2020 Exam Update from GARP (updated on a regular basis)

[ucaksbu]

In the northern hempisphere with the onset of winter, this will get worse so the exams slated for January have to be in doubt

Speak for your own country, at the rate we currently have, Switzerland will have 250% of it's population having had covid by Jan

 

[MilaBank]

Anyone else in London holding their breath for announcement at 5pm 6:30pm?

 

[Sjegathe]

I checked GARP's announcement on CBT, which was issued in September. They explicitly said that CBT will be administered at secure exam sites and NOT remotely.

Personally, I've found GARP's reluctance/inability to adapt to the changing environment disappointing. It is not like we're trying to certify people to fly rockets, why does the examination have to be in person??

Hello, I kind of have to disagree on this. CBT still have to be proctored to maintain the standards. Especially for risk professionals, that has to be done by GARP to mitigate producing professionals who can possibly cheat and get by especially with the advancement of technology. Nowadays, cheating can be done in lot of ways and is relative. For instance, in my opinion risk profession exists as check against the interests of Front Office. Having sat the CFA exams , even appearing to look at other candidates may get a warning, and when they say stop writing, they mean it unlike in university exams. So the point here is regardless of anything, ethics itself is relative to firms and individuals and i agree with GARP in that exams still have to be proctored to maintain the highest quality of the designation!

 

[vinebills]

Toronto candidates - How likely do you think the exam will happen in Jan? Given the current rate of infections, i just cant see the exam happening in Jan. I think it will be moved to March ( provided a vaccine is out in Dec end/Jan). Holiday season + new years is just going to make it worse. Thoughts?

 

[Eustice_Langham]

Hello, I kind of have to disagree on this. CBT still have to be proctored to maintain the standards. Especially for risk professionals, that has to be done by GARP to mitigate producing professionals who can possibly cheat and get by especially with the advancement of technology. Nowadays, cheating can be done in lot of ways and is relative. For instance, in my opinion risk profession exists as check against the interests of Front Office. Having sat the CFA exams , even appearing to look at other candidates may get a warning, and when they say stop writing, they mean it unlike in university exams. So the point here is regardless of anything, ethics itself is relative to firms and individuals and i agree with GARP in that exams still have to be proctored to maintain the highest quality of the designation!

I agree that exams are tightly supervised...but whether it be CFA or FRM believe me Ive seen some outrageous behaviour that would immediately qualify as behaviour that meant those responsible lose their desigination.

 

[Sjegathe]

I agree that exams are tightly supervised...but whether it be CFA or FRM believe me Ive seen some outrageous behaviour that would immediately qualify as behaviour that meant those responsible lose their desigination.

Yes but i meant was that control process should start at the exams itself!

 

[Sjegathe]

Toronto candidates - How likely do you think the exam will happen in Jan? Given the current rate of infections, i just cant see the exam happening in Jan. I think it will be moved to March ( provided a vaccine is out in Dec end/Jan). Holiday season + new years is just going to make it worse. Thoughts?

All i can say for sure is May 2021 exams will take place. January not so much, but the thing here is venue vendors need to open up as well, they don't want to open it Just to have 10ppl indoor gathering(Cost wise they me may be unwilling) , i can see that it could happen if Garp is able to find multiple venues, i can see beanfield Centre being one and the rest could come from either Universities (UofT& Ryerson) or hotels. My logic is that october exams got cancelled when the gathering number was 50 , but now is 10 and if we go back to 50, then we are back in the same situation as that of October.

 

[vinebills]

All i can say for sure is May 2021 exams will take place. January not so much, but the thing here is venue vendors need to open up as well, they don't want to open it Just to have 10ppl indoor gathering(Cost wise they me may be unwilling) , i can see that it could happen if Garp is able to find multiple venues, i can see beanfield Centre being one and the rest could come from either Universities (UofT& Ryerson) or hotels. My logic is that october exams got cancelled when the gathering number was 50 , but now is 10 and if we go back to 50, then we are back in the same situation as that of October.

That is exactly what i was thinking.......i am kind of tired of this exam being postponed business and am now thinking of May 2021 ....issue is new curriculum, means i need to buy new books and it just adds to the costs. No motivation to study for "Jan" exams

 

[mattheweidinger]

That is exactly what i was thinking.......i am kind of tired of this exam being postponed business and am now thinking of May 2021 ....issue is new curriculum, means i need to buy new books and it just adds to the costs. No motivation to study for "Jan" exams

Deferred candidates will still be tested on the 2020 curriculum according to GARP.

 

[vinebills]

Deferred candidates will still be tested on the 2020 curriculum according to GARP.

I dont think that is accurate. If you call up Garp and You request them to defer to May 2021 - you follow 2021 curriculum......but if they defer ( like they did with oct and nov exams) to Jan 2021 or beyond say March or even May , only then it is 2020 curriculum.

Nicole had posted the below earlier:

As the others stated, the 2020 exams that are being postponed will be tested on the 2020 curriculum. GARP will still be releasing the 2021 curriculum for those who deferred to May and for those who register for the 2021 exams.

 

[ktrathen]

Why does it matter? How much does the curriculum change? Maybe 1%? Use BT to target your study on that 1%.

 

[Rblc]

I disagree. It does matter because Garp has been overhauling its curriculum lately including the LO and writing their own material. They are likely to use their new approach to constantly improve their content. 2020 had quite a few changes compared to 2019. So we cannot say what will be the differences next year because the simple fact is we do not know.

 

[irina18]

I agree with the change of material. It is not significant change to be worried. I don't understand all the big fuss!

 

[randomname]

I think the question is why do they change it at all given that candidates had only 0-1 exam attempts in 2020, depending on location.

By the way: In one of the GARP announcements they indicated 2020-2021 study guide changes. I didn't see any curriculum change for part 1 and some changes in Credit Risk and Investment Risk for part 2 + current issues.

 

[lucalaboranti]

To everyone taking the exam in Frankfurt: I've recently taken a look to the new Corona-guidelines for Hessen and found that exams are among the activities exempted from the most stringent regulations (see §1 "Zusammenkünfte und Veranstaltungen" https://wirtschaft.hessen.de/sites/default/files/media/hmwvl/20-10-31-auslegungshinweise_cokobev.pdf).
However I could not find any indications regarding the maximum number of participants allowed, so I called the coronavirus Hotline for Hessen and they told me that the number is still 100 (like it was during the Oct exam - which wasn't postponed) and additionally, since FRA is classified as "risk area", GARP would very likely need the approval from the city's health ministry. So, technically, there's a path for GARP to hold the exam as planned and if they postpone it, it's because GARP thinks it is too dangerous to hold it (assessment I would not have a problem with, considering the current situation here in Germany) and not because it was ruled out by the guidelines. If you guys have different/additional information please let me know!

 

[vinebills]

I think the question is why do they change it at all given that candidates had only 0-1 exam attempts in 2020, depending on location.

By the way: In one of the GARP announcements they indicated 2020-2021 study guide changes. I didn't see any curriculum change for part 1 and some changes in Credit Risk and Investment Risk for part 2 + current issues.

Interesting - if there are no changes in curriculum for part 1 - then i would end this misery of guessing if Jan exams will happen or not and move the exam to May. I guess it will be CBT ( or maybe not) - either way it is ok. I will wait for Dec 1 for the official notification to come out before contacting Garp. Issue is - mid Jan - i dont expect any changes in the covid situation and i just dont want to take the "Health Risk" ( Guess i would be classified as Extreme risk averse lol)

 

[irina18]

Interesting - if there are no changes in curriculum for part 1 - then i would end this misery of guessing if Jan exams will happen or not and move the exam to May. I guess it will be CBT ( or maybe not) - either way it is ok. I will wait for Dec 1 for the official notification to come out before contacting Garp. Issue is - mid Jan - i dont expect any changes in the covid situation and i just dont want to take the "Health Risk" ( Guess i would be classified as Extreme risk averse lol)

You and many people should be risk-averse. Personally I know a few people that were very healthy( mid 20s) that actually died from Covid. Not funny at all. I hope they come up with a vaccine as soon as possible!

 

[Nicole Seaman]

UPDATE: NOV 2, 2020
ISRAEL NOVEMBER EXAMS POSTPONED TO JANUARY

Due to local restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, GARP is postponing its November 2020 Financial Risk Manager (FRM®) and Energy Risk Professional (ERP®) Exams in Israel to January 16, 2021. All candidates registered for November’s Exams will automatically be registered for January’s Exams, which will be based on the same curriculum. Candidates do not have to take additional steps to register for January.

UPDATE: NOV 2, 2020
MILAN, ITALY NOVEMBER EXAMS POSTPONED TO JANUARY

Due to local restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, GARP is postponing its November 2020 Financial Risk Manager (FRM®) and Energy Risk Professional (ERP®) Exams in Milan, Italy to January 16, 2021. All candidates registered for November’s Exams will automatically be registered for January’s Exams, which will be based on the same curriculum. Candidates do not have to take additional steps to register for January.

 

[mattheweidinger]

I dont think that is accurate. If you call up Garp and You request them to defer to May 2021 - you follow 2021 curriculum......but if they defer ( like they did with oct and nov exams) to Jan 2021 or beyond say March or even May , only then it is 2020 curriculum.

Nicole had posted the below earlier:

As the others stated, the 2020 exams that are being postponed will be tested on the 2020 curriculum. GARP will still be releasing the 2021 curriculum for those who deferred to May and for those who register for the 2021 exams.

That is what I meant. Candidates who are deferred through no fault of their own - testing center being unavailable due to COVID - will be tested on 2020 curriculum

 

[mbbx5va2]

For the May 20 exams how last minute did they leave it before postponing? I'm trying to gauge how when they likely to make a decision for London Nov 20