If you have issues uploading your exam files at Prometric…

Good news… today I was told by someone (that I trust a lot) in the SOA education function that the Word and Excel exam files can usually be recovered directly from the Prometric workstation if there are issues uploading. If you end up having any issue whatsoever uploading your Word and Excel files on exam day, you can contact [email protected] to let them know, and the SOA most likely will be able to recover the files.

Random but important details we’ve learned about the Prometric experience after day 1

Today we surveyed our customers who took the ERM and QFI Quant exam under the new CBT format at Prometric centers on Monday, October 26. Here are a few things we’ve learned that we wanted to relay to anyone planning to take a CBT exam in the coming days.

To be clear, we have no way of verifying the accuracy of any of this information and are simply relying on information reported in our survey. However, we are focusing on things that appeared in multiple responses from people literally worldwide.

  • CTRL-F does not work (i.e. you can’t do a “find” or a keyword search in the documents). This includes the very large PDF case study provided with the ERM exam.
  • ALT-TAB does not work (shortcut for switching windows).
  • Several people reported difficulty uploading their Word and Excel files at the end. Some reported that the Prometric uploader would not accept files with a number in the file name. Others reported that it wouldn’t accept special characters. Some reported that when they initially downloaded their Word/Excel files to start the test, the Prometric system saved the files with “(1)” in the file name by default. They had to rename the file to get rid of that string before the Prometric uploader would accept it. Based on this, our advice is to rename your files to be purely alpha-only characters after downloading, and don’t wait until the last second to upload the files.
    • Update: after looking at more anecdotes from our customers and around the web, it sounds like “(1)” will only appear in the file name if you download the files more than once. In any case, it sounds like you need to get rid of that piece of the file name before trying to upload it.
  • Some reported that they were indeed able to eat a sandwich/snack during while taking a break outside the exam room. However, very, very few people surveyed actually took a break.
  • Some reported medium-to-long delays during the check-in process at Prometric because of various administrative or technical issues. Most of these issues eventually got sorted out. Please have a patient/flexible mindset when you arrive at Prometric. Try not to get frazzled if you have to work through administrative logistics like this before getting started. 
  • We asked people who had taken a handwritten exam in the past to compare it to Word/Excel. The vast majority of people felt that being able to type verbal responses into Word was a welcome change, but most felt that Excel was more challenging / time-consuming than pen and paper when it comes to writing out visible formulas and explaining work. This was a nearly universal theme and it’s clear that the biggest “time risk” in the new format is spending too much time in Excel on questions that require a response in Excel.
  • A few miscellaneous comments on the exam timer:
    • The timer can get hidden behind windows if you use all of the screen
    • The final timer reminder happens when there are 10 minutes left, so pay close attention to the time after that point 

CBT version of spring 2020 LPM exam

Today we posted a CBT version of the spring 2020 LPM exam under the Supplementary and Review Material section of the LPM course. The CBT version we posted is essentially identical to the published SOA version except for 2 sub-parts, which fell off the syllabus, so we added new on-syllabus parts for those to keep the exam complete. We also combined the morning and afternoon session into a single continuous file since the exam will now be given in a single 5-hour, 15-minute time block. 

We also converted the PDF version of the exam to Word and provided answer boxes under each question part similar to the CBT samples the SOA has provided. We’ve also included a companion Excel file containing tabs and data for questions that would have required a response in Excel if the exam had been given originally as a CBT exam. We’ve done our best to mimic the format that we believe you’ll see in the Word and Excel file on exam day.

Along with our own TIA-unique CBT exam, this gives you two full-length CBT-style practice exams to work with.

We are also planning to provide our solutions to the spring 2020 exam in a CBT format as soon as we are able. We are doing our best to provide as many CBT resources as we can in these final weeks, but please understand that we are spreading our time over all FSA courses and that we did not get the final details about the CBT format until very recently, so there’s just not a lot of time left!

Summary of CBT exam FAQ

One of our FSA instructors put together a comprehensive PDF of basically every important thing we know about the new CBT exam format. This PDF is now available as a handout download with the video I made summarizing key changes in the Introduction section of the course. 

More Q&A on CBT exams

The YouTube video I mentioned recently has now been posted in the course in the Introduction section. Here are a few noteworthy items based on follow-up questions I’ve gotten from people that watched the video…

Someone asked me about the Word file for the SOA LFM CBT sample question shown around time mark 11:45. The SOA did not actually provide any samples in Word format on the exam pages (only PDF and Excel). I converted the PDF to Word just for purposes of the video to show how the answer box would most likely work in the Word file that will be provided in the Prometric setup. We are adding a growing number of Word- and Excel-based practice questions in our courses, however, so to give you practice.

Someone also asked me about use of an SOA-approved calculator. These will still be allowed, and it’s my understanding that you will also have scratch paper to use. However, nothing you put on scratch paper will be turned into the SOA, so be sure to type everything into Word or Excel that is part of your answer. Honestly, I would get used to doing 100% of your calculation work in Excel. I think it’s safer to ensure that any extra work you do gets saved into the Excel file. Graders will never see anything you do on scratch paper or handheld calculator.

SOA email clarifying exam timer length at Prometric

If you are registered for a fall 2020 CBT exam, you should have received an email today from the SOA with the following clarifications that we noted on our blog yesterday:

· Once seated at your designated Prometric workstation, you will have up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the exam to read through an instructional tutorial on navigation, saving and submitting your files.

· A clock on your computer screen will display the time you have remaining for the exam. The clock will start to count down when you click “Start the Test.”

· Once you start the test, the clock cannot be paused. You must submit your files for grading and click on “Finish Test” before your clock runs out.

· There is no specifically designated read-through time or break time, but 15 minutes has been added to the standard length of time for your exam. For example, on a 5-hour exam, once you click on “Start the Test,” the clock will start counting down from 5 hours 15 minutes.

· You may take breaks at any time after you click on “Start the Test.” The clock will continue to count down during any break you choose to take. All applicable Prometric security guidelines will apply if you exit the main exam room to take a break.

“Final final final” confirmation on exam time length

Unfortunately there has been a great deal of confusion around the exact length of the exam timer once it begins on exam day. In the last few weeks, we’ve gotten inconsistent information, and unfortunately this has caused us to give you some inconsistent information on how long the exam timer will last. 

However, today I got the following confirmation from someone very high up in the SOA education function, and it sounds like the SOA may re-contact candidates soon to help clear this up:

We… are writing a clarification that should be out in the next day or two. Here is how it works:

Suppose an exam is a four-hour exam (such as the ERM exam). The timer at the Prometric center will run for 4 hours and 15 minutes. Candidates may use that time as they wish. Should they elect to take breaks, the clock keeps running. There is no read-through period because it is impossible to enforce a no writing provision. We created some confusion by referring to the study note rather than the default exam time.

If you are registered for a fall 2020 exam, you should have gotten an email that stated “During the exam, 15 minutes of break time will be added to the advertised exam length noted in the introductory study note.” I believe that at some point, the introductory study notes were edited to add that 15 minutes as well, which resulted in a double counting that lead many to believe there would be an additional 30 minutes.

As the email quoted above states, however, there will only be an additional 15 minutes for all exams.

For ILA track exams this means that you will have 5 hours, 15 minutes to complete LPM and LFM once the timer starts. You will have 2 hours, 15 minutes for LAM, and 4 hours, 15 minutes for ERM. Once the timer starts, it can’t be stopped, but you are allowed to take a break as the clock continues to run.

We have also seen conflicting information on whether you can bring food or drink to consume during the break time. Some emails have said no, but someone recently shared an email with me from the Accommodations function of the SOA that said the following:

You may put your food/drink in your locker and have it whenever you need during the 5 hour 15 min. exam time. Will this suffice? If not, I will email you further detailed instructions on how to apply for accommodations. Please note, Prometric requires 30 days notice to setup accommodations so I cannot guarantee it, but we can try. Also, you will risk losing your seat because if we need to apply accommodations at this point, because Prometric cannot apply accommodations on existing appointments and will need to cancel your current appointment first, in order to apply any accommdoations. This is why we usually ask candidates to apply for accommodations prior to registration or soon after registration.

I think it’s safe to say that you cannot eat or drink at your actual exam seat, but it sounds like you may be able to eat a quick snack during a break outside the exam room. 

More CBT resources coming

Today we posted a “CBT-ized” version of the spring 2020 LFMU exam in our LFMU online course, and we hope to do the same for the spring 2020 LPM exam. Even though a few parts of the spring 2020 LPM exam are no longer on syllabus, we plan to add in some new parts to make it syllabus-complete for fall 2020. 

I just wanted to mention this now in case you want to hold off on looking at the spring 2020 LPM exam. The CBT version will be much more useful to practice since you’ll have a Word and Excel file in the same style as the CBT samples posted by the SOA instead of the traditional PDF format. This will give you another exam to practice your exam day skills with. We should have it out within a week or so.