About us
We’ve been around since 2008 providing CII exam candidates with immediately accessible, quality learning resources. We have over 60,000 financial services professionals using our exam resources and those numbers keep on growing!
Why use Brand Financial Training?
We offer a varied range of learning resources covering exams from Award through Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma levels. Our resource range ensures that there is something that suits every style of learning. These include mock papers, e-mocks, calculation workbooks, revision notes, analyses and more with both free taster and full paid-for versions available.
Our team of highly qualified and experienced individuals author all of our resources and keep them up-to-date. The team’s extensive experience includes working with the CII as authors and examiners.
We are also very active on our blog providing articles, information and comment on financial services exams, and the industry in general.
Our Mission
Through offering a diverse choice of high-quality, affordable CII exam resources complemented by exceptional customer care, our mission is to alleviate stress and boost confidence among our community members, whilst supporting their pursuit of exam excellence.
Our Vision
To be the most trusted provider of high-quality CII exam resources whilst fostering professional excellence and social responsibility.
This means that we are constantly seeking new ways to make sure we are leaving the planet a better place than we found it. Find out more here.
Meet the Brand Financial Training team…
Catriona Standingford
Founder/Chair
Catriona founded Brand Financial Training in 2008 and has grown the business into one of the most highly regarded providers of learning resources for financial services CII exam candidates. After graduating with a BSc (Hons) Information Systems from the University of Leeds, Catriona worked as an IT Consultant worldwide, later changing career and re-training as a financial adviser. Seeing a dire need for help with financial services exams, she later launched Brand Financial Training and has since become an expert in Learning & Development.
Catriona also has Board level experience from startup through to established business dealing with a variety of areas including e-commerce; digital marketing; GDPR; systems analysis; documenting, streamlining and automating business processes; risk management; strategic planning; governance and coaching.
Articles
Michelle Riley
Head of Digital
Michelle joined the Brand Financial Training team in 2012 and has been our Head of Digital since May 2021, developing and maintaining our various systems and websites. She gained her Bachelor of Technology from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2012 and ensures her skills are kept up-to-date through various online training courses.
Jennifer Dugdale
Managing Director
Jennifer joined the team in 2021 and is responsible for the day-to-day running of Brand Financial Training as well as having management responsibility for projects and strategy. Her previous roles include Head of Training and Head of Academy roles at financial advice and training businesses, providing training for advisers and financial advice apprentices, as well as roles within business development and compliance & training. She holds an MBA from the University of Leeds.
Ann Mora
Technical Support and Content Specialist
Ann has been part of the Brand Financial Training team since 2019, helping CII exam candidates to pass their exams. She is an essential part of our technical authoring team as well as working on the content and administrative side of the business. Ann has a strong numerical and financial services background with a BSc in Mathematics from Exeter University and working in financial services since 1995. During that time she has gained numerous CII qualifications including AF7 Pension Transfers, G10 Taxation and Trusts, G30 Business Financial Planning, G60 Pensions, R06 Financial Planning Practice, FP1, FP2, FP3, SV1 and CF9. Her roles have included IFA Consultant and Corporate Pensions Consultant for Friends Provident.
Technical Author Team
Our technical author team consists of six highly skilled and qualified financial services authors and trainers with backgrounds in training, compliance, financial advice and hold the titles of Chartered Financial Planner, Associates and Fellows of the PFS and CII. Our technical authoring team are highly qualified including the CII Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning, the CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and equivalents, and a number of them also work for the CII as technical authors and examiners. Previous roles include household names such as Aviva, L&G and Friends Provident.
Customer and Business Support Team
The first point of contact for our customers is our Customer and Business Support Team, including Sharon, Lucy, and Patricia. The team has many years of experience in providing excellent customer service and support for our customers but are also responsible for a lot of behind the scenes action. Their knowledge of our customers and needs is unmatched, and they are always happy to help should you need anything. You can contact our Customer and Business Support team by emailing
Why are we different?
Do you want immediate access to our resources? The majority of our written learning resources are available as electronic PDF files which allow you to quickly access, print and obtain a hard copy. Many of our customers prefer this to web-based systems simply because being able to scribble on an actual printout helps with learning and referring back.Other resources such as our e-mocks are available either as a download or can be listened to or viewed on any electronic device whether PC, tablet, iPad or mobile.
The importance of customer service
Providing excellent customer service is extremely important to us. As well as providing a money-back guarantee, we also do all we can to make your exam journey and your experience with us a happy one. If you have any queries or problems, do contact us and we will act as quickly as we can to resolve the situation.We have a fantastic enquiries team at and you can always leave us a message on 0345 680 1682 (Calls are charged at no more than 5p per minute from a BT line, charges from mobiles and other providers may vary and can be considerably more).
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We appreciate you!
Finally, we’re not just a faceless company trying to sell you stuff. The entire team here at Brand Financial Training genuinely care about you and your exam journey. We want to know how you’re doing and how we can help. Our aim is to make your exam journey with us a successful one.
We look forward to meeting you!
Need help with anything?
We like to support our customers on every step of their journey. Got a question, then get in touch and we’ll do our very best to help you!
- This was my 1st AF exam and thanks to your fantastic and spot on analysis I have passed it at first attempt! I have used your materials for all my ‘R0’ and couple of ‘J ‘ exams and I have to admit, that without it I would have not been able to achieve my diploma! Special mention to all the calculation workbooks and their perfect, easy to understand layout.
AniaParaplanner, Manchester - "Having been recommended to you guys via our link to Paradigm, I noticed that you did an analysis of the RO6 exam questions, which having done some reading prior to taking the exam, I thought I'd take the hit and check it out. Having worked my way through all of the RO's previously, I wanted to ensure that I had the best possible preparation to enable me to pass RO6 first time and get my Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. All in all, I was impressed with how close the predicted questions were to those in the actual exam and this, in turn, meant that I was well prepared to back up my own personal knowledge for the exam, and your customer service support has also been very helpful. The resources were cost effective as well - a small price to pay to achieve the first milestone in my career qualifications! I would happily recommend Brand to others who are looking for materials to help them with their ongoing qualifications and I will definitely continue to make use of your resources as I work towards achieving Chartered status."Jake ClarksonParaplanner, Clarkson Wayman Ball Ltd, Market Harborough, Leicestershire
- "I have found the most important resource for any of the diploma papers have been mock questions. The more the merrier! The Brand mock papers I used ... are an excellent indication of the standard of questions from the actual exam and as such a valuable source of revision aid."Gavin DuffyFinancial Adviser, Weston-super-mare
- I passed R06 and very much thanks to your case study analysis which was excellent. I have used numerous training materials that you have produced for the R0 exams and all have been very useful indeed. I have now completed my level 4 diploma.Jonathan HowardTax Manager, Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management
- "Pleased to inform you I passed! I just want to thank you for your calculation work book as I would not have Passed without it. Thanks for an excellent personal service and encouragement."Christopher HargreavesInvestment Adviser, Southport
- I have passed R06 using only the 'Brand' material for revision. A lot of similar questions came up. I learnt the model answers verbatim, which helped I think gain near maximum marks on similar questions.John KellyParaplanner, Chase de Vere, London
- "Your R06 analysis helped me to pass. In fact I spent most of my revision time using your analysis. The detailed breakdowns and the section on the "general" recurring questions meant that I didn't feel that I was scrambling around for marks at all. The key for me was using the analysis you provided as the cornerstone for my exam preparation because the case studies could lead you off the scent or you could miss key CII clues but moreover it allowed me to structure my answers in the exam in a format that I would not have known to otherwise and made for efficient use of time. I have no doubt that your analysis not only gave me the knowledge to pass the exam but a way to demonstrate that knowledge effectively so that the examiner had little/no guesswork in what I was trying to communicate. I recommend your analysis for anyone taking the exam in the future because it gives an efficient, accurate breakdown of what is likely to be asked and the generic section is also hugely valuable too."David GunnAdviser, Nottingham
- "I took J05 and wanted to say that I wouldn't have passed it without your help, some of the questions that came up were not studied by the CII study book. However, these areas were covered in your study material and practice questions which saved the day!"Deborah HughesFinancial Planning Manager, Ashley Law Ltd, Crawley
- "It was hard for me to commit myself to start studying again as I am a full time mum of two under 5. However, I took the challenge and decided to go for it. I was looking for past papers and that's when I came across the mock exams through the Brand Financial Training website. After doing them over and over again I was able to revise the areas I was weak in. It gave me confidence and I was ready for the exams. If I didn't do these papers I would have been a nervous wreck! I guess I owe a big thank you to Brand Financial Training."Shalini DevarajanIpswich
- "Brand's solution papers were massively helpful in my preparation for the R06 exam. The expected questions came up on the exam and I was well prepared to give answers that covered all the aspects that I needed to in order to get a good mark. Gained a very good pass so am very grateful to Brand for their support."Matt HignettIFA
Ania
Jake Clarkson
Christopher Hargreaves
Deborah Hughes
