Professional Paraplanner is delighted to be running our annual January exam Q&A with Brand Financial Training. If you are studying for the next tranche of exams or lining up to take them later in 2026, you’ll want to read these articles, where the Brand Financial Training team answer some of the more common questions they are asked by paraplanners seeking to achieve success with their qualifications.
We will be running an article a day from Monday 12 to Friday 16 January 2026. We hope you find them valuable.
If you’d like more help with your studying for your exams the Brand team are here to help. You can find out more at: https://brandft.co.uk/ or contact the team at: at: [email protected]
Today the team answers questions on revision and provides tips they have found to work time on time.
Q: “I’m working full time. How am I supposed to fit revision in without burning out?”
A: This is one of the biggest challenges candidates face and it is usually caused by trying to do too much in too little time. When you’re juggling a full workload alongside personal commitments, revision can easily slip down the priority list. Most paraplanners are not short of motivation, they are short of uninterrupted time.
Revising in every spare moment for long periods, often leads to boredom and poor retention. A better approach is to be realistic about what you can manage alongside work and life commitments. For many full time paraplanners, around six to eight focused hours of study per week is achievable, which usually means giving yourself eight to twelve weeks to prepare properly for each exam.
It helps to create a structured study plan that spreads revision over a realistic timeframe. It doesn’t have to be a detailed plan just some weekly realistic goals and some catch up time! Schedule the revision time into your week in advance – this makes it far more likely to happen! Some candidates also make use of existing routines, such as listening to revision content while commuting or doing everyday tasks, which helps reinforce learning without adding extra pressure.
One approach that many candidates overlook is using brief, focused study sessions. Rather than waiting for an entire free evening or afternoon, use short periods of 20 to 30 minutes. Whether it’s reviewing a challenging page or two of the study text or completing a handful of practice questions, you might be surprised to hear it, but these short bursts can be much more effective than lengthy study sessions, which are not only harder to sustain but also much more difficult to fit into a busy weekly routine.
Question : How do I stay motivated when revising?
A: Motivation often dips when the exam feels a long way off or when progress feels slow and hard to measure.
It helps to break your revision into smaller, achievable goals which can help maintain momentum. Weekly targets such as completing a set number of practice questions or completing a specific chapter create a sense of progress and keep you moving forward. Rewarding yourself when you meet those goals can also help, whether that’s a break, a treat or some guilt-free downtime.
Staying connected with others can also make a big difference. Buddying up with other candidates and online forums are very useful to normalise the ups and downs of revision and reminds you that you’re not doing this alone.
Question : How do I remember all the detail?
A: There is a lot of detail in the CII exams and understanding the content is only the first step! The CII exams test your ability to apply technical knowledge to practical scenarios, often under time pressure.
It helps to use proven, evidence-based revision techniques to improve recall. Revisiting topics at spaced intervals is particularly effective. If you don’t feel you’ve fully grasped a concept, revisit it a week later, then answer some questions on it a few days after that. This spaced repetition is one of the most effective ways for the brain to retain information.
Testing yourself regularly without looking at notes, whether through flashcards, quick quizzes, or writing out key points from memory, is also proven to strengthen long-term retention.
Mixing different revision methods is also vital to ensure you can recall information when it really matters. Try not to rely solely on the CII study text. The more ways you engage with the content, the better you’ll remember it.
Main image: mche-lee-PC91Jm1DlWA-unsplash
