Fully qualified actuary - ask me anything!

Just to comment on you saying you "might do work experience during the holidays" - please, don't just focus all your effort on sitting some CT exams and shunning experience. Experience is way more valuable in getting any job, not just in the competitive world of actuarial recruitment, and can really help you stand out from other candidates. You'll get a lot more out of practical work experience which lets you understand any studying you do in context, than you will out of trying to fly through CT exams.

As for the cost of study materials, that really is just something you're going to have to bear the brunt of if you want to sit any CT exams. You'll also have to pay for student membership of the IFoA if you want to sit anything other than CT1. There's also the cost of entering the exams to factor in.

The resources are purchased from ActEd, who provide all the official material for each module, which clearly contains all the content required for the exams and other materials can be purchased depending on your preferences for type of study. You pay money because they offer a fairly comprehensive package of resources. You could probably scrape by on CT1 and CT2 if you make sure you're aware of everything in the syllabus and manage to locate appropriate learning materials elsewhere, but that's a fairly risky strategy (and, as we all know, actuarial work involves trying to mitigate risks...).

The CT exams do escalate in complexity quite a bit for some modules and, personally, I wouldn't have felt comfortable will the level of mathematics required in some modules with just an A level standard of education.

Given the amount of time that can go into a degree education and the fact that university is also about time spent doing other things than just studying, I think you're being incredibly optimistic to think you'll be able to juggle both a degree course and studying for CT exams simultaneously as well as enjoying any kind of social life/downtime. Honestly, please don't think that just powering through a load of exams is going to be more beneficial than getting other experiences out of university (such as being a course rep or being on an executive committee for a society) and work experience.

Thanks for your reply. Can I ask why you say you wouldn't recommend going into pensions? ( I have been offered a 2018 actuarial grad job in pensions)


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Hi everyone,

I've followed threads on this forum on and off for a few years and I've found the odd nugget of wisdom that has helped me along my chosen career path.

I thought it may be a good idea to give something back to those who are just starting out. If you have any questions relating to the actuarial industry, I'm happy to try to answer them.


As a bit of background, I graduated from a red brick university 6 years ago and was accepted onto a graduate scheme working for a large life insurer just outside of London. I qualified within 3 years and worked my way into management before venturing off to Asia (partly for work reasons, partly personal).

Let me know if there's anything I can help with.

What's the pay progression?

What's the pay progression?

Hello do you know any actuarial graduates' starting salaries from LSE/Cass/Warwick/etc (assume they all did actuarial science)
And also does uni's reputation affect our starting salaries

And what are the popular firms?

Do many people prefer a job at Goldman Sachs/JP/UBS to Aon/Mercer/Big 4? Cos these actuarial firms help you to qualify as you mentioned (covering study material and exam fees), do firms like GS and banks (UBS/HSBC/Barclay/etc) also give you study time and cover your fees

Sorry I know a little about these things

Thx