The CII J07 April 2019 Exam in Review

Here, we are looking at the CII J07 April exam: Supervision in a regulated environment. This review of the question paper from April will help you to highlight areas that will need more focused revision.

You can find the exam guide here.

As with the other written Diploma in Financial Planning papers, two hours are given to answer 15 short-answer questions for a total of 130 marks.  Compared with the J05 paper, the questions in this exam can be much more succinct, so less time is needed to read the question before being able to start an answer.

Question 1

The exam started with having to state three key features of indirect supervision and three methods of indirect supervision – quite a nice start to the exam.

Question 2

This question tested Herzberg’s hygiene and motivation factors and asked for six motivators and then asked candidates to define hygiene factors and explain their impact on job satisfaction.  The question gave a total of nine marks.

Question 3

The exam continued with a two-part question; the first part asked for an explanation of the consumer awareness rules in relation to complaints handling (for six marks) and for a further five marks, the information that must be reported through GABRIEL.

Question 4

This question seemed to drift into other exam syllabus territory by asking the key factors that determine whether someone is an employee (for seven marks) and three characteristics an employed adviser might demonstrate.

Question 5

Overall, there were 11 marks for this question, which tested key areas of a T&C scheme, including the ways in which a scheme helps supervisors fulfil their duties.

Question 6

Next, we had a three-part question: firstly, an explanation of a training needs analysis; then the differences between organisation and individual training needs and finally two examples of organisational and individual factors that have an impact on training needs.

Question 7

This tested development needs with a small question, for two marks, to list the benefits of documenting a structured development plan and then for seven marks, the stages of a structured development plan.

Question 8

Call monitoring systems were tested in this question, including how they can be used by an employer and three marks for stating the purpose of observation aids.

Question 9

For eight marks, candidates were asked to state the principles that staff performing a ‘significant harm’ function must adhere to, and then state the purpose of the conduct rules for staff performing such a function.

Question 10

This question tested DPR: firstly, seven examples of sensitive personal data and then two requirements companies must follow to make sure individuals understand how their data is processed.

Question 11

This question was a three-part question and asked for the main areas of focus for corporate objectives, four areas of focus for individual objectives and finally an explanation of the purpose of CSR in relation to business strategy.

Question 12

This was a nice straightforward question, which asked candidates to list six performance-related KPIs for a financial adviser.

Question 13

This question tested management information for an overall score of eight marks; candidates had to explain the limitations of only receiving MI covering company income and compliance, and then state other types of MI a director should receive.

Question 14

Another 3-part question: firstly, candidates had to define unsatisfactory performance, provide examples and finally describe types of management intervention used to deal with it.  Overall, this question gave 12 marks.

Question 15

The final question asked for seven grounds for dismissal that would be deemed automatically unfair (excluding sex, age and trade union membership).

Comparison with October 2018’s Paper

Let’s compare this with the paper sat by candidates in October last year which can be found here.

• Role of an overseer/main exceptions from the T & C rules that apply to them
• Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership model
• Organisation barriers when proposing significant changes to business strategy
• Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
• The application process for an approved person
• The role of business conferences as a method of communication
• Validation of learning/methods to validate sales training learning
• Coaching
• Mandatory and desirable adviser actions at initial contact with a client
• Verification requirements and risk
• Effective management information
• Talent management and ISO 22222
• Employee suspected of committing fraud
• Human Rights Act 1999 legislation

The range of topics within J07 is wide, and as you can see, did yet again vary between the last two papers. This demonstrates that future students should spend time studying as many past exam papers as they can get hold of, as questions will be repeated over time.   The annual pass rate for J07 in 2018 was 53.26% which, although one of the lowest pass rates for a written J0 paper, is the highest rate of the last 5 years of J07 sittings.

Grab the resources you need!

If you’re studying for your CII J07 exam, and you want to be fully prepared, grab our free taster to try out one of Brand Financial Training’s resources for yourself.  Click the link to download the J07 mock paper taster now!