Must Have!

Eight Practice Exams

- Four Exams Complied from Past CAS Questions

- Four Exams Comprised of Original Questions

CAS Exam 6U: October 23, 2023 - October 30, 2023

 Per the CAS “questions on the CAS [CBT] Exams will be similar to those that would have been asked if the exam had remained a paper and pencil exam.”

The problem: the unpredictability of the effective pass ratio.
For the:

  • Spring 2021 exam, it was 42%, down dramatically from 57% for the Fall 2020 exam.

  • Fall 2021 exam, it was 40%, down again from the Spring 2021 exam.

  • Spring 2022 exam, it was 52%,


  • Fall 2022 exam, it was 34%

    When you are 4 to 6 weeks away from Fall 2023 Exam 6U, ask yourself:
    How well do I know the material?
    What can I do to better prepare for the exam?

    You know the material when you can answer similar questions to those likely to appear on the exam and under exam conditions.

    The best use of your time is to work enough questions drawn from the syllabus reading most likely to be tested.

    • How the Practice Exams were Constructed

    Each exam was constructed to replicate the following characteristics found in the 2017 to 2019 CAS Exams:
    number of questions, questions by syllabus section, question type (short answer, computational, both), difficulty level of the question, points tested by question and in total, and syllabus readings tested.

    The exams were further constructed based on content from select articles within each syllabus section, such that the points by syllabus section ranged in accordance with the range of weights identified in the current syllabus as shown to the right.

    Each exam contains questions only from syllabus readings most likely to be tested.
    Although the current syllabus contains approximately 66 readings, many of them contain content that has not been, and is not likely to be, directly examined.
    Thus, we limited the number of readings from which questions were selected/developed to approximately 28 readings likely to be tested.

    Practice Exams Compiled from Past CAS Questions

    The questions on these exams are actual CAS questions randomly selected from CAS exams administered between 2011 and 2019.

    Solutions to computational questions incorporate "Instructional" solutions.
    CAS model solutions to computational questions do not provide a “step by step” solution approach nor the rationale for why a particular calculation was performed.
    To circumvent this, we developed "instructional solutions", to fully explain each step in the solution process.

    Solutions to short answer questions are most often CAS model solutions, which are "Efficient/Sufficient Solutions".

    The solutions also include CAS Examiner Report comments to:
    1. assist you in identifying what CAS examiner's were looking for in candidate responses.
    2. provide you with common errors found in candidates answers to these questions.
    3. further assist you in self-grading your exam.

    Practice Exams Comprised of Original Questions

    The questions in these exams are original and developed to mirror the type and difficulty level of past CAS questions.

    Solutions to computational questions often incorporate:
    1. "Initial Comments", which provide key excerpts from the syllabus readings to initiate your thought process on how to frame your solution.
    Formulating a clear path to problem solving is the biggest stumbling block for candidates when attempting to solve questions with high point values.

    2. "Instructional" solutions, which provide a “step by step” solution approach including rationale for why a particular calculation was performed.

    Solutions to short answer questions were constructed to model CAS model solutions.

    Practice Exams - Question and Solution Overview

    • Questions
      (in Excel)
      Over 200 in total

      Working on questions in MS Excel on a consistent basis over the weeks leading up to the exam maximizes your familiarity with, and mastery of, the types of questions likely to appear on CAS Exam 6U.

    • Solutions
      (in Google Sheets)

      Comparing your solutions to ours that include Introductory Comments, Enhanced CAS Model Solutions and Examiner's Reports identifies areas that you know well and those that you need to work on.

    • Downloadable Questions and
      View Only Solutions

      Download all questions in Excel or work on them in your google drive.

      Access view only solutions in google drive to see short answer responses and excel calculations used to solve computational questions.

      To view the Solutions in Google Sheets you must have a Gmail account. If you do not have one, the sign up process is simple.

      Click here to create a gmail account.

    Question Spreadsheet Features

    Downloadable In Excel

    Point Grid

    For each question, this tab shows:

    • The question number and syllabus section the question was drawn from.
    • The number of points for each question (in total and by sub-question within question)
    • 1st Attempt Self-Grading section
    • 2nd Attempt Self-Grading section

    Duplicate questions

    Master your ability to answer questions correctly by taking them twice.

    • The questions in the spreadsheets are duplicated so that you can answer them twice.
    • The advantage of answering questions twice is to assess your progress.

    For example, "Toggle" between sheet (1) and sheet 1(2) to compare your answers in terms of computational efficiency and /or the quality of your short answer responses.


    Self Grading

    Self grade your 1st Attempt and 2nd Attempt responses using Model solutions and Examiner Reports comments.

    • Compare your answer to the model solution provided. 
    • For past CAS questions, review CAS Examiner’s comments on what information was sought in each sub question and then determine if this was included in your response.
      CAS Examiner’s comments are included for all questions beginning with the Fall 2013 Exam 6. 
    • Enter your score in the area to the right of the question. Your cumulative scores are recorded in the point grid tab.
      Your cumulative scores are a good indicator or what you know and what you need to work on during the final weeks before your exam.

    Tracking your progress

    Each question contains a status indicator allowing you to flag questions as Incomplete, Finished, or Review.

    Quickly identifying the number of questions as Incomplete or needs further Review is key during your final weeks of exam preparation.

    Course curriculum

    1. 1

      • Practice Exam 1 - Past CAS Questions – Overview

      • Practice Exam 1 - Past CAS Questions – 26 Questions, 69.25 points

      • Practice Exam 1 - Past CAS Questions – Solutions

      • Practice Exam 2 - Past CAS Questions– Overview

      • Practice Exam 2 - Past CAS Questions– 25 Questions, 76 points

      • Practice Exam 2 - Past CAS Questions– Solutions

      • Practice Exam 3 - Past CAS Questions– Overview

      • Practice Exam 3 - Past CAS Questions– 26 Questions, 75 points

      • Practice Exam 3 - Past CAS Questions– Solutions

      • Practice Exam 4 - Past CAS Questions– Overview

      • Practice Exam 4 - Past CAS Questions– 26 Questions, 75 points

      • Practice Exam 4 - Past CAS Questions–Solutions

      • Free Preview

        FREE PREVIEW
    2. 2

      • Practice Exam 1 - Original Questions - Overview

      • Practice Exam 1 - Original Questions– 25 Questions, 76 points

      • Practice Exam 1 - Original Questions– Solutions

      • Practice Exam 2 - Original Questions - Overview

      • Practice Exam 2 - Original Questions– 25 Questions, 77.25 points

      • Practice Exam 2 - Original Questions– Solutions

      • Practice Exam 3 - Original Questions - Overview

      • Practice Exam 3 - Original Questions– 27 Questions, 75.5 points

      • Practice Exam 3 - Original Questions–Solutions

      • Practice Exam 4 - Original Questions - Overview

      • Practice Exam 4 - Original Questions– 26 Questions, 76.5 points

      • Practice Exam 4 - Original Questions– Solutions

    Solution Spreadsheet Features

    View Only In Google Sheets

    Introductory Comments 

    Formulating a clear path to problem solving is the biggest stumbling block for candidates when solving high point value computational questions.

    To circumvent this, our solutions include:

    • introductory comments which reference key excerpts from the syllabus readings to initiate your thought process on how to frame your solution, and then transitions into a,
    • a step by step approach to arrive at the final answer.

     

    Questions and Model Solutions 

    CAS solutions can be vague, lacking in detail, and difficult to follow at times.

    To circumvent this, our solutions include an instructional approach to computational questions, comprehensive enough to fully explain each and every step in the solution process. 

    This problem solving approach:

    • is comprehensive as it fully explains each step in the solution process.
    • provides clarifying comments to CAS model solutions making them easier to understand.
    • provides a logical framework to implement when solving similar computational problems.
    • allows you to adopt a blended problem solving process that streamlines our approach with your problem solving methods to provide Examiners with what they seek; that being “enough support on [your] answer sheet to follow the calculations performed.”

     

    Examiner’s Reports 

    Our solutions include CAS Examiner’s Reports dating back to the Fall 2013 Exam.

    These are critical to review to accurately self grade your solutions. They provide question specific comments on:

    • the overall difficulty level in total and by question part.
    • what candidate’s were expected to know on how to calculate specific ratios, tests, statutory balance sheet and income statement values, surplus thresholds, solvency metrics, etc.
    • whether candidates were able to:
    1. justify all selections when prompted to do so
    2. provide appropriate responses to a “briefly describe” question
    3. defend their responses given in prior sub questions
    4. demonstrate knowledge of the purpose, components, similarities and differences of the question at hand.
    • common errors included in candidate responses