SOA / CAS
Actuarial Analyst Screen - Free Timed Practice
Modelled on SOA Exam P, whose syllabus is published in full: 30 items in three hours, weighted the way the real paper is - general probability, then a double helping of univariate random variables, then multivariate. Life contingencies and reserving sit alongside, as the analyst work either route leads to.
Format
- 1 section · 30 items · about 180 minutes
- No negative marking - answer everything.
- No going back. Answer or skip, and the next item loads.
- Every sitting is generated fresh - a retake is a new paper.
Sections
- Probability & actuarial mathematics - 30 items, 180 minutes, no negative marking. 30 items, 3 hours. Exam P's own length and pacing - six minutes an item, which is time to work them properly.
What this sitting is
Modelled on SOA Exam P, whose syllabus is published in full: 30 items in three hours, weighted the way the real paper is - general probability, then a double helping of univariate random variables, then multivariate. Life contingencies and reserving sit alongside, as the analyst work either route leads to.
1 section, 30 items, about 180 minutes end to end, on a clock that does not stop between sections. Every question is generated fresh, so sitting it twice gives you two different papers and there is nothing to memorise between attempts.
How it is marked
No section marks negatively. A wrong answer costs nothing beyond the mark you would have earned, so there is never a reason to leave an item blank.
There is no going back anywhere in the paper. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, so every decision to leave something is final at the moment you make it.
Section by section, with a worked example
Every example below is generated by Outcry, drawn from the same generator that section runs during the timed sitting. None of it is SOA / CAS's own material.
A. Probability & actuarial mathematics
30 items, 3 hours. Exam P's own length and pacing - six minutes an item, which is time to work them properly.
30 items in 180 minutes, which is about 6 minutes an item. No penalty for a wrong answer here, so answer everything.
Example 1
Standard normal upper tail z 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.50 P(Z > z) 0.1587 0.1056 0.0668 0.0401 0.0228 0.0062
Book A's annual loss is normal with mean 131 and standard deviation 8. Book B's annual loss is normal with mean 160.75 and standard deviation 15. The two are independent. What is the probability A's loss exceeds B's?
Answer 0.0401
A − B is normal with mean 131 − 160.75 = -29.75 and variance 8² + 15² = 289, so its standard deviation is 17. Variances add for a difference of independent variables, they do not subtract. P(A − B > 0) = P(Z > 29.75/17) = P(Z > 1.75) = 0.0401.
Example 2
How many distinguishable arrangements are there of the letters in LIABILITY?
Answer 30240
9! = 362880 counts every arrangement, but swapping two copies of the same letter changes nothing. Divide by 2! for the 2 Ls and 3! for the 3 Is: 362880 ÷ 12 = 30240.
Example 3
In the Cramér-Lundberg surplus model, what drives the ruin probability down?
- A larger premium loading relative to expected claim severity
- A lower initial surplus
- A higher claim arrival rate
- A heavier-tailed severity distribution
Answer A larger premium loading relative to expected claim severity
Ruin probability falls with initial surplus and with the safety loading, and rises with claim frequency and tail heaviness.
Common questions
- How long is Actuarial Analyst Screen?
- About 180 minutes across 1 section, 30 items in total, with the clock running continuously between them.
- Is there negative marking?
- No section marks negatively. A wrong answer costs nothing beyond the mark you would have earned, so there is never a reason to leave an item blank.
- Can I go back to an earlier question?
- There is no going back anywhere in the paper. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, so every decision to leave something is final at the moment you make it.
- Are the questions the same every time?
- No. Every item is generated from the archetype bank the format draws on, so the shape of the paper is fixed and the numbers are not. Two attempts are two different papers.
- Is this SOA / CAS's real assessment?
- No. Outcry is not affiliated with SOA / CAS and has no access to their questions. This sitting reproduces a publicly reported format - the item counts, the timings and the marking rules - and generates every question itself.
Outcry is not affiliated with SOA / CAS and has no access to their assessment content. This sitting reproduces a publicly reported format; every question is generated by Outcry.