The IFoA 2026 September sitting is right around the corner!

As you enter the final leg of your preparation, Actuators is here to help you sail through these stressful times with exclusive tips on how to weaponize a key resource in your preparation: Past Papers & Examiners’ Reports.

Here are some useful tips to help you ace your exams this sitting:

1. Start with the latest Past Papers First

Past Papers should always be solved in chronological order, starting with the latest sitting. This is important because syllabus and exam patterns frequently change, and it is imperative that you spend most of your preparation time focusing on questions that hold more relevance in recent times.

Having said that, it is recommended that you solve at least 15 past papers, i.e., from April 2019 to April 2026, to get a clear sense of:

a) Which topics are frequently tested.

b) What Examiners expect in the answers: in terms of both content and presentation.

c) How to manage your time with the greatest efficiency.

*Note that the Past Papers can be accessed on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platform in your IFoA Account.

2. Attempt a minimum of 6 Past Papers in an exam setting

The idea behind attempting as many Past Papers in an exam setting is to familiarise yourself with typing on a keyboard, understand how to manage time well and building the muscle memory you need to type quickly and confidently on exam day.

Our two recommended ways to go about attempting past papers are:

a) Put your phone and study material away. In the evening, spend exactly 3 hours 15 minutes (or whatever the total time of your exam) attempting an entire paper. Once done, take a break. Evaluate the paper in the morning with a fresh mind.

b) Put your phone and study material away. In the morning, spend exactly 3 hours 15 minutes (or whatever the total time of your exam) attempting an entire paper. Step away from the set-up once the time is up. In the evening, come back to your answers and evaluate them.

*The key is to ensure that while evaluating, you have enough mental bandwidth to understand which areas you are well-versed in and which require more work. This will enhance the quality of your preparation.

3. Always evaluate the papers after you attempt them

Evaluating a paper is not just about marking yourself for each part in a question and comparing your final marks against the passing marks for that sitting.

A good evaluation strategy could be as follows:

Identify which points are common in your typed answer vs the Examiners’ Report. While doing so, think about similar questions you attempted in the past and whether these points existed in those Examiners’ Reports as well:pattern identification.

Identify the points you missed and determine the underlying reason. This may be because you did not understand a concept, knew the concept but were unsure how to apply it to the specific question, misunderstood the question, or missed a crucial step in your calculation. Once you have identified the cause, take appropriate action to address and strengthen that area of weakness.

Always review the Examiners’ comments provided under each answer. This will help you clearly identify the gap between your response and what the Examiners expect, allowing you to understand how to improve the quality and accuracy of your answers.

Revisit and fix the areas of weakness you identified.

Re-attempt the paper if time allows, and once you have practised the rest of the papers.

Bonus Tip: You can make notes on the type of questions frequently seen in the exams and a few points that are commonly acceptable under those topics. This will enable you to write the obvious points first, should a similar question arise in the exam. You can spend the remaining time thinking about other points relevant to the exact exam question scenario.

4. Other Useful Advice

Some other useful advice is as follows:

1. 1. Not all points score you 1 mark. While analysing the Examiner’s Report, make sure to understand which points are the most relevant for a question to score you 1 mark and which ones score you 0.5 marks. You will start to naturally develop an instinct for how much you can score for each point in the answer after you thoroughly practice a significant number of papers.
   2. Do not ignore revision of topics you think you know well. You don’t want to be overconfident and lose out on easy marks in the exam.
   3. While attempting a full past paper with combined questions from the entire syllabus is extremely crucial, if you want to build topic-wise expertise, practice multiple questions related to that particular topic from past papers to identify patterns.
   4. Remember: You are likely to encounter questions in the exam which are slightly different from what was asked in the past papers. Never assume that memorising and writing the exact answer from a previous Examiners’ Report will grant you full marks. A good strategy is to read the question, type the most relevant and most obvious points first in a proper structure and then spend some time thinking about points which either add depth or variety to your answers based on the ask of the question.

We hope these tips will help you maximise your marks and perform to the best of your ability in the upcoming IFoA September 2026 sitting.

If you have any queries, concerns, or advice, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

All the best!