Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on June 8, 2021 in Newsletter
8 June 2021
Now that the CII is staggering the written exams across the year, the exams seem to be coming thick and fast, but feedback so far is that this new structure is giving candidates more opportunities throughout the year and better scope to take exams with overlapping technical content closer together (we wrote an exam article on overlapping exams recently so do have a read if you missed this the first time around.)
Good luck to all of you taking your AF5 exams today, it’ll be interesting to hear your feedback as always.
Best Wishes,
The Team at Brand Financial Training
Featured Article
Our Top Revision Tips for the CII R0 Exams
There is a lot of information to retain, and a lot of studying required for the R0 multiple-choice question exams, so we wanted to share with you some top tips to help with your revision.
How to Pass Guides
At Brand Financial Training, we have been helping candidates pass their R0 exams for many years and we have now summarised our knowledge and experience in our ‘How to Pass’ guides. We recommend that anyone about to take an R0 exam read the relevant guide as it provides an overview of the exam, help with exam technique, examples of some of the most common exam questions, and help on how to approach the difficult multi-response questions. This is a completely free guide for all our customers. Get yours here.
Mock papers are not just practice questions!
Spend time practising mock papers, not just questions that test your knowledge. Mock papers are designed to replicate the actual exam, and therefore, will prepare you for the style and format of the exam as well as testing your knowledge. For example, the R01 to R04 exams include multi-response questions, which can be particularly challenging. Also, the CII is moving towards ‘client scenario’ style questions, which can be trickier and more time-consuming, so practice is key to ensure you understand the precise meaning of the question. We would also advise doing at least one mock paper under exam conditions, as this will give you a feel for timings.
6 Ways to Overcome Panic at the Thought of Your Looming Exam
Written by Lysette Offley, Genius Material
Here are 6 strategies that will help you when you’re stressed about your exams and can feel yourself panicking about how you’ll ever learn all you need to before exam day.
Ever find yourself so snowed under that you just don’t know where to start? Do you have a strategy for getting through the chaos?
Does the thought that your exams are looming send you into a panic attack?
It’s true to say that when our bodies enter the stress response we can’t think straight. So to have a strategy that works during these times is invaluable.
Here are some ideas for managing the time you have efficiently.
1. Write a to-do list
Make a list of all the tasks you have to complete. Put them in separate lists: one list for work, another list for home, another list for revision.
It allows you to see the size of the challenge. Also as you begin to pick off the tasks one by one and complete them, you’re keeping track of your progress. And that feels good.
2. Prioritise
Some of the tasks will be more urgent than others. Devise a scoring system or order them according to their level of urgency.
‘Do you have any hints and tips for the R0 exams?’
We’ve answered this question for you in our new ‘How to Pass Guide’ for each of the R01 to 5 exams.
We have put our years of experience into creating a guide that answers the questions we typically get asked about the R0 multiple-choice exams, such as what to expect from the exam, hints and tips for tackling the different style of questions, help with exam technique, and more…
This guide is completely free when you make a purchase or request a free taster. Alternatively, you can request yours here.
Mock Papers
Available for AF1, AF4, AF7, CF1, CF6, CF8, ER1, FA1-2, IF1-5, J02, J05, J07, J10, J12, LP2, R01-5, and R07
...“I passed my exams 1st time after buying the 3 mock exam packs. They are very relevant and gave me that extra confidence in taking the exam. Thank you Brand 🙂 The service is excellent as well I might add.’...
Passing your CII exam isn’t only about having the necessary knowledge and understanding, it’s about being able to apply that knowledge in an exam setting exactly as needed and in a timely manner. It is essential that you practise multiple exam papers to ensure that you know exactly how to apply your knowledge. Too many people fail due to a lack of exam practice, even if their knowledge is good.
Our mock exam question papers ensure you get the practice you need to achieve exam success. Couple them with other resources in our study kits and you’ll be well prepared for your exam.
All answers include cross references to the relevant CII study text
All questions and answers are kept up-to-date to reflect changes to the exam syllabus and tax year
Written for essential exam practice, but are not duplicates of the CII’s mock papers
Download them instantly in PDF format and print as required
30-day money-back guarantee
Why not try before you buy? Download one of our free tasters:
We will be starting work on the R06 analysis when the case studies are released on the 18th June.
Our team have over 10 years’ experience at producing the R06 analyses – we look at the types of questions (and answers) we think will come up in the exam based on the case studies, plus generic R06 questions, and help on exam technique. The analysis now also includes self-test questions so you can practise your exam technique and technical knowledge relevant to the case study subject material.
You will also have an opportunity to access our lead analysis author in our email support day on Monday 5th July.
The CII has confirmed the AF4 sittings on 24 June and 11 October.
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
..." Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. "...
Abraham Lincoln
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!
