Exam SP9

Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA)

Exam SP9

Enterprise Risk Management Specialist Principles Exam
 

U.K. Actuarial Profession (Institute and Faculty of Actuaries)

SP9 Syllabus

The SP9 syllabus is available on the UK Actuarial Profession's Web Site (Institute and Faculty of Actuaries).

STUDY MATERIAL

The required reading material for SP9 is as follows:

1. WRITTEN CORE READING

Produced by the UK Actuarial Profession, this sets out which parts of the textbooks/papers listed below comprise the required reading, relates them to the syllabus objectives, and contains additional written material to support those remaining objectives which are not appropriately covered by the other texts.

The Core Reading is available from the UK Actuarial Profession eShop^ or from The Actuarial Education Company^ (ActEd).

2. TEXTBOOKS

The following textbooks are available from the UK Actuarial Profession eShop^, ActEd^, or other booksellers:

  • Financial Enterprise Risk Management by Paul Sweeting, 2011, Cambridge University Press, including errata (updated 21 Nov. 2012 [PDF). [Some have found it difficult to order this text. The UK Actuarial Profession's Publications eShop^ has copies available.]
  • Enterprise Risk Management, From Incentives to Controls by James Lam, 2003, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

3. PAPERS

The following papers may be download from UK Actuarial Profession (Institute and Faculty of Actuaries) website:

The above comprises the core material required for the study of SP9. This is the only material to which the examiners have access, and some candidates will study using this material alone. Most candidates, however, also use the ActEd^ materials that are described below as an essential part of studying for UK exams.

When purchasing the above materials, particularly the textbooks, it should be noted that prices may vary between sources due to differing levels of discounts.

SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY MATERIALS

ActEd^ (a separate organization) offers study materials to help candidates understand the core material and to provide question practice for each of the UK Actuarial Profession examinations.

These study materials are produced by ActEd^ tutors with no input from the examiners or from those who have produced the underlying core material. In practice, however, most candidates will purchase the course notes or combined materials pack to help them to prepare fully for the SP9 exam. It is commonly understood that candidates preparing for UK exams consider use of these materials an essential part of study. These would all be purchased directly from ActEd^.

For the SP9 exam, such materials include:

  • Course Notes: these expand the underlying core material, helping to explain it and put it into context. The aim is to help candidates to understand better the underlying principles, also using worked examples and short questions. The course notes incorporate the "Written Core Reading" and the papers listed above but do not include the two textbooks.
  • Q & A Bank: this comprises questions (with solutions and comments) which help to reinforce the learning points for each chapter of the course notes. Generally these questions are aimed to aid learning as candidates work their way through the course, so some are shorter and more knowledge based than typical examination questions, but past exam questions may also be included.
  • Series X Assignments: this series of six assignments for SP9 tests candidates' learning and understanding for each section of the course in turn, including questions that are more similar to those that might typically be asked in the exam (based on the ActEd tutors' interpretation of the likely exam style). The assignments (with solutions) can either be purchased without marking or with marking (through the use of marking vouchers).
  • Combined Materials Pack: this comprises the course notes, Q & A Bank, and Series X Assignments. For subject SP9, it also comprises the two textbooks (Sweeting and Lam). The combined pack is normally available at a discounted price relative to the individual components.
  • Mock Exams: there is a small number of mock exams available, also with optional marking. These have been written by ActEd to help candidates prepare for the exam and are designed to be more similar to the SP9 examination papers, testing across the whole course.
  • Tutorials: there are differing types of tutorial (regular tutorials, revision sessions, etc.) which are run over the period before each set of examinations. For example, for the April exams candidates are generally expected to start their study in October and the regular tutorials typically start in November/December and run over the following months, although blocks of revision tutorials are run much closer to the exam dates. For information on the timetables, the best source is the latest Tuition Bulletin^ available on the ActEd Web Site. The tutorials typically are run with 6-10 candidates (maximum 12) and are held solely within the UK.
  • ASET: this is a pack of actual examination papers with full worked solutions and additional commentary prepared by ActEd, to help candidates understand how to prepare better answers (i.e., not just what the answers are, but how they could have been generated and how they relate to the course).
  • Core Material: as noted above, ActEd also makes available copies of the Written Core Reading and textbooks on a standalone basis.

SAMPLE EXAMS

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries website provides past exam papers, reports and syllabus^.

EXAM RULES AND REGISTRATION

Individuals taking the SP9 exam to qualify for CERA through the Casualty Actuarial Society must register for the exam through the CAS.

Exam News and Updates^ contains any urgent changes that have been made for the upcoming exam administration. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries urge all candidates to specifically check this updates page prior to sitting the exam to ensure that there any change is known.

RULES

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries have provided important instructions^ that cover exam entry and conduct during the exam that all SP9 candidates must read.

EXAM ENTRY PERMIT REQUIRED

Candidates will be issued with an exam entry permit shortly before the exam date which is the ticket for entry to the exam. The exam entry permit, as well as a valid photo identification, is required for admission to the exam room. Details are provided under Exam Registration^, Sitting Exams^, and the exam timetable^

PENS AND CALCULATORS

Please note that the SP9 exam must be written in English and in pen.

The approved calculators for Exam SP9 are:

  • Casio FX82 (with or without any suffix)
  • Casio FX83 (with or without any suffix)
  • Casio FX85 (with or without any suffix)
  • HP12c (with or without any suffix)
  • Sharp EL531 (with or without any suffix)
  • Texas Instruments BA II Plus (with or without any suffix)
  • Texas Instruments TI-30 (with or without any suffix)

Additional details about calculators are available in the Examination Instructions^.

REGISTRATION

Registration deadlines and dates of exam administration can be found on the CAS Examination Schedule [PDF].

Prior to registering for Exam SP9, all candidates should read the Examination Instructions^.

SP9 Exam Registration

GRADES

The CAS will follow the protocol of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (U.K.) in releasing exam results. The Institute and Faculty will provide the individual grade reports and list of passing candidates to the CAS Office. The CAS will post the list of passing names and send an e-mail announcing the posting to all who took the SP9 (formerly ST9) exams in that sitting. The individual grade reports will be sent by mail.

SP9 (Formerly ST9) Passing Candidates

Passing Candidates - April 2021
Passing Candidates - April 2020
Passing Candidates - April 2019
Passing Candidates - April 2018
Passing Candidates - September 2017
Passing Candidates - April 2017
Passing Candidates - September 2016
Passing Candidates - October 2015
Passing Candidates - September 2014
Passing Candidates - April 2014
Passing Candidates - September 2013
Passing Candidates - April 2013
Passing Candidates - September 2012
Passing Candidates - April 2012