R0 Focus: R01 Financial services, regulation and ethics

9 September 2021

Continuing her series of articles on R0 exams for professional Paraplanner, Bespoke Training Solutions’ Luiza Todd examines what can make the R01 Financial services, regulation and ethics unit a tricky one to tackle

R01 is the first R0 unit that many students attempt and is sometimes a pre-requirement of the company / academy the individual is looking to join.

The R01 Financial services, regulation and ethics unit is a tricky one – you just have to look at countrywide pass rates to see this. And these statistics do not tell you whether the sitting was the candidate’s first sitting or a resit.

Year CII National Pass Rates
2020 69%
2019 64%
2018 64%

Why such low pass rates?

R01 pass rates are low due to several reasons.

Firstly, the subject matter can politely be described as a bit dull! There is a limit to the excitement and enthusiasm that can be generated in relation to regulator rules, the FCA handbook and the like. It’s easy to see why candidates might read a section of an R01 guide and find nothing has gone in.

Many candidates start their study of the R01 using the examining body’s study text which is a technical manual covering the regulation, legislation, and ethical requirements for the sector. This can be heavy going, especially for those candidates studying alone, as many do with R01. Learners need to find the subject matter they are trying to learn interesting otherwise retaining it will be a real challenge.

It is possible to book the exam stand-alone or ‘assessment only’ on the CII website. Candidates can then choose study materials from other training providers, that may better suit how they like to learn and help you to pass the R01 exam.

Indeed, one of the biggest factors behind these low pass rates is the fact that many practice questions, including the examining body’s own, are far easier than the exam ones. A candidate can be scoring 80-90% in these practice tests only to find in the actual exam the questions are a lot harder.

R01 question style

These are tricky to say the least. The first few questions in the exam will be extra horrid. It’s like a ruse to put you off. Many an individual will sit there thinking they are in the wrong exam!

Questions tend to be wordy in style – less is certainly not more in the opinion of the examining body. It is common to have tables and calendars in a question stem. These will not be the one-line question stems you see in so many practice questions for sale out in the market.

There is also often no perfect answer. Sometime there are two answers that could be correct, and with a CII hat on the candidate must select the best one.

It’s not always easy to understand what the question is asking (we know that sounds a bit odd). The exam question wording can be very tricky to decipher and understand what is required as an answer. The examining body has a unique use of the English language.

Composition of the exam

The R01 exam is a level 4 unit worth 20 credits. The exam is two hours long and there are 100 questions to answer. 87 of these questions will be standard multi-choice, the other 13 are multi-response where at least two or more of the answers on offer are correct.

The CII syllabus document shows you how many questions relate to each learning outcome. The real standout biggie in terms of question weightings is learning outcome 5 – there are 29 questions based on the subject within this outcome in the actual exam. And funnily enough this learning outcome is all about regulation!

BTS top tips

Avoid answers that are too definitive – words such as ‘always’ or ‘never’ are not usually associated with the correct answer. Financial services are filled with shades of grey (surprisingly) so anything too definitive is to be avoided.

When answering multi-response questions, getting rid of the answers that are obviously wrong will usually leave two possibly correct answers. A one in two choice is always a better statistical bet than one in four.

Only go back to questions you have flagged as not being 100% sure on, not the entire exam. It’s very easy on a second look to talk yourself out of the correct answer you initially put down. If you have studied hard, used lots of questions to practice on, then trust your gut instinct, and don’t go changing it!

This article was first published in the September 2021 issue of Professional Paraplanner.

About Bespoke Training Solutions
Bespoke Training Solutions (BTS) have been supporting regulated exams for 17 years, specialising in R0 support with outstanding candidate tracked results and feedback. Resources include digital and printed study guides, group and 1:1 training, e-Learning modules and a mobile app of practice exam questions.

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