Passing an Actuarial Exam is a two-step process. Firstly, you need to optimise your preparation time before the exam. The second stage is about mastering the writing phase of the exam. Students often overlook this crucial second stage, which can lead to mistakes that could easily be prevented with proper attention and practice.

Today, we’ll dive into 5 common mistakes to avoid while writing your exam. The goal is not just to make you aware of them, but to help you become familiar with the exam setup so these good practices become second nature. As you work through past papers in timed exam conditions during the final weeks of preparation, consciously practise avoiding these mistakes so that they become part of your exam-day routine.

01. Spending Too Much Time on One Question

This is the most common mistake made by students, which results in them not finishing the entire paper on time. Throughout AEI’s teaching sessions, you will have a couple of general discussions about how much time to spend on each question based on the marks allotted to them. Note that it varies for every paper, so make sure to have this discussion with your tutor in one of the sessions before the exam.

Once you know how much time you are roughly expected to spend on each question (or each separate part), make sure to keep a mental track of time while attempting each part in the paper and try not to exceed the time limit allotted to it. This will ensure that you are able to attempt the whole paper in time.

Bonus Tips 

$\bullet \quad$Do not be completely rigid when it comes to the amount of time spent attempting each part. You may end up spending 30 minutes answering a part which was supposed to be answered within 25 minutes. Don’t panic. The key is to not exceed the allotted time by more than 5 minutes. If you do end up exceeding, consciously make up for lost time in another part. This intuition will develop as you practice past papers in a timed exam setting before the actual exam.

$\bullet \quad$If a certain part is too confusing, write the points (or perform calculations) you think could be relevant to the topic surrounding the question. Make a reasonable attempt at that part and move on. Remember, the goal is not to chase perfection, but maximising marks throughout the paper.

02. Not saving your work regularly

This is a big NO. The answer document you create at the examination centre once the exam time starts is not Auto-Saved. Always remember to press CTRL+S every 10 minutes, or at the latest, once you finish writing the answers to each part.

03. Not reading the actual ‘ask’ of the question 

The exam pressure is real, and it is very common to misread the question and ignore its actual ask. Even the best of us have been there. But you can easily avoid it by keeping the following things in mind:

$\bullet \quad$Check what exactly you are expected to calculate (for numerical questions).

$\bullet \quad$Focus on any information and assumptions provided in the question.

$\bullet \quad$Always check how many parts exist in a question. You do not want to cover the answer to part (iv) in part (iii) itself.

$\bullet \quad$Pay attention to words like “discuss”, “outline”, “elaborate”, “calculate”, “describe”, “state”, etc in the question. Each word requires you to formulate the answer in a different format. This understanding will build with practice, discussions of past papers during AEI teaching sessions and evaluating the Examiners’ Reports.

04. Writing more points than necessary in your answers

You may think that writing 15 points for a 3-mark question increases the chances of you earning higher marks. But remember, the maximum marks you can obtain are still capped at 3. In some cases, writing more points than necessary can work against you. It may suggest to the Examiner that you have not fully understood the question or are unable to distinguish the most relevant points and present them in a focused, structured manner.

Our recommendation is to write twice as many points as the number of marks available for a question. For example, for a 2-mark question, write 4 points and so on. You may exceed this by 2 or 3 additional points in some parts throughout the paper based on your judgement, but make sure it isn’t a consistent pattern for each part you answer.

05. Editing your answer document during upload time

This is a common issue when candidates use up their entire writing window and leave no buffer for submitting the answer document. IFOA gives you an additional 30 minutes after the exam writing time to upload your document. Treat this as a submission window, not extra writing time – your answers should be complete and final before the writing time ends.

Students generally type their answers to the very last minute. We advise you to stop typing 1 minute before the writing time is over, or at the latest by the second your exam time is over, say 4:50 pm for a 3 hour 20 minute exam starting at 1:30 pm. The 60 seconds between 4:50 pm and 4:51 pm should NOT be used to type additional points. Use the first 10 seconds to save your final answer document, and then check that its name follows the required naming convention. No more edits to the document should be made.

Remember: a paper submitted on time, with the assurance that it will be evaluated, is far better than risking your entire submission for an extra 0.5-mark point by making a last-minute edit after the writing time has ended.

By keeping the tips mentioned above in mind, you will significantly increase the chances of passing your exam(s) in the IFOA September 2026 sitting.

If you have any queries, concerns, or advice, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

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Email:

praveenpatwari@actuatorseducation.com

All the best!