Exemptions

What are exemptions?

Exemptions are official acknowledgements, granted by us, which recognise that you’ve already completed parts of a qualification program through prior study. Receiving exemptions means you become "exempt" from needing to study these through the Institute.

For example, if you’ve already studied the Foundation Program and two Actuary Program subjects at an accredited university, you can apply for exemptions. 

How do I apply for accredited actuarial course exemptions?

The Institute has accredited actuarial degrees at eight accredited universities across Australia and New Zealand, allowing students to study our qualification programs as a part of their degree. 

You may be granted exemptions if you pass the relevant university subjects at grades that are consistent with the Actuaries Institute's standards. This means you will have completed the Institute's Foundation Program and half the Actuary Program without needing further study. 

Requirements — you must:

1. Have passed an accredited actuarial degree.
2. Have graduated from an accredited university. 

Don't worry if you don't have every exemption – you can complete them at an accredited university (or by distance study via IFoA examinations for Foundation at the Institute). Find out more about non-award study.

How do I apply for allied study exemptions?

If you didn’t study an accredited actuarial degree, but you have studied something similar like maths, business, economics or finance, you may be able to claim some exemptions. This is because subjects in your allied degree may have covered the same content as our Foundation Program.



Requirements — you must:

Have passed a university degree and have completed subjects in maths, business, economics or finance.

1. Prove that your subjects are aligned or ‘allied’ with those in our Foundation Program.
2. Have achieved the academic standards required by our Foundation Program. 

You may submit an application for exemptions for four Foundation subjects. These are:

• CB1 - Business Finance
• CS1 - Actuarial Statistics
• CB2 - Business Economics
• CM2 - Financial Engineering and Loss Reserving

You will need to complete further study for remaining subjects you don’t have exemptions for.

How do I apply for a credit transfer?

Don’t worry — if your prior study doesn’t meet the requirements of accredited and allied study exemption pathways, you may still be able to apply via a credit transfer.

Requirements — you must:

1. Have completed Core Technical subjects or Specialist Technical subjects prior to December 2019, or Fellowship subjects SP1 and SP9 prior to December 2021. 
2. Or, have completed your actuarial studies overseas (including with IFoA).