2016 Pass Rates for CII Diploma and Advanced Diploma Exams
Last updated on October 6th, 2021 at 6:19 am
The pass rates have been published by the CII for the 2016 exam sittings. Here, we look at a selection of CII qualifications and their exam pass rates. Those who are planning to sit CII exams in the near future will want to know how past exam candidates have fared.
Using the figures from 2013, 2014 and 2015 you can see in our table how these percentages have changed for the Diploma and the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning exams.
Diploma in Financial Planning
Looking at the Diploma in Financial Planning first, the 2016 figures show pass rates for J02 – J12 range from just over 50% to just over 63%. (Although for some reason, 2016 figures are not showing for J10 or J12 and those for J10 have in the previous two years pulled the highest pass rate to over 80%).
The lowest pass rate was for the J03 exam (Tax and Legal Aspects of Business) – 50.94% – sitting just below the J11 figure of 51.20%. These results take J07 off the bottom for the first time in a long time. The figures for J03 dropped quite significantly from 62.34% in 2015 to only just over half in 2016; for those that have taken this exam, you’ll know it’s a very wide subject with a correspondingly heavyweight manual to study from.
The subjects that have seen improvements in pass rates are: J02, J05 and J07. Top of the charts with 63.51% of candidates passing in 2016 was J05 (Pension Income Options) (up from 57.49% in 2015) with J02 (Trusts) close behind with 58.37%. (The subjects where pass rates went down were J03 and J11).
The pass rates have been published by the CII for the 2016 exam sittings. Share on X
Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
For the R0 units, the numbers are, as usual, mixed with four out of the eight subjects showing an improvement from 2015. It’s good to see the R04 (Pensions and Retirement Planning) figure getting back to its pre-2015 level. R03 (Personal Taxation) however continues to be a challenging exam with just over 50% of candidates passing; this exam needs extra careful preparation and practice to ensure the 50 questions can be finished in the 60 minutes given.
Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning
With the advanced subjects, we can see a rise in delegates passing AF2, AF3, AF5 and AF6. As with R04 the Advanced Pension paper AF3 also increases its pass rate – from last year’s miserable 31.47% to a slightly better 37.25%. Let’s hope the changes in the pensions exams due this year will see these figures improve.
AF1 figures (Personal Tax and Trusts) have gone down markedly from 57.55% to 45.02% but AF2 (Business Financial Planning) continues to see a steady improvement since 2013. AF4 (Investment Planning) results have virtually stood still from 63.88% to 63.37%.
AF6 (Senior Management and Supervision) was top of the AF charts in 2015 and continues that trend in 2016 with an impressive 78.95% of delegates passing. This is a different exam in that it is purely coursework with a pass mark on each of the three assignments of 50%. The other AF exams are written exams with a nominal pass mark of 55%.
