CII Exam Pass Rates for 2014

The CII have published the annual exam pass rates for 2014.  Using the figures from 2012 and 2013 you can see below how these percentages have changed for the Diploma and the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning exams. (Information for the other exams can be found on the CII website). This article will be of interest to those sitting the CII R0, J0 and AF exams.

J07 Showing the Lowest Figure

The 2014 figures show pass rates for J01 – J12 range from 40% up to over 80%.  The lowest figure of 40.17% is once again for J07 (Supervision in a regulated environment) having gone down from 50.23% in 2013 with J03, J11 and J12 also going down from the previous year.

Good Pass Rates for J10 and J12

Top of the charts with over 80% of candidates passing is J10 (Discretionary investment management) with J12 (Securities advice and dealing) coming in second with 72.89%.  These subjects, which are both tested by multiple-choice, are consistently showing good pass rates (despite J12 going down from 2013, still over 70% of delegates passed in 2014).

Mixed Results for the R0 Exams

For the R0 units, the numbers are mixed for 2014; three subjects have improved (R01, 2 and 3) and three have gone down (R04, 5 and 6).  Pensions and tax continue to be a challenge with the very common complaint with R03 that there just isn’t enough time.  From our own experiences here we would definitely agree with that.

R06 Figures Have Deteriorated Since 2012

It’s interesting to see that since 2012, R06 figures have deteriorated each year.  R06 is of course the financial planning practice paper.  What has become apparent is that although the majority of what will come up on the day can be predicted by the case study and the objectives that are given, it is becoming increasingly hard to predict the curve ball question; for example the October paper last year had an 8 mark question on stochastic modelling which would have caused a few hearts to sink in the exam room.

AF3 Continues to Pose a Challenge

With the advanced subjects the pensions paper, AF3, continues to be a challenge – the pass rates have deteriorated each year since 2012 with 2014 showing one of the lowest figures of all exams we’ve covered here of 40.92% (J07 is actually the lowest).  The pass rates for AF6 (Senior management and supervision), also show disappointing figures for both last year and 2013.  The good news however is that AF2 (the Business financial planning paper), has shown an improvement over 2012 and 2013.

AF5 Tops the AF Charts

AF5 is top of the AF charts with over 65% of candidates passing, again an improvement from the previous year.  Unlike R06 there tends to be less surprise questions on the day meaning that the well prepared candidate should almost certainly pass.