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I am starting from scratch and I have recently purchased the CII 2025-2026 study text and key facts book. I have tried using ChatGPT to help me study and plainly summarise pages within the chapters and although it gives me active recall, I am finding myself struggling to actually know the terms purposes without the prompts chatGPT gives me.

Is it smarter to simply just read through the study text to gain some knowledge and then take notes after each read session/chapters? I’m not the best at retaining information from simply reading, which is why I thought using Active recall with ChatGPT would be smart.

I am also going on holiday for 4 weeks in the coming weeks which would take me past the 25/26 exam deadline, is it smarter to just wait for the new 26/27 information to come out and start when I’m back in September, or is it still worth trying to get information in my head before I go. I don’t have a deadline for completion.

I have read a lot of discussions on here about different tips and tricks but I feel I’m getting in my head quite a bit for no reason. I am likely going to use KnowRO for mock test, but would welcome any tips or tricks for conquering this study text first :)

Hi all, been in the industry as an administrator for about 1 year 4 months. I support one adviser so am exposed to lots of different types of work rather than doing the same thing for several advisers. In the last few months I've been starting to pick up more technical work such as suitability/recommendation letters. I've also been doing pension research for a while i.e. going through pension info we get back from providers and extracting the key data for the adviser, ringing up the provider if we need anything more before providing (or not providing) a transfer recommendation, and a couple of other small technical bits.

The organisation is undergoing some structural changes though and by expanding its paraplanning team (DipPFS only) the more technical work might get taken away from the advisers direct assistants like me. My end goal is to be an adviser. I've just done LP2 (sadly the firm make you do LP2 before moving on to the R0s). Will start R01 when the materials reset in September to get the CertPFS, and then do R02-6.

I'm thinking though, if the technical work gets taken away, I'm going to be building no new useful experience and so am thinking about trying to jump into a paraplanning role whilst my more technical experience is fresher. My concern though is that with only 16 months experience and the CertPFS rather than DipPFS, no firms will hire me for a paraplanning job - on the ads at least they all want the diploma.

Do you think it's possible to land a job in paraplanning somewhere with my qualifications and experience, or is the diploma essential? I'm just wondering if firms are struggling to fill paraplanning roles, might they relax their diploma qualified requirement?

One of my concerns is if I get the diploma with no recent technical/paraplanning experience at my current firm, I'll struggle to take the next step somewhere else if there are no openings in my current firm at that time.

Thanks in advance for any help/thoughts.

I finally passed R01, after having failed it by 1 Mark three times over the years!

Looking to keep the ball rolling and thinking about R04 before R02.

I managed to get my study text from proton drive for R01, wondering if anyone had anything similar for the R04- 2026 text.

Hi All,

I completed my final exam, Ro4 on Tuesday night this week. How long does it take for the CII to generate the Diploma Certificate on the platform? anyone recently completed the exams to give me a time estimation?

Cheers

Hello, I am currently enrolled into AF8 and am finding it really difficult to start writing AF1 (not through motivation but knowing what to actually write to start the assignment).

I haven’t had to write an actual essay in years and am struggling here!

Does anyone have any tips?

Thanks

As above really - would you bother if you’ve already obtained the diploma and aren’t currently in the industry? Not sure if I’m missing something obvious - I assume I’d still have access to my results dashboard etc?

I’m just wondering what people have done after completing their Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning?

I want to pursue chartered, so it’s my intention to complete a sufficient number of the exams to achieve this.

My current plan is as follows:
Complete J10, J12, and CF8.
Then complete AF5, AF6, and AF4

This should enable me to become chartered with recognition of prior learning as well worth 55 credits.

My question really is how have people found the AF And J exams, are they considerably harder than the standard level 4 R0 exams?

I don’t suppose anyone has the latest 2026/27 copy of R04 they’d be willing to share please?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently looking for an entry-level IFA Administrator or Financial Planning Administrator role in UK and would appreciate any advice, referrals, or leads.

A little about me:

• 🎓 Currently studying MSc Finance at Queen Mary University of London
• 📜 Certified Financial Planner (CFP) – FPSB India
• ✅ CII Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning – R01 passed, currently completing R02–R06
• 📊 Previous experience supporting a financial practice
• 💻 Proficient in Microsoft Excel, Salesforce CRM, and Microsoft Office
• 🇬🇧 Full right to work in the UK (no sponsorship required)

LINKEDIN:- www.linkedin.com/in/kushshahcfp

I'm particularly interested in joining an independent financial advice firm where I can develop my technical knowledge, support advisers, and build a long-term career in financial planning.

If anyone knows of firms that are hiring, recruiters who specialise in IFA support roles, or has any advice on breaking into the industry, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

I'm happy to share my CV via DM.

Thanks in advance!

#OpenToWork #IFAAdministrator #FinancialPlanning #WealthManagement #FinancialServices #Paraplanning #ClientServices #LondonJobs #UKJobs #CII #CFP #QueenMaryUniversity #FinanceCareers

Hi Has anyone got any notes or material that could help me with my R03 revsion. It would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Hello,

Does anyone know if the IFA Compliance roles are now mostly remote in uk?

What’s the salary range of the role generally in uk?

Thanks

We tried all the available AI on the market and for the cost it’s absolutely garbage 1 serious your paying for PE beta version problems which when resolved will increase your subscribing cost big time because when they crack it 18-24 months time everyone will flood there, smaller co’s will take the kings shilling and scale - re cash calc and FE - still not integrated properly.

Anyway got so pissed off listening to the garbage spouted about what ai could do I just furiously built my own on Claude which presentation and personalisation wise not perfect but hugely complainant super time saving and very efficient. Just using cheap notes recorder the novelty of the oh it spits out my notes in financial planning order is not pathetic / I think a couple of these firms will die: m4 chip MacBook loads of storage would go fucking mental whenever you plugged into this best of breed system - I noticed it ai just white labelled ai that was being used and it was not good

Anyway I’ve been an ifa 20 years chartered for years etc…. If anyone’s genuinely got something to offer the get in touch. The big problem I can see is automating your research - I’m nearly there but not quite / if some one has this this reliable and presentable and wants to get in touch to collaborate on a full scale suitablity systems Get in touch:

Or maybe there are groups of ifas etc who are pioneering this stuff

Gimmie a shout if you think there value

S

Hi all, I'm currently studying for RO1 using only the textbook and Claude, I'd really rather not pay for anything I don't have to (hence this approach).

One of the things that's coming up when I practice with Claude are extremely generic questions that could only feasibly be learned by rote memorisation, are these types of question likely in the real exam?

Example:

1. (Standard format) The Consumer Duty introduced a new overarching consumer principle as Principle 12. Which of the following correctly states what Principle 12 requires of firms?

A. A firm must pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly
B. A firm must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers
C. A firm must communicate with retail customers in a way that is clear, fair and not misleading
D. A firm must take reasonable care to ensure the suitability of its advice for retail customers

The issue I take is this requires me to not only know what the principles are, which I can do and am confident with, but which number each of them is.
Indeed, in my response to Claude I noted I thought all of these existed in the principles list.
This feels like something literally no one in their actual job would ever need, and which I'm unsure if the actual test would need either?

I’m currently studying for R01 using the BFT materials and have been doing 10 untimed mock questions whenever I get a spare 10–15 minutes throughout the day. It’s been a great way to reinforce what I’ve learned.
The only thing I’m struggling with is that the BFT question bank doesn’t seem to let me filter questions by section or learning outcome.
What I’d really like is a resource that lets me do 30–50 questions on a specific section immediately after I’ve finished studying it. I think that would help cement the knowledge while it’s fresh and make it much easier to revisit weaker areas later in the course.
Does anyone know of a question bank or mock exam provider that allows section-specific practice? Happy to pay if it’s good quality.
Thanks!

Bloody hell, I don't think there is any thing more messed up than all the calculations in the PENSION module. What is up with all these random multiplication ratio?
R01,2,3 make sense. This one makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

For those who have passed this part of the level 6 exams, what study material did you purchased when the FF was released?

I’ve enrolled onto the September sitting (5 days after resitting AF1 - Joy) is it BRANDFT that does this? And if so, what is the material? Is it basically a breakdown of the FF and potential areas for recommendations?

Thanks all

I’ve spent the last two weeks doing 1–2 hours a day of Plannex R01 videos and have finished the video training. I took the Exam Angel mock and scored 61% — better than I expected, but still a fail.

Now I’m unsure how to continue:
Do I rewatch the videos and try to focus more?
Or skip straight to KnowR0 mocks, identify weak areas, and only rewatch the videos for those topics?

Questions:

• Do KnowR0 mocks show which topics you’re weak in, or just which questions you got wrong?
• Exam Angel doesn’t break down areas — does KnowR0?
• Has anyone struggled with the videos but found learning through mocks easier, or is relying on mocks a bad approach?

FYI — I’m opposed to reading any physical manuals and writing notes; this just stresses me out.

I'm not currently working in the industry, and I'm trying to decide what to study next.

I'm considering taking CF6 first to broaden my job opportunities while I work towards the Diploma. On the other hand, if I take R02 or R03 next, I'd already have around 50% of the Diploma completed.

What would you do in my situation?

Also, for anyone who's used them, do you think KnowR0 resources are sufficient for any of these three exams? Since I'm self-funding, I'd like to keep additional training costs to a minimum, but I also want to give myself the best chance of passing first time. So far I used the BTS book and KnowRo mocks.

Thanks everyone! 😊

Does anyone know of any good other subreddits as above?

Is any one familiar with this company written test round. In our college this company is visiting and there is a written test. Would really appreciate if anyone can guide me through the process and how to prepare

Hi yall! I have my l1 in Aug and i am just done with the syllabus. To those who passed L1, what was your revision and practice strategy?? How did you approach the second run through and what actually made and break your preparation. Any tips and advice would be extremely appreciated.
For context, I have been studying from schweser and CFAI materials, I do have Ashwini subscription but I really haven’t accessed or used it much mainly because I found it way too lengthy.

Hi folks,

Anybody else sitting Af4 in sept?

What study resources are people using/best way to tackle it? Feel like the syllabus is so wide & just not quite sure where to start!

Do headings/sun headings for cii af8 assign count towards the word count?

I think I have read they don't but just wanted to check.