And we’re off on the advanced journey! Natalie Dawes, Academy Support Adviser, Bespoke Training Solutions (BTS), provides useful advice for candidates after herself taking the CII’s AF5 paper.
With just two sittings a year of AF5, you have to plan your studies carefully, in order to ensure you are ready for your exam date goal. Along with many others across the UK, ten of us in my chosen exam centre, I had my first shot at an advanced paper on 28 February 2023. I don’t doubt that there will be others in the future and I’m already planning which units might be next – no rest for the wicked eh?
I wanted to share my experience of AF5 before I move on, because I think there are many learns which could benefit other candidates who might be considering this exam in the future.
Why I started with AF5
Embarking on this unit felt like a natural next step after R06 due to the similarities across the two papers, both with content and with technique. AF5 has been described to me as ‘like R06 on steroids’ and I must admit, post exam, this is a pretty good definition!
My preparations for this exam were on point, ensuring that I gave myself plenty of time to work through the BTS Study Guide (the CII don’t do a study guide for this unit), I used the e-analysis from the previous September sitting to drill down into advanced question stems and then complemented my studies with a workshop.
Beyond this, it was down to me to utilise all my resources and prepare as best I could for the exam in the 13 days post workshop, that I had left. It was a fine balance of not overloading myself but feeling secure in my knowledge, my techniques for answering the various question stems, and all whilst getting to know Steve & Linda Day, like they were family.
Exam day
My last few exam sittings before AF5, I had sat remotely but my only option for this was to sit the exam in a test centre. I must admit that this really helped – no stress around whether the room scan would be ok, no worries about my ID check being sufficient and if any technical glitches were to occur, there would be a human being right there to help me.
The sitting itself was plain sailing; starting on time (if a little early thanks to all candidates arriving on time) and the tech did not let us down. This really helped me to focus on the task in hand – getting through the actual exam.
Time was of the essence
I remember reading the first question, both parts (a & b) and thinking – what a great start. I immediately knew where I was going to take my answers and how I was going to write them, so I got going and (hopefully) got some decent marks in the bag during the early part of the exam.
There were eight questions in the paper and they ALL had two parts, so really, there were 16 questions to tackle, most of which were really high markers with only the final question, being 6 marks per part.
I was mindful of keeping an eye on the time, trying to stick to the ‘one mark per minute’ guide. If I’m honest though, it wasn’t long into the exam that I could feel this technique slipping. You could say, I was playing catch-up from the moment I hit the start button, where I was brain dumping on my scrap paper before reading any of the exam questions. I also felt myself pausing for thought a few times, re-reading what I’d written and adding to or changing an answer. Time definitely added pressure on the day, more than I expected it to.
Question stems
A real high point for me with this exam was that there was nothing massively out of the ordinary in the areas being examined. Sure, I was disappointed that there weren’t specific questions – but it’d be pretty fortunate to open an exam paper and feel your luck was in with every question.
I’ve always loved a ‘recommend and justify’ , or ‘comment on’ question. I think my stance has changed on this since sitting AF5 because I found it quite tricky to be certain that I’d made enough points to gain the marks available.
Something I had to work hard on with R06 was avoiding going into too much detail –to show the examiner my points very clearly, plus for a level four exam, the further depth is not required With AF5, I thought I might come into my own with this but I’ve been left with a slight concern that I may have waffled too much which could also be why I found it harder to monitor my marks.
My new favourite question stem is a ‘process’ question. In this exam sitting, it was around carry forward and explaining the process to Steve & Linda. Definitely an area I hope to have nailed and it was really easy to see where I would gain marks, more so in comparison to what felt like the many ‘explain’ questions
Whatever way I look at the above, whether I liked or disliked a particular question or area, now I’ve had a couple of days to reflect I’m feeling really clear of where my potential weaknesses are and frustratingly, as tends to be the case, it’s not until you go through an exam for the first time that this comes to fruition.
What really helped my experience
During the exam, I thought about discussions I’d had with other candidates about AF5 and specifically the fact find of Steve & Linda. It was somewhat reassuring in the exam to think about these chats, providing a level of confidence and in turn, clarity. I felt a sense of assurance and often smiled when reading a question, thinking about how I was only chatting to someone about this stuff the other day. It provided some comfort, boosted my confidence and gave me clarity in my thinking.
On the lead up to the exam, BTS launched their forums and although for this sitting, there wasn’t a huge amount of interaction, what there was, was really useful. I am reminded that this sense of community, togetherness or having a place to pose points, explore possible scenarios or just generally bat things obout, is an invaluable resource for our studies. Depending on how wide our networks are, we won’t always have friends/colleagues that we can call on for exam support but a forum environment provides this for us – which for those returning to studies or just starting out – could be really helpful.
My learns
My first advanced exam, was definitely an experience and one that I want to learn from, irrespective of my result. I feel empowered with the knowledge I have gained and I’ll be using it to define my approach with future exams – which won’t be too far away in the future I’m sure!
I’ve definitely got work to do on my strategy moving forward and here are a few of the things I’ll be working on that might give you food for thought, when considering taking on AF5 or other written exams:
For a first-time scenario
When tackling something for the first time, mentally prepare yourself for it feeling harder than any practice exam paper or prep that you have done. This isn’t necessarily because what you’re doing before exam day isn’t enough, but more because the pressures of the actual exam can make you think differently. I had to dig deep for some of my answers in the exam sitting – at home it seemed to come more easily.
Time management
I absolutely should have read through the whole exam paper at the start of the exam – as advised on the workshop. I didn’t, I read the first question got a little excited about what I would write and ploughed on (with notes to prep). What this meant was a natural propensity to do the rest of the exam chronologically and with the added pausing for thoughts throughout, I definitely lost time. Had I read through the entire paper, I would have been able to nail the stuff I was confident on first. This is actually a classic exam tip, that I even tell people myself – it’s funny what exam day pressures do to our mindset isn’t it?
Don’t be guided by your favourites
As mentioned, I used to have a couple of favourite question stems. On reflection, because I felt this way, my confidence with this type of question was quite high, meaning I spent less time revising these and more time on others. Of all of the 16 questions in the exam, I’m pretty sure I may have lost some marks on my ‘old favourites’ which tells me that I have a weakness I didn’t realise I had. This has caused me to evaluate my revision techniques and not to necessarily be guided by my confidence.
Now we wait
Results are out on 28 April 2023 and whatever my fate may be – because let’s face it, until we get the result, we just don’t know – I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of this exam. I agree that it is definitely a good next step beyond R06 but don’t be fooled – AF5 has arms and legs and perhaps a tail too!
Bespoke Training Solutions have been supporting regulated exams for 20 years this year! Known as ‘the exam experts’ within the industry, BTS provide support for the CII regulated exams by way of study guides, e-learning resources, and workshops for the full R0 suite and many AF units.
Visit the BTS website and check out the brand-new Careers Zone for study plans, answers to exam FAQs and lots more to support your journey.
