There’s a big difference between “can pass the test” and “can do the job” for both careers. I don’t think that most high school math teachers could pass actuarial exams. But I do think that they could do a decent job as actuarial analysts if they started down that route.
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Agreed. Not being snobby or anything. They are difficult, as you have to learn the math AND learn how to pass them. For reasons similar to both careers, there has to be the drive to become one. Being a successful teacher is difficult for many people as well, what with the ban on corporal punishment and all.
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I think you guys are overstating the difficulty of the first few exams. Agree that passing exams isn’t really necessary for running the spreadsheets.
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I think you are overstating the intellectual abilities of high school teachers. Not all, just most. I haven’t checked the recent pass rates, but among those trying, with an assumed (bad idea?) level of knowledge of the topics, it’s pretty low.
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Maybe times have changed, or I’m in an outlier area with regard to teacher quality. Have they made the actuary tests harder? I remember the first few just being basic math and stats and econ. Plenty of stuff to prepare for, but nothing most math people couldn’t handle.
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I wrote these 50+ years ago so the first two were probably much easier than they are today. I wrote them while at university and did not have to study at all to pass them. Certainly my university math exams were tougher.
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I had to review to pass the first actuarial exam and study to pass the second one which included material I had not had in college. Courses 1 & 2 in the 2000 - 2004 iteration of exams.
I thought they were similar level of difficulty as the math NTE that I had to pass. I didn’t study for that, but I took it right at the end of the term where I’d taken Abstract Algebra, so it was all fresh in my brain.
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I felt the probability/stats in Course 1/Exam P from the 2000 exam iteration was much more than basic.
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That’s pretty much when I took it. It wasn’t trivial by any means. I had to teach it to myself since I didn’t take anything beyond beginner stats in college, but it was reasonable. My point is just that the material is very accessible to most anybody who is going to teach math.
Resurrecting this thread because we just had another whole load of gifts from parents to teachers in Reception (age 5).
Would say the impetus is stronger this year vs last year.