Actuarial Science: Analysis Of Candidates Taking The ACET

The Institute of Actuaries of India(IAI), the statutory body of Actuaries in India under the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance of the Central government is the one place every aspiring actuary wants to get their certification from.

To get admission at the IAI, candidates have to appear for the Actuarial Common Entrance Test (ACET) which is conducted twice a year. The ACET result is valid for upto three years from the date of declaration of the result.

To get a better understanding, let us break down what this course and the career entails. Actuarial science is a study that uses advanced techniques and models to calculate the financial and commercial impact, valuation of uncertainty and risk of future events. This it does through concepts in Mathematics, probability, statistics, finance, economics, and computer science.

Careers360 studied the data from the official website of IAI and analysed the students who were successful in the ACET exam. In our analysis we found that of the total number of candidates who register for the exam, over 80 per cent actually appear for the ACET. It was also noted that students who appeared for the ACET are mostly Class 12 pass-outs. So it can be said with certainty that Actuarial Sciences is a popular option after 10+2 for many. Undergraduate students were the second highest.

Out of 21 subjects, Communications Practice- CP3, has the most number of candidates that took the exam in November 2020 and March 2021. CP3 is also a subject that sees a high percentage of students passing among all subjects.

So who can register for ACET? Candidates from any background can apply for actuarial science, with a minimum of Class 12 qualification and an expertise in numbers – mathematics and statistics to be specific. A student with an MBA, BE, BTech or finance degree with at least 60 per cent aggregate can also sit for ACET.

Students who clear ACET need further to apply for membership of IAI and sit for the 13 subject exams at their own pace. As the students successfully pass the subjects their membership status changes from student to Associate to Fellow. A student, who clears a total of 10 exams, qualifies to earn an Associate certification and after passing 13 exams, you become a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India.