Free SOA Exam PA (Predictive Analytics) Practice Questions
Every released SOA Exam PA sitting is free to work through: 43 graded walkthrough tasks from the October 2023 through October 2025 exams, with rubric-based grading, the published model solutions, and grader commentary, plus 22 lessons and original concept-check questions. From FreeFellow, where 'free' is in the brand name. No trial, no signup to browse, no credit card.
500 questions5 topics22 lessons2026 syllabus
Built by Jeffrey Ting, FSA, CFA, who passed thirteen of the hardest finance exams on the first attempt. The full question bank and worked solutions are free forever.
Which statement about principal components analysis is CORRECT?
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Correct Answer: B
Solution
B is correct. PCA is an unsupervised technique: it constructs orthogonal (uncorrelated) linear combinations of the predictors ordered so that PC1 has the greatest variance, PC2 the next greatest, and so on. It does not use a response variable, keeping all components achieves no reduction, loadings can be negative, and predictive improvement is not guaranteed.
Question 2
Medium
Which pairing correctly matches a data source to its type?
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Correct Answer: E
Solution
E is correct. MRI scans are images with no inherent row-column schema, making them unstructured. The premium spreadsheet, GPS coordinate columns, and coded diagnosis table are all structured tabular data, and recorded audio files are unstructured (not structured), so only the MRI pairing is stated correctly.
Question 3
Hard
For grouped binomial data (each row summarizes many trials), which two R model specifications yield IDENTICAL coefficient estimates?
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Correct Answer: E
Solution
E is correct. For a binomial GLM, supplying the observed proportion as the response with prior weights equal to the number of trials is mathematically equivalent to supplying cbind(successes, failures). The prior weights encode how many trials each proportion is based on, reproducing the same likelihood and hence the same coefficients.
What Exam PA candidates are saying
“I actually passed SRM. I found FreeFellow only about a week before my exam, so I didn't have much time to explore everything, but it helped me a lot with reviewing concepts and refreshing my understanding during the final stretch. Resources like this can make a real difference for students preparing for these challenging exams.”
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“I thoroughly enjoyed FreeFellow. I took the exam yesterday and got a preliminary pass. I used it primarily for the question bank, and I likely wouldn't have passed without your product.”
Nick K.
“I cannot put into words how helpful the website is. Thank you so much for this and keep up the good work of helping aspirants like me.”
Ganesh P.
Others charge $1,000+. FreeFellow gives you the 70% you need to pass for free.
The full question bank, written solutions, lessons, formula sheet, mixed practice, and readiness tracking for your Exam PA prep are free forever. No trial period, no credit card. Every written-answer task has a copy-to-AI prompt builder for your own ChatGPT or Claude. Become a Fellow ($79/qtr) only if you want mock exams, flashcards, analytics, AI written-answer grading, and a personalized study plan.
What's Free, and What Fellow Unlocks
The 70% of Exam PA prep you actually need to pass (questions, solutions, lessons, mixed practice, copy-to-AI written-answer prompts) is free forever. The remaining 30% (mocks, flashcards, analytics, study plan, AI written-answer grading) unlocks when you become a Fellow. Use the free tier as long as you like.
✓
Free forever
$0 · no credit card
500 practice questions with detailed solutions
22 full lessons
Copy-to-AI written-answer prompts for your own ChatGPT or Claude
Mixed practice sessions across all topics
Formula sheet and reference materials
Readiness tracking with pass-probability estimates
No paywalls on questions · no trial period · no credit card
✦
Fellow unlock
$39 / mo · $79 / qtr per track · $199 / yr as Fellow Plus
Timed mock exams with weighted scoring
Spaced-repetition flashcards backed by memory science
Topic-level practice to drill weak areas
Performance analytics by topic and difficulty
AI grading for written-answer tasks vs the official rubric
Personalized study plan that adapts to your exam date
How FreeFellow Compares
Per-exam pricing across the major prep providers. The FreeFellow core (questions, solutions, lessons) is free forever. The optional Fellow tier is $79 per quarter, a small fraction of what traditional providers charge.
FreeFellow
$0 · Fellow $79/qtr
Coaching Actuaries
$200–$400/exam
The Infinite Actuary
$150–$350/exam
Traditional providers bundle prep into a single up-front fee. FreeFellow keeps the question bank and lessons free forever and charges only for deeper study tools (mocks, flashcards, analytics). All numbers are competitor list prices as of 2026.
Everything You Need to Pass
The free tier covers what most candidates need to pass. Fellow ($79/qtr) adds the pacing tools.
✓
500+ Practice QuestionsFREE
Every question includes a detailed, step-by-step solution.
Dates mark the start of each testing window. Projected dates follow the Society of Actuaries's historical exam cadence for sittings the body has not yet published. Confirm dates and registration deadlines directly with the Society of Actuaries before registering.
Exam date
Status
Register by
Oct 13, 2026
Confirmed
Sep 7, 2026
Apr 13, 2027
Projected
–
Oct 12, 2027
Projected
–
Frequently Asked Questions
How many free Exam PA practice questions does FreeFellow have?
FreeFellow currently offers 500 free Exam PA practice questions across 5 topics, each with a detailed step-by-step solution. Questions span three difficulty levels and are aligned to the 2026 syllabus. The question bank is updated regularly.
What Exam PA topics are covered?
The questions cover 5 topics: Predictive Analytics Problem Definition, Data Exploration and Visualization, Data Transformations and Unsupervised Learning Techniques, Generalized Linear Models, Tree-Based Models. Each topic page shows your progress and lets you filter by difficulty level. You can practice by topic to target your weak areas or take mixed-topic practice exams.
Does FreeFellow have Exam PA study lessons?
Yes. FreeFellow includes 22 comprehensive text lessons for Exam PA, covering key concepts and worked examples for each topic. Lessons are free to read with a free account (no card) and are designed to complement question practice.
Is FreeFellow really free for Exam PA prep, or is there a catch?
No catch. The 70% of Exam PA prep you actually need to pass is free forever: the full question bank of 500 practice questions, detailed solutions on every question, 22 lessons, mixed practice, the formula sheet, and readiness tracking. No trial period, no credit card. The remaining 30% (timed mock exams, flashcards with spaced repetition, performance analytics, and a personalized study plan) unlocks when you become a Fellow.
What does the $79 Fellow tier unlock for Exam PA?
Fellow ($39 per month or $79 per quarter, per track; the $199 annual is Fellow Plus) unlocks four things on top of the free tier: timed mock exams with weighted scoring that match the real exam blueprint, spaced-repetition flashcards built on memory science from cognitive psychology, topic-level practice to drill weak areas, performance analytics broken down by topic and difficulty, and a personalized study plan that adapts to your exam date. Everything else (questions, solutions, lessons) stays free.
How does FreeFellow compare to Coaching Actuaries, ASM, or TIA on price?
Traditional Exam PA prep providers charge $200 to $3,500 for a single exam, paid upfront. FreeFellow keeps the question bank, written solutions, and lessons free forever. The optional Fellow tier is $79 per quarter (a small fraction of what the big providers charge) and adds mock exams, flashcards, analytics, and a study plan. You can pass Exam PA entirely on the free tier.
How should I use FreeFellow to study for Exam PA?
Start with the lessons to build your conceptual foundation, then move to topic-based practice to identify weak areas. As your exam date approaches, switch to timed practice exams under realistic conditions. The free tier gives you everything you need to build mastery; if you want pacing tools (mock exams, analytics, a study plan) and long-term retention aids (spaced-repetition flashcards), become a Fellow.
Does FreeFellow include graded Exam PA past-exam walkthroughs?
Yes. Every released Exam PA sitting from October 2023 onward is available as a task-by-task walkthrough: you type a written response to the verbatim task, then compare it against the published model solution, the graders' commentary, and a rubric derived from the published point structure. The walkthroughs and self-grading are free; AI grading with per-criterion verdicts is a paid feature (five a day on Fellow; uncapped on Fellow Plus).
How do FreeFellow's Exam PA practice questions relate to the real exam format?
The real Exam PA has no multiple-choice questions; it is 10 to 12 written tasks graded on 70 points. FreeFellow's Exam PA practice questions are concept checks: short drills on the modeling knowledge the tasks draw on. Use them to lock in concepts, and use the past-exam walkthroughs to practice the actual skill of writing graded responses.
What is the Exam PA pass rate?
The Exam PA pass rate is approximately 60-70%, based on historical SOA data. Pass rates vary by sitting. The SOA publishes pass rate statistics after each exam window.
How many hours should I study for Exam PA?
Most candidates budget 100 to 150 hours for Exam PA on top of the required SOA e-learning modules. Candidates who sit PA soon after Exam SRM typically need less, because the modeling theory overlaps; the new skill to build is writing graded responses under time pressure.
What calculator is allowed on Exam PA?
Exam PA does not involve calculator work. Candidates type written responses into Word at a Prometric center, with Excel available for calculations. All R model output is provided in the exam exhibits; there is no R environment at the exam.
How is Exam PA scored?
Exam PA responses are graded by SOA graders against a published point structure (70 total points across 10 to 12 tasks). Results are released roughly 6 weeks after the sitting as a score on the 0-10 scale, with 6 as the passing threshold.
What is the Exam PA exam format?
Exam PA is a 3.5-hour computer-based exam at Prometric testing centers, offered each April and October. There are no multiple-choice questions: candidates type written responses to 10 to 12 tasks (70 points total) into Word, interpreting R output and graphs provided as exhibits. Excel is available for calculations.
About FreeFellow
Jeffrey Ting
FSA, CFA · Founder
FreeFellow was built by Jeffrey Ting, a credentialed actuary and CFA charterholder who passed thirteen of the hardest exams in finance on the first attempt, and paid four-figure prep fees for every one. The learning itself was always free. The price was a moat.
So he started writing his own questions, then lessons, then mock exams, until it grew into a full prep platform covering 35 finance credentials with more than 40,000 original practice questions. The name says exactly what it is: the question bank is free, and Fellow is what you become once you pass.
01
Cost shouldn't decide who gets in.
The exam is a fair gate. A four-figure prep course is not. FreeFellow takes the second gate down, so the exam is the only one left.
02
Free should mean free.
No trial clock, no email gate, no credit card. The question bank, worked solutions, lessons, and readiness score stay free, and they are enough to pass.
03
Built by someone who sat where you sit.
He paid for the big-name courses, found nothing he respected, and built the prep he wished had existed. Not a marketing team that has never sat an exam.
