R06 – Why didn’t I pass?

For many candidates, their R06 result comes as a shock. Even those who pass may find their mark is lower than expected, while others are left wondering how they missed out when they felt they had fully answered every question. We regularly hear from candidates who checked their answers, felt confident they had done enough and were expecting a much higher mark, only to find they didn’t pass or just scraped through.

Missing out in this way can be especially frustrating because it often feels unexpected. In this article, we look at some practical steps candidates can take to reflect on what may have gone wrong, make better use of the feedback available and prepare more effectively for their re-sit.

This article is correct as at 2 June 2026.

Period of reflection

Give yourself time to let the result sink in. You can then begin to analyse where things may have gone wrong. Sometimes the issue is clear. Common reasons include not being familiar with the CII system – for example, not knowing how to go back and edit answers – running out of time, or simply not putting in enough technical revision, leaving your knowledge below the standard needed.

There are some straightforward fixes to these issues i.e., using the CII familiarisation test of their online system, completing old exam guides under exam conditions to understand time limitations, and making sure you have enough revision time set aside for the period of intense technical revision once the case studies have been released.

However, if after a period of self-reflection, the reasons are not obvious, as is the case for many candidates, you may want to consider the following:

CII Exam Guide

This should be your first port of call. The exam questions, along with full model answers, are released in the exam guide on results day and is available on the CII R06 homepage.

We suggest you study both the questions and model answers. It may be obvious, looking back at the exam, why marks were lost.

Ask yourself:

Did you misinterpret/misread the questions?

Did you relate your answers to the client?

Did you go into enough detail?

Did you duplicate answers?

If you’ve got a good memory and can remember how you answered each question, you may be able to gain a lot of useful feedback by working through the exam guide.

CII re-mark/ post-results review

If you did not pass, you have four weeks from results day to decide whether you want to apply for a post-results review, at a cost of £90.

Many candidates who are just short of the pass mark are tempted to apply as occasionally results are overturned. However, you should be aware that your result being overturned to a pass is unlikely especially if you’ve missed out by more than three or four marks.

Even if you are not expecting your result to change, this review can still be useful. If you are struggling to understand what went wrong and why your mark was so low, the report will provide additional feedback.

If, after the re-mark, your paper is still below the pass mark, the feedback report is produced within around five weeks and will include the following information:

• The exam question and whether your answer did or did not meet the standard required.
• A list of the model answer points you included which achieved marks and the model answers you missed.
• Comments and suggestions for improvement.

Let’s look at an example:

Explain the key reasons why Jennifer’s current level of cash holdings may not be suitable (8 marks)

Your answer did not meet the standard required.

You included the following key points that achieved marks:

• Exceeds FSCS limit of £120,000 – default risk
• Can match ATR
• Interest rate risk
• Too much cash / excess emergency fund

Your answer omitted further points that would have gained higher marks:

• Limited growth potential on cash
• Inflation risk on cash
• Exceeds Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) of £500
• Interest charged at 40%

(This is just an example we made up for illustrative purposes.)

The examiner will add comments and suggestions for improvement and give you an overview of your answers i.e., noting that you failed to give sufficient detail and you should personalise your answers to the clients.

Unfortunately, the feedback does not include a list of your original answers with annotations, which is a shame as this would make it much easier to see exactly what went wrong i.e., in the example above, did you state it ‘exceeds the PSA’ but failed to state that the PSA was £500 or did you miss this point completely?

Also try to remember whether you duplicated your answers. In the example above, you might feel like you would earn two marks for ‘Too much held in cash’ and  ‘Too much held in an emergency fund’ – this was only worth one mark, as both points relate to the amount held in cash.

If it is just feedback you are after, at a cost of £90, it is up to you to decide whether this is worth it, or whether you can deduce the same feedback by studying the model answers in the exam guide.

Other revision options

R06 is tricky. Trying to understand what the CII expects from the answers is not always easy, so it might be worth considering other revision options.

As mentioned above, the CII exam guides are a must for R06 revision, and we advise all R06 candidates to work through as many as they can.

Training provider analysis of the case study is a key resource for most R06 candidates. The provider’s experienced authors will help highlight the key subject areas likely to be tested and will predict likely exam questions and provide full model answers.

We have made a series of videos for R06, available on our YouTube channel. Spending a few minutes each day watching one of these short videos can be a simple way to tackle some high-level R06 revision before the case studies have been released.

If more detailed personalised help is required, it might be worth considering investing in face-to-face training.

There is lots of help out there!

Summary

Failing R06 can be frustrating, especially if you felt confident walking out of the exam. However, taking some time to reflect and understand where things may have gone wrong can make a big difference for your re-sit and the good news is, many candidates go on to pass R06 successfully at their next attempt.

Grab the resources you need!

If you’re preparing for the CII R06 exam and want a clearer sense of what’s expected, our free R06 analysis taster gives you an insight into our approach to exam-style questions. Get access here.