Our Post-Exam Review of the April 2025 CII R06 Exam
Our Post-Exam Review of the April 2025 CII R06 Exam
The exam guide from the April sitting of R06 has been released by the CII, prompting us to see how we did in predicting the questions and model answers in our pre-exam analysis.
This article is correct as at 17 June 2025.
You can access the exam guide here.*
Case Study 1
Case Study 1 introduced us to Robin and Kerry, a married couple planning to retire within the next year.
Their financial aims were to:
- ensure they have sufficient funds to enable them to retire next year;
- adjust their investment portfolio to ensure it meets their needs in retirement;
- consider how best to manage the inheritance from Robin’s late mother.
| Question | Our Analysis |
|---|---|
| State the additional information that a financial adviser would require to enable them to establish whether Robin and Kerry can afford to retire next year. | As anticipated, the exam opened with a fact-finding question. Our analysis covered all the key points included in the model answer. We hope that well-prepared candidates were able to secure the full 15 marks on offer to kick start their exam. |
| Explain in detail to Robin how he could use his employer’s workplace pension scheme to provide a flexible income for the first few years of his retirement until he reaches State Pension age. | It was clear that flexible income would be a suitable option to bridge the income gap until State Pension age, making it a likely area for examination. We had therefore covered the benefits of using their workplace pension schemes to provide flexible income both in our Q&A under AIM 1 and in the self-test questions within our analysis. |
| Recommend and justify a range of actions that Robin and Kerry could take to generate additional income in retirement from the existing savings and investments. | Our analysis included this exact question and full model answer were provided. |
| Explain to Robin and Kerry how they could make gifts to their children for their weddings in an Inheritance Tax efficient manner. | Once again, this was a question that could be anticipated from the case study. Our analysis had outlined a clear strategy for making gifts to their children in an Inheritance Tax-efficient manner, covering all the key points including the use of a deed of variation, exempt gifts, and potentially exempt transfers. |
| Explain to Robin and Kerry why they might wish to consider the use of a deed of variation in respect of Robin’s future inheritance and how such an arrangement should be set up. | A deed of variation was a clear option in relation to Robin’s future inheritance, so our analysis covered both the benefits of using one and the steps involved in setting it up. |
| Identify the key reasons why the existing emerging market equity funds may not meet Robin and Kerry’s objectives. | We had identified the key risks associated with emerging market equity funds in our analysis and highlighted that the existing holdings are not aligned with Robin and Kerry’s attitude to risk. |
| Explain to Robin and Kerry why their capacity for loss should be reviewed now, following their decision to retire early. | A question relating to their taking early retirement was expected and our analysis had covered a lot of the key points relating to the impact of early retirement on their finances. We hope candidates were able to adapt our answers to fully address the question in the exam. |
Case Study 2
Moving on to Case Study 2, we meet Samir and Lydia, both aged 44 and married with three children. With Samir facing imminent redundancy, this situation formed the central focus of their financial planning needs.
Their financial aims were to:
- assess the merits of using the redundancy payment to reduce their mortgage balance;
- ensure that their financial protection arrangements meet their needs;
- improve the tax efficiency of their arrangements following Samir’s redundancy.
| Question | Our Analysis |
|---|---|
| Explain to Samir and Lydia why it is important for them to maintain their existing personal protection policies, following Samir’s redundancy. | Our analysis covered the implications of cancelling their personal protection policies. This content could be readily adapted to provide a comprehensive answer to the question. |
| Identify six benefits and six drawbacks for Samir and Lydia of using some of the redundancy payment to repay part of their mortgage. | We had provided a list of the benefits and drawbacks of using the redundancy payment to reduce their mortgage. |
| Explain to Samir and Lydia how they might be able to use Marriage Allowance to improve the tax-efficiency of their income. | Using the marriage allowance was highlighted throughout the analysis and we had provided model answers on how it could be used to improve their tax position. |
| Explain briefly to Samir why he may be eligible to claim New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance from the date of his redundancy. | Eligibility for State benefits is an important consideration for clients who may qualify. Since Samir was likely to be eligible for New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance following his redundancy, we included the relevant details in our analysis. |
| Recommend and justify a range of actions that Samir and Lydia could take to improve the tax efficiency of their current financial arrangements. | When improving tax efficiency is a stated objective, this type of question very often appears in the exam. Therefore, we provided detailed model answers for this question. |
| Explain to Samir the benefits of continuing to make pension contributions following his redundancy and how he could identify the maximum amount of tax-relievable pension contribution available to him. | While we hadn’t specifically anticipated a question on Samir’s maximum tax-relievable pension contributions, we had covered the benefits of making pension contributions. |
| Explain why continuing to invest in multi-asset funds may be suitable for Samir’s ISA portfolio. | The benefits of multi-asset funds were covered in Case Study 1, and candidates could have adapted those answers to demonstrate why continuing to invest in multi-asset funds may be suitable for Samir’s ISA portfolio, potentially earning good marks. |
| Identify eight key issues that a financial adviser should discuss with Samir and Lydia at their next annual review. | The R06 exam typically starts with a fact-finding question and ends with an annual review question, as was the case here. We had therefore covered the key issues for discussion at the annual review for Case Study 2 in detail. We hope well-prepared candidates finished the exam as strongly as they started it. |
Chartered Insurance Institute (2025). R06 – Financial planning practice: April 2025 Examination Guide. Retrieved from www.cii.co.uk.
Overall, this R06 paper was a good test of the areas highlighted in the case study. All questions could have been anticipated, with no unexpected curveballs. Candidates using our analysis would have covered all the key elements tested. As R06 exams go, it was a straightforward offering from the CII.
Grab the resources you need!
If you’re studying for your CII R06 exam, and you’re wanting to feel more confident on exam day, grab our free taster analysis to try out one of Brand Financial Training’s resources for yourself. Click the link to download the R06 case study analysis taster now!
* The CII has updated their retention policy and now only provides the last two exam papers. Older papers referenced in this article may no longer be available on the CII website.
