How CII Exams are Tested
Candidates planning out their exams for the CII qualifications are faced with a bewildering choice. There are many different levels of exams, worth different amounts of credits, which are being tested in different ways. This article looks at the Diploma and the Advanced Diploma units and how they are tested.
Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning (R01 – 6 exams)
Five out of the six exams that make up this qualification are tested by multiple-choice questions.
R01 (regulation) and R02 (investments) are both RQF level 4 exams, 2 hours each with 100 questions, split between multiple-choice (MCQ) and multi-response questions (MRQ).
- R01 has 87 MCQs and 13 MRQs
- R02 has 72 MCQs and 28 MRQs
With MCQs, only one answer out of four options is correct.
With MRQs there will, according to the CII, be between 4 and 6 answer options. In our experience, there are usually 4 options, sometimes 5 but very rarely (if ever) 6. More than 1 of these options is correct; usually, it’s just 2 and very rarely (if ever) more than 3. Both exams give 20 credits with a nominal pass mark of 65%.
R03 (tax) and R04 (pensions) are also both RQF level 4 exams, they are 1-hour exams with 50 questions. The nominal pass mark is 65%, and both exams give 10 credits.
- Both R03 and R04 have 39 MCQs and 11 MRQs
Often the biggest challenge with R03 and R04 is the time constraints – candidates only have one hour to answer 50 questions and the exam does contain calculation questions and 11 MRQs – both of which tend to take longer to answer. Plenty of practice with mock papers is a must to ensure the exam can be completed in the time allowed!
R05 (protection) is an RQF Level 3 exam also worth 10 credits. It is a 1-hour exam of 50 multiple-choice questions (with no MRQs). The pass mark for this exam is 70%.
R06 (financial planning practice) is the only R0 written exam. It is made up of two case studies, which are made available by the CII two weeks prior to the exam. The exam will then test the candidate’s financial planning capabilities with questions based on the case studies. It’s a 3-hour paper with a nominal pass mark of 55% giving 30 credits.
Note the CII still refer to any non-multiple choice question exams as ‘Written’ exams even though the vast majority of them (since COVID-19) are only available to take online rather than with pen and paper!
Other Diploma Units (R07 and J exams)
J02 (trusts), J05 (pension income options) and J07 (supervision) are all 2-hour exams made up of 15 compulsory written short-answer questions.
J10 (discretionary management) and J12 (securities advice and dealing) and R07 (mortgages) are also 2-hour exams tested with multi-choice questions plus case studies.
- J10 has 70 MCQs plus 4 case studies each with 5 MCQs (total 90)
- J12 has 60 MCQs plus 3 case studies each with 5 MCQs (total 75)
- R07 has 55 MCQs and 4 case studies with 5 MCQs (total 75)
J09 (paraplanning) is tested by 3 written coursework assignments.
All the J exams give 20 credits except J09 which gives 30. R07 is worth 15 credits.
Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning (AF exams)
AF1 (tax and trust planning) and AF4 (investment planning) are 3-hour written case study-based exams. The nominal pass mark for both is 55%
AF7 (Pension Transfers) is a 2-hour exam made up of 3-4 compulsory written short answer questions and 2 case study-based questions. AF7 has a nominal pass mark of 60%.
AF6 (senior management and supervision) and AF8 (Retirement Income Planning) are tested by three written coursework assignments. The pass mark for both units is 50%.
AF5 is the financial planning process compulsory paper where a fact-find is provided 2 weeks before the exam and is also a 3-hour paper based on that fact-find. AF5 has a nominal pass mark of 55%.
All the Advanced Diploma exams are RQF Level 6 exams worth 30 credits except AF7, which is worth 20 credits.
