Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on February 8, 2022 in Newsletter
8 February 2022
Who’s glad to see the back of January? We are and we aren’t. It’s been a long one but a busy and productive month too, with preparation for R06 and the AF5 exams including the introduction of our new webinars. Thanks for all the fantastic feedback on the webinars; it was great to hear we pitched it at the correct level and that it was so useful to you all. We loved hearing some of your comments such as “it provided many ‘hadn’t thought of that’ moments” and “covered a lot of content especially what to expect on the day – I would recommend to anyone.”
We are excited to introduce our brand new E-Mocks for the R01-R05 exams! See the full details below for this FREE Bonus!
Best Wishes,
The Team at Brand Financial Training
Featured Article
Are you working towards RQF Level 6?
Many advisers, paraplanners, and other financial services professionals are choosing to extend their qualifications beyond the diploma (RQF Level 4). Here, we talk about what’s involved in the CII RQF Level 6.
We are seeing a bigger demand than ever for CII AF exam support as people seek to pursue RQF Level 6 and Chartered status to develop specialist skills and knowledge and demonstrate their commitment to professionalism.
So what does the CII RQF Level 6 involve?
In order to complete the Advanced Diploma, you need 290 credits – 120 of these have to come from the Advanced level 6 units, 40 have to come from Diploma level 4 which include all the CII R0 exams (except R05) and the ‘J’ exams. All other credits can be gained at any level (except LF1). You have to take AF5 – it’s compulsory!
These are the AF units:
AF1 Personal tax and trust planning – 30 CII credits
AF4 Investment planning – 30 CII credits
AF5 Financial planning process – compulsory – 30 CII credits
AF6 Senior management and supervision – 30 CII credits
AF7 Pension Transfers – 20 CII credits
AF8 Retirement Income Planning – 30 CII credits
When you have achieved the credits required at Level 4 and Level 6, you can opt for credits at any level. So you may choose an easier Level 3 unit where this is a wide variety of Award and Certificate level units on offer. Popular choices at this level are CF8 Long Term Care Insurance and ER1 Equity Release.
You wouldn’t try to stuff an entire pizza into your mouth all at once, would you? (Well, apart from that one time after a night out in your first term at uni…) A far wiser and more conventional approach is to cut it into slices so you can enjoy and digest every last morsel properly.
Attempting to consume large quantities of information effectively when you’re studying for important exams is no different. You know well in advance what the exam date is going to be, and you have a good idea about how much you have to learn before that date. So rather than attempt to cram all those facts into your head in one fell swoop two days before, it makes more sense to adopt a ‘bite by bite’ approach to your learning. Here’s one way to approach the revision of large quantities of information.
Step 1: What size is the pizza?
Compile a comprehensive overview of absolutely everything you need to cover before the exam, including lists of all the course topics and/or units.
Step 2: How big is each slice?
Depending on how much information every unit/topic of course material contains, estimate approximately how many hours (or part-hours) of revision you’ll require to cover each individual section thoroughly.
NEW! FREE Bonus with any R01, R02, R03, R04, or R05 Study Kit Purchase – Limited Time Offer
Gain six months of free access to our Brand New E-Mocks – the electronic version of the questions from our PDF mocks. You’ll have the flexibility of taking short quizzes of 10 questions, 30 questions, 50 (or 100) questions, or a fully timed mock exam. Purchase any of our R01-5 Study Kits to get access to the E-Mocks for that exam.
MP3 Audio Masterclasses
..."Your MP3 audio masterclasses were of great quality. I felt they reminded me of some things I had not thought about for some time and prompted some wider study. The content was accurate, relevant and up to date for the exam and the length of each class was very good. The approach was not patronising like so many learning MP3s. I would definitely recommend..."
Richard Baxter, Senior Financial Adviser, Gower Financial Services, Guernsey
Available for AF1, AF4, J02, R01, R02, R03, R04 and R05
Every individual has his/her own learning style. Learning by listening provides an alternative to reading and re-reading the study text, and can help with absorbing and understanding materials. Our MP3 audio masterclasses come in digestible chunks allowing you to listen at home, in the car, at the gym or wherever else you may be.
For a list of each masterclass in your chosen exam, go to:
With the R06 exam now done and the AF5 exam today many of you may be wondering when results day is, so add these dates to your calendar:
R06 results day – Friday 4th March
AF5 results day – Friday 8th April
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.
Note that we keep our resources up-to-date with any updates from the CII.
Did You Miss These Posts on Our Blog?
Articles and Help for All Your Exams
You’ll find that there’s something for everyone when you check out our blog:
specific topics and how-to articles;
reviews of recent CII exam papers;
our Friday Five – a weekly quiz to give you a fun break from reading the study text;
study techniques that help you to retain your revision and keep your brain working for you, when you need it
Here are the blog posts you might have missed since our last newsletter:
There’s such a variety of information on offer to help you as you tackle your CII exams, that you won’t want to miss a single post. We’ve made it easy for you; just click the button below and enter your email details. Be ‘in the know’ with CII-exam-related tips and info – straight to your inbox!
Quote of the Month
..." Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. "...
Napoleon Hill
Friday 5 Focus on...
"5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday"
Each week, we ask questions relating to one of these topics: Investments, Taxation, Pensions, Protection, or Regulation. The challenge is for you to answer them in 5 minutes.
Where do I find the Friday Five?
We post each week’s Friday Five to our blog first thing every Friday. You can either visit our blog every Friday at https://brandft.co.uk/blog/ or you can simply go there now, and click on the subscribe button in the top right-hand corner of the blog and sign up to receive notifications of our Friday Five posts.
Note that we don’t email the Friday Five out to everybody every Friday, so we recommend you sign up to our blog at https://brandft.co.uk/blog/ so that you receive an email notification when it is posted. It will only take you a minute to sign up.
A bit of Friday Fun, but with the added benefit of testing your exam knowledge!
