The SOA recently posted a video of the Prometric setup that you can expect to see on exam day. Be sure to watch it here.
A few noteworthy things and other comments:
- It does appear you will be able to view files side by side
- A timer will prompt you at key points to let you know how much time you have left.
- You will have to submit the Word and Excel file before the exam timer ends
Additionally, anyone registered for a CBT exam this fall should have gotten an email from the SOA stating the following:
Once seated at your designated Prometric workstation, you will have 10 minutes to read through the instructions on navigation, saving and submitting your files. During the exam, 15 minutes of break time will be added to the advertised exam length noted in the introductory study note. When you take any break time, your exam timer will continue to count down. It is your choice when to break and for how long. All applicable Prometric security guidelines will apply if you take a break.
The clock will start to run as soon as you click on “Start the Test” and will not stop until you complete the exam or when time runs out. Note that you must upload your files before time runs out in order to submit them for grading.
Please note that final sentence!
Important takeaways:
- Below are our thoughts based on the information the SOA has provided. Please note that some of the communications have not been completely clear, so we are doing out best to interpret what was meant. Be resilient on exam day as you’re likely to hit some unexpected snags as this is the first CBT sitting.
- 5-hour exams are basically now 5 hours and 15 minutes long, while 2-hour and 4-hour exams are 2:15 and 4:15 long, respectively.
- You can choose how you allocate this total time between taking the exam, taking a break, and reading ahead.
- To be clear, the conventional 15-minute read-through time on all previous written exams seems to be gone now. Based on their wording, we believe the read-through is now a 15 minute break that you can take at your choosing.
- While reading ahead and taking breaks are valuable, I recommend budgeting the conventional 5 hours for exam-taking time, especially if you are not a fast typist. This will help you stay within the conventional 3 min/point rule.
- For 5-hour exams, I think the break will be more valuable. Since we don’t have any other reference point, I think planning to take a break after about 3 hours is a good idea since the 5-hour exams used to be broken into a 3-hour morning and 2-hour afternoon session.
- Be sure to pay close attention to the instructions when you are getting set up at your Prometric workstation (during the initial 10-minute setup session). Become very familiar with the file submission process. As noted above, you must turn in your Word and Excel file before time runs out.