Here are the CII AF exam dates for 2024 which are include two sittings.
AF1: 20th February
AF5: 13th February
AF7: 5th March
AF4: 7th March
AF1: 10th September
AF5: 17th September
AF7: 24th September
AF4: 1st October
Of course, the CII now offer AF6 and AF8 on a coursework basis. This means that you have to submit assignments and there isn’t a specified exam date. But you do need to complete all three assignments within a 12 month period so if you intend to sit one of these subjects and a written AF exam, schedule the writing of your assignments to avoid the times when you will need to study for the AF written exam.
Enrolment for the assignment-based exams – AF6 and AF8 – can be at any time. Note that the 12 month clock starts ticking when you enrol, not when you submit your first assignment.
In theory, this might be a sensible way to select an exam. In practice, it might not quite workout this way. We always suggest selecting an exam that is of most use to your work and to your business. If you work in a specialist area, then your day-job may help to give you a head start in a subject where others struggle.
Here are the latest CII pass rates for the AF exams at the time of writing (July 2023):
AF1 – 42% (-1% on the previous year)
AF4 – 57% (+7% on the previous year)
AF5 – 72% (+9% on the previous year)
AF6 – 97% (no change)
AF7 – 61% (+5% on the previous year)
AF8 – 75.3% (no change)
NB The pass rate for assignment-based exams such as AF6 and AF8 suggest that these exams are easier than they are. This is because the pass rates are only based on those that submit and successfully complete all of their assignments – and do not include people who ‘drop out’.
Click here for the figures for previous years and to see the trends.
CII website – AF exams
Free AF exam preparation guide (for AF1, 2, 4, 5 or 7). Click here
For details of all written financial services exams (e.g. J07, J05), click here
Prepare well and be successful.
Sam Patterson
With Budgets and Autumn Statements, legislative and tax changes happen frequently – it’s a fact of life. If we take the the recent 2022 Autumn Statement as an example, there are a range of changes. Some of them, like SDLT, were implemented immediately in the previous infamous ‘Truss’ ‘mini-budget. Other changes (such as reducing the threshold before additional rate tax is payable) have been announced but will not be implemented until April 2023. All potentially confusing. But more importantly, if you are sitting a CII exam, when are these changes examined from?
I’ll start with a simple scenario. The standard testing period for all CII exams is from the 1st September for a period of 12 months. This is when any syllabus changes to an exam are examined from. If you sit a R03 exam in mid-August 2023, the tax rates used will be based on the 22/23 tax year. If you sit R03 on the 5th September 2023, it will be based on the 23/24 tax year. Taking the August 2023 example, this throws up a bit of an anomaly because you would have been using the 23/24 tax rates in work for several months. But the CII have to have a set date for a change to become effective and the 1st September is that date.
Why September? In a typical year, most tax changes become effective from the 6th April. The CII then has to update all of its exam support material, issue it to students, and give them a fair period of time to allow study before examining it. When you look at it like this, a changeover in September makes absolute sense.
Of course, this isn’t a problem with the AF exams. In 2023, the first exam sittings are in February and March (22/23 tax year). The second sitting are in September and October so these will be based on the 23/24 tax year. Hopefully, this is all clear.
I’ve just looked at the most straightforward scenario. But what happens if changes are introduced during the testing period, i.e. between September to September? This is where the ‘3 month rule’ is usually applied to CII exams. It is fairly rare for any legislative or tax changes to be introduced immediately. With legislation, there is usually a consultation and then an implementation period. With tax changes, it does happen from time to time as we saw with changes to SDLT in September 2022. Normally, this means that any changes will not be examined by the CII until after a period of at least 3 months after changes are implemented (not from when they are announced).
What happens if changes are announced over 3 months in advance – for example those to be introduced at the start of the next tax year? The general rule (there have been some exceptions) is that they get examined from the following September.
Example:
The 2022 Autumn Statement announced that the dividend allowance would be reduced to £1,000 in April 2023. As this falls within the 23/24 tax year, this would get tested after 1st September 2023. The Statement also announced that the allowance would be further reduced to £500 in April 2024. The CII generally do not test these changes in advance so expect this to be examined after 1st September 2024.
By definition, these tend to be a little more random than tax changes. Some years there are key legislative changes such as the GDPR changes to data protection in 2018; in other years there may be little or nothing that will impact on CII exams. Again, the 3 month rule will typically apply.
The best advice is to look on the CII website for the exam subject you intend to sit. The CII does issue qualification updates to advise you of changes in the current tax year. For example, the R03 page on the CII exams website includes a qualification update on the right hand column. Click here. This provides a good example as it shows that the SDLT changes are examinable from the 23rd December 2022. See the AF1 website page for the position with AF1 under the heading ‘unit updates’.
If you are in any doubt, always check the relevant CII exam page for any qualification updates.
We provide support – like this blog – to help people pass their R0 or AF exam first time. Our material is written by ex-examiners and our audio material is written by the authors of 6 current CII study texts. That’s why we modestly like to think that we are exam experts.
Click here to see R0 specfic blogs and helpful tips
Click here to see AF specific blogs and helpful tips
Click here to access our FREE AF preparation guides
Prepare well, stay calm and I hope this helps with your preparation.
Sam Patterson, APFS, Chartered Financial Planner
Here are the CII AF exam dates for 2023 which are include two sittings.
AF1: 12th September
AF5: 19th September
AF7: 26th September
AF4: 3rd October
Of course, the CII now offer AF6 and AF8 on a coursework basis. This means that you have to submit assignments and there isn’t a specified exam date. But you do need to complete all three assignments within a 12 month period so if you intend to sit one of these subjects and a written AF exam, schedule the writing of your assignments to avoid the times when you will need to study for the AF written exam.
Enrolment for the assignment-based exams – AF6 and AF8 – can be at any time. Note that the 12 month clock starts ticking when you enrol, not when you submit your first assignment.
In theory, this might be a sensible way to select an exam. In practice, it might not quite workout this way. We always suggest selecting an exam that is of most use to your work and to your business. If you work in a specialist area, then your day-job may help to give you a head start in a subject where others struggle.
Here are the latest CII pass rates for the AF exams at the time of writing (July 2023):
AF1 – 42% (-1% on the previous year)
AF4 – 57% (+7% on the previous year)
AF5 – 72% (+9% on the previous year)
AF6 – 97% (no change)
AF7 – 61% (+5% on the previous year)
AF8 – 75.3% (no change)
NB The pass rate for assignment-based exams such as AF6 and AF8 suggest that these exams are easier than they are. This is because the pass rates are only based on those that submit and successfully complete all of their assignments – and do not include people who ‘drop out’.
Click here for the figures for previous years and to see the trends.
CII website – AF exams
Free AF exam preparation guide (for AF1, 2, 4, 5 or 7). Click here
For details of all written financial services exams (e.g. J07, J05), click here
Prepare well and be successful.
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the current CII texts CF8, J07 and AF6
The latest CII AF exam results show which are hardest, and which are the easiest. These will be of interest to anyone who is looking to sit these CII exams so go into your AF exams with your eyes open.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this should be a straightforward question. It isn’t. Some of the variation in pass rates is not solely due to the subject matter, but how it is examined. Perhaps surprisingly, there are significant differences between the exams.
AF1 and 4 are ‘traditional’ AF exams. They have 160 marks and these are split between three case studies: one worth 80 marks and the two other case studies are usually worth 40 marks each. Written answers are required and you will need around 55% to pass, i.e. 88 marks.
AF5 is based on a completed fact find that is issued 2 weeks before the exam. On the exam day, you will be faced with 8 questions (usually with sub-sections) that are based on this case study. The pass rate for this exam is relatively high because you should be able to identify some of the technical areas that will be tested and prepare for them before the exam.
AF7 is again different, perhaps because it is only worth 20 credits whereas all the other AF exams are worth 30 credits towards Chartered status. It is also a 2 hour exam rather than a 3 hour exam and the exam has 100 marks with a nominal pass rate of 60%. Section A has 3-4 short answer questions which test your knowledge across the syllabus. Section B consists of two case studies and EACH will usually account for 30-35% of the total marks for the exam.
Finally, we have AF6 and AF8. The format of these exams is very different because they are all assignment-based which means that you never have to enjoy the pressure of a timed written exam. Instead, three assignments need to be successfully completed within a 12 month period. This creates it’s own pressures but ultimately, it should allow you to complete them when it suits you best.
The latest pass rates are actually those up to the year ending in 2021. These are the latest available at the time of writing (July 2022):
AF1 – 43% (minus 1% on the previous period)
AF4 – 50% (minus 5% on the previous period)
AF5 – 63% (minus 9% on the previous period)
AF6 – 97% (minus 1.7% on the previous period)
AF7 – 56% (plus 13% on the previous period)
AF8 – 75.3% (plus 3.8% on the previous period)
Overall, these figures reflect the ‘easiest’ and the ‘hardest’ exams but we believe that you still have to be careful how you interpret these figures. If you look at the data over a period of time, AF5 has always been the easiest of the written exams – probably because of the pre-issue of the fact find information allows candidates to pre-prepare. Conversely, AF7 (slightly worryingly given the importance of DB transfers), has always been one of the hardest AF exams – until this year where there was a welcome improvement. The ‘mantle’ of hardest AF exam now falls to AF1 although to be fair, AF1 has consistently been one of the harder AF exams.
AF6 and AF8 deserve a special note. The pass rates for these subjects are sky-high – especially AF6. Many people will assume that these are much easier than the written exams but this would be a mistake. Being assignment-based exams does NOT automatically mean that this format is easier and you need to understand why this is. The CII base their pass rates for these subjects on those that complete their assignments. So anyone who drops out or doesn’t complete all their assignments ISN’T counted as a fail. In other words, just about everyone who completes AF6 passes but people will have dropped out along the way. Third-party support with your specific assignments is banned under the CII rules so you will need to work alone when completing your assignments – and this can be daunting.
We’ll look in more detail on each individual AF exam subject below.
In terms of CII AF exam results, this is the hardest AF exam. This is probably due to the fact that taxation, whilst very important to most financial planning, is not something that all people get directly involved in. It’s a very wide ranging subject so other than saying that the typical AF1 exam will have questions on income tax, CGT and IHT, that doesn’t narrow your study options down too much. It is also the one AF exam that will almost certainly ask you to complete calculations.
For many people, this will be the first AF exam they complete and it sets the foundation to some of the other subjects. For example, there is some overlap with AF4 on the taxation of investments. AF5 is quite likely to have some element of tax planning in it such as VCT or EIS schemes.
Click here to find out more about AF1 and how to pass it.
This is usually one of the harder AF exams and there was a relatively small drop on the previous year’s results. This exam does like testing things like dividend yield, P/E ratios, money weighted return and sharpe ratios. It’s fair to say that these (and similar direct investment ratios) are not something the average paraplanner or adviser will deal with in their day job (or perhaps is even allowed to). Prepare well and don’t just rely on your day job, and you can do well.
Click here to see what get’s examined in AF4.
Statistically, this is the easiest ‘written’ exam. We’ve already alluded to why this is so why do some people still fail? This is partly because they didn’t prepare sufficiently around the potential technical areas before the exam. For example, if the case study says the client’s have an elderly infirm parent, this might mean that LPAs will be tested. But how? It could be the duties of being an attorney, the process of setting them up, or the benefits to the client of doing so. Make sure you cover all the bases and don’t try to be too clever and cherry pick.
Equally important is poor exam technique. You must understand what the examiner is asking you to do when reading the question. The only way to develop this is to practice this art using the past papers that are available on the CII website.
These are attractive because of the high pass-rates and because they aren’t timed written exams. But they still have their pitfalls. You do have to structure your time well. There is little point in registering and then not starting your first assignment for 3 months. The 12 month clock starts ticking when you register and all 3 assignments must be completed (including any re-sits) within the 12 month period. Please don’t under-estimate how much work is required writing three 2,500 word assignments and be very clear about how the marks are awarded (see the CII coursework assessment guidelines and instructions).
With AF8, don’t just think that this is a pensions exam. It is more of a ‘later life’ exam and is likely to include elements of pensions, investments, IHT and care planning.
Click here for more information on AF8.
We have a library of posts relevant to each individual exam on our Exam technique and revision hub.
Want to know more about our audio books for AF1, 4 or 7, click here
If you want to know more about our 150-170 page study notes for AF1 or 4, click here
By registering as a member on our website, you can access a FREE preparation guide for either AF1, 4 or 5
Prepare well and pass first time.
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the current CII CF8, J07 and AF6 study texts
In many cases, those that are successful just answer the questions a little bit better, or know a little bit more. Few people like exam study and even fewer like re-sitting exams so we’ve produced an exam technique and study hub to help you to pass your AF exam first time.
You need to consider two elements:
In this blog, I’ll look at 5 tips on how you can make the most of your revision before you enter the exam hall. CII AF exams – AF1, AF4 and AF7 – require between 100 and 150 hours of study. Unfortunately, most people will need this amount of study. There are no easy short cuts when you are sitting degree-level exams like these AF subjects. But there’s still plenty of scope for working smarter, not harder.
To find out more about how you can learn on the go, or our unique concise study revision notes – click here
Click here for exam specific tips: AF1 , AF4 and AF7
We’ve summarised the key areas that have been tested historically in AF1, AF4, AF5 and AF7 in our FREE exam Preparation Guides for each exam. To access these, register as a member (or log-in) by clicking here.
Prepare well and be successful first time. Until the next time.
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the current CII study texts: CF8, J07 and AF6
You’ve got around a week to go before your CII AF exam – what should you be doing to maximise the time you have available? Here are our top 5 tips to make the most of this important time.
No one ever goes into a CII AF exam thinking they are over-prepared. It just doesn’t happen. Sure, some people will be better prepared than other people – but nearly everyone will be wishing at this stage that they’d done more work. Regard it as a necessary part (unfortunately) of taking any degree standard exam – which is what a Level 6 CII AF exam is. Acknowledging and understanding this does, hopefully, reduce the nervousness a little.
You will find the two most recent published CII AF exam papers on the CII website (click on the link on the right-hand column of each subject):
Click here for AF1
Click here for AF4
Click here for AF7
Although probably not quite exam standard, you will also have received a case study workbook if you have chosen the enrolment or enrolment plus option from the CII for the AF1 and AF4 exams. These provide a range of case studies to practice on.
We all should know by now that practising past exam papers under exam conditions is one of the best ways to prepare for a exam. If you haven’t already completed these exam papers under exam conditions, then this is the time to do it.
Let me be clear what I mean by exam conditions. The AF1 and AF4 exams both have 160 marks and these exams last for 180 minutes. So if you don’t have a 3 hour block of time to spare, complete 40 marks (a short case study) in 40 minutes. This gives you a feel about what time pressure you will face in the exam and what it feels like to stare at a blank piece of paper and have to come up with the answers the CII would like to see.
There are also other benefits:
AF1 – further exam tips and analysis of past AF1 key topics
AF7 – further exam tips and analysis of a past AF7 paper and tips on technique
OK, I get it. For many people, the last week before an exam is head-down full-on cramming. But it isn’t just about how much revision you do – it’s how effective it is.
Even if you are cramming, work on the basis of 20-30 minutes of study followed by a 10-15 minute break. Make your break something completely unrelated before returning to your studies. For the science behind this, click here.
Understand that you will go into this exam with gaps in your knowledge – everyone will! With a week to go before the exam, this is not the time to do loads of reading. By all means use the AF7 or the R0 study texts as a reference source to check-up on points – especially those that you don’t come across in your day to day activities. The end of chapter summaries, for example, are also useful. But your main focus should be on completing questions at this stage.
If I had to give just one tip, this would be it. Many people that fail an AF exam do so because of poor exam technique. Here’s what to focus on:
Prepare well, stay calm and I hope this helps with your preparation.
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the CF8, J07 and AF6 CII study texts
If you are thinking of sitting the CII’s AF7 exam, then go into it with your eyes open. Based on the latest CII published results, this is the third hardest AF exam to pass with a pass rate of 56% (the latest published results). If you expect to pass purely because you do transfers at work, clearly this isn’t enough for many people.
If you want to know about important dates, what’s been tested in the past, exam technique and what study options are available, click here for our FREE AF7 preparation guide. You will also find preparation guides for AF1, 4 and 5 on the same link.
The CII AF7 is a popular exam. Safeguarded benefits is a big area for many financial advisers and if you are involved in the transfer of safeguarded benefits in some way, then this might be the subject for you. It also satisfies the FCA additional exam requirement to advise on safeguarded benefits.
The AF7 exam is 2 hours long. It consists of 3 or 4 short answer questions and then two additional case studies. These both have three to four questions making 9-12 questions in total. Overall, the paper will have 100 marks with the short answer questions accounting for around 30 to 35 of the marks, and the case study questions accounting for 30-35 marks each.
With a pass mark of around 60%, this means that you will normally need 60 marks to pass the exam. The 60% pass mark applies to the exam overall so you could bomb on one case study and still pass if you get enough marks elsewhere.
The best way to spot the trends is to look at the past papers. Some of the key recurring themes are:
The last two exam guides are now provided on the CII website. Click here for the link to the CII website. You should ensure you spend time studying these (preferably, completing them).
The CII suggest around 100 hours of study for this exam. Whether you need this amount – more or less – will depend on your existing knowledge of the area. Even if you have good knowledge of transfers already, there are likely to be areas of the syllabus that you are NOT familiar with. And you will still need to practice that all important exam technique, if nothing else.
With the current low pass rate for AF7, one thing is clear – relying on just your day job is unlikely to prove successful. Don’t under-estimate this exam.
Unless this is a brand new area for you, the answer will probably be ‘no’. For many people, just reading a study text is not likely to be an effective method of revision. You’re unlikely to remember much, especially if you just read without taking notes, making mind maps or creating flash cards.
Most people sitting this exam will have some knowledge. Some will have quite extensive existing knowledge. So just use the study text as a reference source – focus on using past exam papers and top-up your knowledge by reading about the bits you are not familiar with.
Click here for a link to our exam technique.
Click here for more details about how you can learn on the go.
If you want to access our FREE preparation guides for other CII AF exams, they are available on our site for AF1, 4 and 5. Just click here.
Prepare well and be successful.
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the current CII study texts: CF8, J07 and AF6
If you are preparing for the CII’s AF7 exam, here’s what you need to know about the exam.
The AF7 exam is 2 hours long. It consists of 3 or 4 short answer questions and then two additional case studies. These both have three to four questions making 9-12 questions in total. The exam typically have 12 questions in total (although this could vary between papers). Overall, the paper will have 100 marks with the short answer questions accounting for around 30 to 35 of the marks, and the case study questions accounting for 30-36 marks each.
You will normally need 60 marks to pass the exam. The 60% pass mark applies to the overall exam so you could bomb on one case study and still pass if you get the marks elsewhere.
The simple answer is ‘not very’. Based on the last published CII results, the pass rate for AF7 is a historically high 56%. Historically, this has been the hardest AF exam subject. Forget about the fact it is only worth 20 credits – the majority of people historically fail this exam.
In simple terms, the short answer questions will test your knowledge across the syllabus, and each case study will require you to apply your knowledge to the client scenario that is provided in the case study. In simple terms, it’s regurgitation v application.
Click here to access the CII AF7 22/23 syllabus.
Example 1
State the key documents that an adviser must keep on file having given advice to a client on a pension transfer from a DB scheme.
This is regurgitation because this is generic knowledge that applies to any client in this position. If you know your AF7 material, you should be able to answer this whilst you are reading this. You’ll either know it, or not.
Example 2
Outline the factors you would need to take into account before advising the client to transfer her deferred benefits in order to meet her financial objectives.
This is a bit harder isn’t it? That’s because you’d need to know about the client’s circumstances before you could answer it. The question or case study will provide this information – your job is to spot this and make sure you use the information you have been given to answer the question If you don’t, you won’t score well.
I’ll answer this question by analysing in detail the April 2019 exam paper. This was a typical paper. I’ll look at it in terms of what it tested – the technical content – and how it tested it – the style of question:
The May 2022 exam is likely to be typical of what you might expect in future AF7 exams. The marks are also pretty balanced across each of the topics so you will need to know your stuff across key elements of the syllabus. Here’s the areas that were examined and the available marks:
Statutory pension transfer process: 12 marks
Assessing the security of an underfunded deferred pension: 8 marks
Transitional protections: 5 marks
CETV: 7 marks
Additional information: 8 + 7 marks
Cashflow/ stress tests: 6 marks
Class 3 NICs: 6 marks
Lifetime annuities: 8 marks
Benefits of transferring DB to personal pension: 10 marks
Death benefits: 4 + 7 marks
Actions to meet clent objectives: 4 + 4 marks
Sustainability of fexible withdrawals: 7 marks
Each question in AF7 will use a verb. Examiners like to describe these as ‘instructions’ because they tell the candidate what they want you to do. If you look at the verb and the number of marks for each question, this should give you a pretty good idea how much depth to go into when answering it.
In the May 2022 AF7 exam, the examiners’ used three types of instructions:
In this exam, including part questions, there were 4 ‘state’ questions; 3 ‘outline’ questions and 6 ‘describe, evaluate or explain’ questions. Future exams could use different instructions but this exam reflects the typical pattern used in AF7. Ensure you are comortable with these different questions and how to answer them.
Related blogs: AF7 study options. Click here
Prepare well and be successful.
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the current CII study texts: CF8, J07 and AF6
One of the questions that we frequently get asked is ‘which CII exams should I sit next?’. If you are on the road to chartered status, there are a wide range of options. This is a big area so in this article, I’ll look at some of the key options for the Certificate and Diploma CII exams that are worth considering. I’ve looked at related areas in two other blogs:
CII exams: getting to CII Chartered status (part 2). To view it, click here
Which CII exam should I sit next? To view it, click here
To complete Chartered Status, the CII require a total of 290 exam credits. Assuming you’ve completed all of the R0 exams, that’s 100 credits out of the way. A further 120 credits must be AF subjects (including AF5 which is compulsory). This leaves a remaining 70 credits that can come from Diploma, Certificate or Advanced Diploma CII exams.
Click here for a link to the CII qualification guide.
What you’ll find is that most of the Advanced Diploma or AF exam subjects are based on the lower level Diploma exams. In other words, the technical content is Diploma but the use or application of this knowledge is a level 6 skill. In simple terms, view Diploma as being ‘what is it?’ and Advanced Diploma as being ‘how do I use it?’.
If you know the rules, this means that it is possible to ‘max out’ your credits and minimise your work. Here’s how.
Based on the CII AF1 syllabus, there are three underpinning Diploma subjects for this exam: R03, part of R05 and J02 (Trusts).
On successful completion of all these subjects, the credits are:
AF1 (30 credits at Advanced Diploma)
J02 (20 credits at Diploma level)
Total credits: 50. If you haven’t already got R03 or R05, then that’s an additional 20 credits.
Remember that J02, R03 and R05 are deemed to be the necessary underpinning knowledge for AF1 so if you need this knowledge anyway, why not also sit these CII exams (if you haven’t already) and potentially get up to 70 credits?
Sensibly, you’d sit these exams relatively close together to minimise your study and to ensure that you lose as little of your knowledge from your study as possible.
Likewise with AF4, there are underpinning Diploma subjects for this exam: R02 and J10 (Discretionary investment management)
On successful completion of all these subjects, the credits are:
AF4 (30 credits at Advanced Diploma)
J10 (20 credits at Diploma level)
Total credits: 50. If you haven’t already got R02, then that’s an additional 20 credits, making 70.
If you look at the syllabuses for R02 and J10 CII exams, you’ll find a significant degree of overlap. So if investments are your thing, why wouldn’t you ensure that you have credits for both of these? For not too much extra study, you could get 40 credits between them.
Finally on the theme of investments, there is also J12 that looks at securities and dealing. The content in these subjects could also be tested to some degree in AF4. So if you go the full monty and also sit this, there is a potential total of 90 credits for investment related subjects.
With AF7, the CII state that the two underpinning subjects are R02 and J05 (pension income options).
On successful completion of all these subjects, the credits are:
AF7 (20 credits at Advanced Diploma)
J05 (20 credits at Diploma level)
Total credits: 40. If you haven’t already got R02, then that’s an additional 20 credits, making 60. If you want the qualification: ‘Certificate in Pension Transfer Advice’, you’ll also need R01 and R04. If you haven’t already got them because you started sitting CII exams more years ago than you care to remember, this is another 30 credits in addition. Finally, AF8, or retirement income planning, is an Advanced Diploma subject that is tested using coursework and is worth another 30 credits. Pensions related subjects could potentially be worth a total of 120 credits.
If you want to know more about these AF exams and how to prepare for them, click here to access our FREE Exam preparation guides.
If you want to know how to fit your study in around your work and family commitments, click here.
Remember, work smarter, not harder. Until the next time
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the CII CF8, J07 and AF6 study texts
So your CII AF exams are in around four weeks’ time. The CII suggest 150 hours of study is required for the written AF exams (100 hours for AF7) and some people will have already have done this amount of work. For many others, the hard work is just about to start. You’ll probably have done enough exams by now to know what works best for you. Whether you are a ‘steady studier’ or a last minute ‘crammer’, you’ll know the last four weeks are crucial. In this article, I’ll share some ideas about your AF exam study options and how to make the best of the remaining time you have available.
Ah, it would be great if only we could tell you this! The Syllabus for each AF subject are very broad. The good news is that the examiners will test some core areas in most papers and throw in a few more peripheral areas so they cover the full syllabus over a period of time. If you’ve done little study so far, with four weeks to go, it’s time to make sure you are OK with the core areas.
So what are these core areas? We’ve looked at the past exam papers and identified what these are. These can be found towards the end of each of our FREE preparation guides. Click here to download our guide for each of the specific AF1, AF4, AF5 and AF7 exams.
This is what we recommend. The focus should be very much on doing practice papers at this stage, practising your technique and making as many mistakes as you can. Make these before you go into your exam! Use Diploma study texts and Google to check technical areas that you are not comfortable with.
There are a range of these to suit how you prefer to study. I’ll cover the main ones:
This is a bundle that includes the exam entry. Along with this, it also includes study texts (eBooks) and access to RevisionMate – the CII online learning support. This varies between subjects but also includes a case-study workbook. For example, the ‘enrolment only’ AF1 package from the CII include the eBooks for R03, R05, and J02, a case study workbook and your exam entry.
These are great for checking examples and technical aspects. If you are using a text which isn’t in the current tax year, you obviously need to ensure the tax rates etc are still current. With four weeks to go, your time is probably better used on practice questions, rather than trying to read study texts from cover to cover.
Back to the CII website. The site includes the full exam guides for the last two published AF exams (AF5 also has additional practice papers) which can all be downloaded for free. Being past exam papers, these are the closest you’ll get to finding out what standard the exam will require.
These are ideal for learning on the go and for making sure your knowledge of both the ‘core’ and the ‘peripheral’ syllabus areas is good. They are available for AF1, 4 and 7 and most include over 6 hours of material. It also includes comments from CII examiners on the all important exam technique you will need. If you spend time travelling, running or in the gym, these are an ideal way of learning on the go and reminding yourself of the areas you need to know. Click here for a sample and full details.
Prepare well and be successful first time.
Until the next time…
Ian Patterson
Ex-examiner and author of the current CII study texts: CF8, J07 and AF6
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