Creating a Study Plan
See the formula sheets page to download free cheat sheets in PDF form.
Creating a Study Plan
This section provides a general outline for starting the process of preparing for preliminary actuarial exams.
For newcomers, the Exam P & FM Tutorial Series introduces actuarial exams, study strategies, and the platform itself.
These docs also provide detailed information for each exam, including study plans for Exam P, Exam FM, and Exam SRM.
For experienced candidates looking to get started right away, the Problem Sets page includes information about the core feature of the platform.
SOA and CAS Recommendations
The SOA and CAS recommend that candidates study for 100 hours for every hour of the exam. This means that the recommended study time is 300 hours for Exam P, 250 hours for Exam FM, and 350 hours for Exam SRM.
This is a general guideline, and the actual study time will vary depending on one's familiarity with the subject matter and your study habits.
The key to success on these exams, especially Exam P and FM, is practice, practice, practice. This advice has been repeatedly echoed by successful candidates. Digital footprints of such advice can be found online forums, such as the Actuarial Science subreddit and the Actuarial Exam Study Group Discord server.
The Actuarial Nexus keeps track of critical metrics, including time spent on practice questions, mock exams, and course material. However, rather than focusing solely on the number of hours, we recommend candidates prioritize efficient study tactics, which includes solving lots of practice problems, monitoring progress with measurable statistics, and strengthening weaknesses.
Four Step Plan
The following outlines a four-step plan for preparing for actuarial exams. We strongly encourage spending most of the time on steps 2 and 3.
- Learn the Material
- Spend just enough time to understand the building blocks.
- Move on to practice questions as soon as possible.
- Practice Problems
- Spend the majority of the time on practice problems.
- The written solutions to practice problems provide a deeper understanding of the nuances tested on the exam.
- Use the AI Tutor as needed.
- Analyze and Review
- Review incorrect answers.
- Track progress with analytics.
- Reattempt missed questions.
- Mock Exams
- Take mock exams to simulate exam conditions, practice endurance, and assess overall readiness.
- If you are not scoring well on mock exams, go back to step 2 and 3.
- Past users have anecdotally reported that the actual exam felt comparable to a difficulty 6-7 mock exam, although responses vary by individual.
The Exam P, Exam FM, and Exam SRM sections provide additional details for each exam.