Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on August 8, 2023 in Newsletter
8 August 2023
The end is in sight!
We’re in the thick of tax year updates this August, but the end is in sight! The CII’s examinable tax year changes in September, so we’re working through all of the necessary updates to make sure that all of our resources reflect the CII’s syllabus changes from September. So, watch this space!
If you’re still studying for an exam pre-1st September, then you can push on through. If you’re studying for an exam after 1st September, you need to be aware that small parts of the syllabus may change before you sit your exam – it’s usually things like changes in tax rates and allowances, or things like the removal of the lifetime allowance.
Also, here’s your reminder that if you were planning on sitting any of the CII’s written exams in September, your deadline to register is looming, so don’t leave it too late!
Featured Article
In the CII R06 or AF5 exams, one question that often pops up is the consideration of whether it’s better to invest a lump sum or save regularly for a future investment goal or for retirement. In this blog post, we consider the pros and cons of each method.
In this Brand Bitesize video, we take a quick look at what ‘alpha’ is and how it is calculated. In any given CII R02 exam, there’ll almost certainly be at least one question relating to alpha, but it could also appear in J10, J12, and AF4.
The change in examinable tax year is just around the corner!
The CII update their syllabus every September to reflect most recent changes, so this is things like rates of tax and allowances, updated figures for state benefits, and any changes in regulation since the previous year’s edition. So, we go through the same process here at Brand Financial Training, and we also update our resources to make sure they are fully reflective of any changes that the CII has made within their examinable syllabus.
However, please do note that we only make changes to update our resources to be applicable to the next examinable tax year, and to change any question styles as specified within the exam guide from the CII – we don’t rewrite our resources from scratch each year.
For most of our resources, if you purchased our 22/23 resources*, you can request the updated 23/24 versions (examinable from 1 September) once these are available. We will send out an email once the updated resources are available, near to the end of August.
* This excludes our R01/R02/R03/R04/R05 Video Tutorials and E-Mocks (which are based on a three-month subscription period), our R06 and AF5 full analysis packages, and any discontinued resources.
Focus On...
PDF Revison Notes
Passing your CII exam can seem like a struggle, especially when there is so much content to learn. Our revision notes are for when you are further along with your exam studies and are now ready to focus on a streamlined version of the exam content combined with self-test questions, to meet the requirements of the CII learning outcomes and exam syllabus.
Why not try before you buy? Download one of our free tasters. Just navigate to your exam from the main menu of our website.
..."The Brand training material certainly helps you to focus on the key information required and get straight to the salient facts. Having to read all of RO4 and JO5 was daunting but by using the notes as a guide it helped me to condense a lot of this information quickly."...
If you’ll be sitting AF5 soon, we are working on a series of short videos to help you to answer typical AF5 exam-style questions. We hope that this series helps you to know ‘where to start’ when it comes to structuring your answers, which we find is a big challenge that most people face. As well as technical knowledge, exam technique really is important to make sure you’re writing the right thing, in the right place, in the right words during your exam. Subscribe to our Youtube channel to be notified once these videos are online.
Updates to CII Study Texts
Here’s a reminder that the CII update their study texts throughout the examinable year to either incorporate new legislations, correct errors, or clarify information. Many candidates aren’t aware of this, which can result in candidates studying out-of-date information.
To find out if you have the most up-to-date information, visit the CII website, navigate to your chosen exam and click on ‘learning solutions update’ in the ‘Unit updates’ section in the sidebar.
Quote of the Month
..." We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort. "...
