are appropriate for the subject matter and effectively discriminate between candidates who have and who have not met the standards set for the material being assessed.
Much of this document is devoted to explaining how the SOA goes about living up to this principle with regard to FSA-level written-answer exams. In what follows, we will refer to these more simply as FSA exams.
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