Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on September 13, 2022 in Newsletter
13 September 2022
All 22/23 resources are now live!
The CII’s new examinable tax year 2022/23 for all financial services exams started on 1 September 2022. We have now updated all our resources for the financial services exams, so any purchases going forward will be valid for the new examinable tax year.
If you have purchased our resources for the previous examinable year (examined until 31 August 2022) and find that you will be sitting the exam after 1 September, the good news is that you may be entitled to the updated Brand Financial Training resources.
Note: The above information is not relevant for any insurance exams; your exam syllabus, CII study text, and learning resources are valid until 31 December 2022. We will work hard to email the updated versions to you within 5 working days of a valid request.
Best Wishes,
The Team at Brand Financial Training
Featured Article
How do you complete the CII R03 exam in just 60 minutes?
The CII R03 exam continues to be one of the hardest exams to pass at diploma level. The main issue candidates have is the way the questions are worded and the timeframe – it’s tough to answer 50 questions in 60 minutes, particularly when 11 of those are multiple-response and there is a host of calculation questions. Here, we give you some strategies that will help your exam preparation.
Topics Sure to Appear on the R03 Exam
One thing you can be sure about is that you will be tested on bond taxation, national insurance, inheritance tax, and basic income tax calculations (with questions designed to test your ability to apply the PSA and dividend allowance) and occasionally a question on the 0% rate for savings.
The last area often causes problems for delegates so make sure you practise, practise, practise. If you see a question with a relatively low amount of earned income with some savings income, then it’s probably this they’re testing you on. The starting rate is only available where savings income falls within the first £5,000 of taxable income so if earned income is £17,570 or more, then the starting rate for savings is not available.
Use the CII Exam Guide
It is essential that the CII exam guide is used as part of your revision, as it gives you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the type and style of questions that you will be faced with in the exam. The question stems are often quite long, but the more you practise, the more easily you will be able to pick through the information to get to what is actually being tested.
Our mock papers are designed to match the style and wording of the latest exam guides so if you need additional practice, these are well worth the investment.
For those who are studying for any of the CII’s R02, J10, J12 or AF4 exams, this might be a useful reminder for you! We look at the Money Weighted Rate of Return calculation in this ‘bitesize’ video.
The MWRR shows the return of an investment, taking into account the timing of additions or withdrawals. If you are studying towards R02, you’ll need to be aware of the theory involved in this, whereas for AF4, you’ll be expected to be able to perform the calculation. This video summarises the calculation with an example to help cement understanding and appeal to those who prefer to learn visually. For more examples to test your understanding, take a look at our calculation workbooks.
..."The calculation work book for AF4 was really helpful. A question on Return on Equity came up and I'd literally only come across this in the Brand workbook. Glad to say I passed the exam with flying colours!..."
Russell Hammond, Senior Partner, London
Passing AF4 can seem like a monumental task, especially when the study text arrives on your doorstep with a heavy thud. We offer a range of resources that will help you to feel fully prepared on exam day:
Mock Exam Papers - 3 full sets of 3 multi-part questions and answers including cross references to the relevant CII study text.
Calculation Workbook - Focusing on the calculations within the exam syllabus, the calculation workbook provides calculation questions with full step-by-step answers, detailed explanations and cross-references to the relevant CII study text.
Revision Notes - Designed for use when you are further along with your exam studies, our revision notes are a streamlined version of the learning outcomes and exam syllabus combined with self-test questions.
Video Tutorials - Our video tutorials from R02 are relevant for your AF4 studies. Honing in on those topics in the syllabus that candidates find most challenging, our video tutorials are visually appealing and include ‘test your learning’ questions for each topic. You can gain access to individual videos or the entire package.
MP3 Audio Masterclasses - Learn by listening with our MP3 masterclasses. They allow you to absorb and understand the material in digestible chunks.
All of the above resources can be bought as part of a study kit, so you can save 10% off the cost of buying them individually.
Still not sure? Why not try before you buy? Free tasters are available for all of the resources listed above. Just click here to access all our AF4 resource tasters.
R06 Case Study Analysis
Our analysis team is currently working on the case study analysis for the 28 September exam sitting. We are due to release our analysis tomorrow. This means that you have fewer than 24 hours to get the pre-order discount for our full case study analysis package. The package includes the full case study analysis PLUS exclusive access to our Email Support Day, and the full analysis from a previous exam sitting. Click the link below to find out more:
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:
Our Post-Exam Review of the May 2022 CII AF5 Exam - Click here.
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
..." Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. "...
Maya Angelou
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!
