Guidance on inappropriate conduct in IFoA assessments and what candidates need to be aware of.
To support candidates sitting IFoA assessments, we have developed a guide outlining examples of inappropriate conduct. We also set out our process for identifying and addressing possible breaches of IFoA Assessment Regulations.
You should view this guidance along with our Assessment Regulations, which have been updated to reflect our online, open book exam environment.
Please note that while this guidance generally refers to our session based (April and September) examinations, it also applies to for CB3, PPD and any other form of assessment such as Professional Skills.
Inappropriate conduct is:
Any action or attempted action that may result in a candidate or student of the IFoA gaining an unfair advantage during IFoA assessments, or any other part of the qualification process.
Inappropriate conduct in IFoA assessments includes (but not limited to):
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s work as your own. This means presenting another person’s work without proper acknowledgement of the source (referencing material is allowed), whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Plagiarism can also include submitting your own previously assessed work. This is not acceptable even if referenced.
You can find more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it on our plagiarism web page.
Collusion is any unauthorised collaboration or communicating between candidates during assessments.
Cheating is any attempt to obtain or to give assistance in an examination or assessment without acknowledging this occurred.
Impersonation usually involves getting someone else to assume your identity (pretend to be you) and sit your assessment, with intent to deceive or gain unfair advantage.
Impersonation also includes getting someone to produce work for you, which you knowingly submit as your own.
Exam misconduct includes, but not restricted to:
To make sure you do not unintentionally breach regulations you should note that each IFoA assessment is sat by groups of candidates who start and finish at different times. Once your assessment is over you may want to discuss the exam with others, but you must not contact any other candidate until the assessment is over for all candidates, including those who have additional time.
The IFoA takes the integrity of our exams and guarding against inappropriate conduct very seriously.
We updated our Assessment Regulations to reflect our online, open book exam environment and have produced clear guidance on inappropriate conduct and plagiarism in exams.
There are a number of measures in place to prevent inappropriate conduct in IFoA exams.
These include:
Identifying possible breaches of IFoA Assessment Regulations can involve:
You can report suspected inappropriate exam conduct by contacting assessmentregulations@actuaries.org.uk. What happens once a possible breach of IFoA Assessment Regulations by inappropriate conduct has been identified?
Each possible breach of our Assessment Regulations will be reviewed by IFoA executive staff, including education actuaries, along with examiners before any formal notification of a possible breach is sent to candidates.
This review process acts as a filter to make sure that only cases where there is substantial cause for concern will be followed up. These cases include those where there are large sections of unreferenced external copied material within the candidate’s exam script or cases where collusion or cheating is suspected.
At any stage during the review process possible breaches of our Assessment Regulations can be and are dismissed.
If it is determined that a case needs further consideration, then the candidate will receive a letter by email outlining what the possible breach is. We do not automatically assume that individuals have breached the Assessment Regulations and invite candidates to respond in writing to the letter they receive. The candidate’s response can include any evidence that they think is relevant to the case. To ensure the system is fair, any response received will be presented as part of the case to a panel for consideration.
Once all the information has been collected, then the case will be considered by the panel. The information the panel will review includes, but is not limited to:
We recognise that receiving a letter which outlines a possible breach this will be a stressful time for a candidate. Therefore, we want to do as much as possible to keep this distress to a minimum. We make every effort to complete a full analysis and produce letters prior to releasing exam results . However, this may not always be possible.
Each case we identify can go through several reviews, which may involve a number of individuals depending on the nature and severity of the possible breach.
Candidate exam scripts are run through software to identify plagiarism. Any possible case identified by the software will then go through further checking. At this point cases will still be dismissed. For example, where a script has been flagged but upon further review it is identified that lists or meanings have been memorised, the case is dismissed and no further action is taken.
Any cases where possible collusion has been identified are reviewed by the examiners before a letter is sent to the candidate.
The IFoA gives candidates suitable time to reply to the letter, so that they have sufficient time to consider and respond to any allegations. The exact response time will be determined in the letter to candidates. Then panel members meet and work through all of the cases to ensure a fair outcome.
All of this work takes place at the same time as the marking and producing the exam results is happening. It involves the same personnel, which puts pressure on the system at a time when everyone is working hard to deliver both processes accurately and fairly, within tight deadlines.
The IFoA treats any finding of inappropriate conduct in either its assessment or qualification processes as a very serious matter.
The panel may agree an outcome that can range from a formal warning, to a two year disqualification from sitting the IFoA examinations, depending on the severity of the inappropriate conduct.
In some cases the panel may refer a case of inappropriate conduct to the IFoA Disciplinary Panel to be investigated, but these cases are very rare.
Candidates have the opportunity to appeal the outcome of a panel, including those that may be referred to Disciplinary. Only after the appeal is concluded will any cases be referred to Disciplinary if still appropriate.
You can find more information on our Make an Appeal web page.