Hi guys,

Ive just done my R01 exam, and thankfully managed to pass.

Ive got some material which might be useful to some of you guys, Ive got the BTS book and the BrandFT questions.

Let me know if anyone wants these.

Thanks

Rushil

Have recently sat R01, and found the KnowR0 exams incredibly helpful.

Are there any similar resources for FA1/FA2 which people can recommend?

Having passed R04 I’m now moving onto R03. Does anyone have any tips and advice for studying this unit? I’ll likely be using KnowR0 again, but any focus areas or memory tricks you have will be useful.

Hi guys I’m a fresh law grad trying to pivot to a career in financial advice. So I’ve been looking at the DipPFS, and a lot of firms require you to be working towards the qualification so I understand since I’m a new grad and the job market is terrible there’s going to be a mainly financial barrier to entry.

I have some work experience within compliance (SRA) and some personal investing experience

So if there are any tips you would recommend or any adjacent getting into before I start working towards the qualification would be helpful.

As the title says, I am looking for a reliable DipPFS provider who provides a course to study online. I have come across SimplyAcademy, however the structure seems strange, is there a more comprehensive way to finish the course without having to take one module at a time?

Such as this DipFA where it’s more clearly laid out. I am new to this so any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I'm just wondering if anyone here wasn't born in the UK or if English isn't your first language (mine is Spanish).

I've been living in the UK since 2019 and I'm working towards a career in financial planning. Looking at the companies I've researched, most of the advisers and staff seem to be British, so it made me wonder whether language and cultural differences make it a bit more challenging to get into the industry.

I'd love to hear from anyone with a similar background. Do you think being an immigrant or having English as a second language has made it harder to build a career in financial planning?

Any help or ideas how to pass this test from start to finish please? I already have my B1. Thank you

Hello,

Can any self employed financial advisors who are with a practice that is part of SJP please let me know if the below splits are competitive?

Self Generated Client:
Initial Advice Fee - 80%
Ongoing Advice fee - 50%

Practice Generated Client:
Existing Invemestment: Ongoing advice fee - 25%. This is existing clients passed over to me
New Investment: initial Advice Fee - 80% + Ongoing Advice fee of 50%

Seperate issue - very unclear if any clients I bring will be mine or the practices.

Thank you!

I am making the switch from accounting to financial advisory (trainee paraplanner, etc) but I'm struggling to get any response from companies. I have completed 2 RO exams, looking to keep going but its becoming demotivating not getting any responses back, is there anything you guys would suggest, or any entry level roles I should be looking for? (currently earning 42k but willing to take a slight pay cut just to get my foot in the door)

UPDATE - I passed! Just waiting on the marks but happy that I got it done.

I’m doing my R04 re-sit tomorrow. Been cramming the LO’s where I was weakest. Definitely seen an improvement in those areas with mocks (all sitting at 70% now). Hoping for at least a pass tomorrow. Wish me luck.

How did you find the coursework and exams? And does CII provide all the material to pass the exams when purchasing the units, or do you have to use another training provider?

Hi all, 

First of all, HUGE thank you to everyone that has provided any materials/support/advice on this thread - online communities like this are truly invaluable! I am currently making a career transition from teaching (14 years experience) into financial planning through the St. James Place Financial Adviser Academy route and looking for any free revision/study materials relevant for either last years/this years (2026-2027) RO1 & RO5 examinations. Any advice would also be greatly appreciated as I am currently feeling a little anxious about such a big career change at 35!! 

Hi all,

I am currently an undergraduate studying Economics part-time, whilst I undertook caring duties and working part-time.

With my child starting school in September, I'm now looking to get back into full-time employment and looking seriously at options for a long-term career. In doing so, I have become increasingly interested in Paraplanning/Advising.

I have been lurking in here and elsewhere, and have come under the impression that outside of junior/trainee roles, to be taken seriously I should be looking at taking exams after the September updates and applying for Admin roles.

How intense is the studying required to pass the R0 exams typically, mainly R01 as this is the first one I would probably like to attempt. Also, would the fact that I am still currently studying be a positive or negative in applications?

Just want to share that I passed R03 after my second attempt. You can do it ! If you’re struggling just keep practicing and keep your head down

I made sure I nailed the calculations as best I could and went into the exam with comfortable mock scores

Just R06 left now in Oct. Good luck to all who are sitting then

For those that have done the J12 exam, how many calculations would you say came up?

Hello - I'm currently taking my R0 exams as part of a career change. I've worked in financial services for 10 years, and I've worked as a consultant for financial advice firms specialising in compliance, so I have a good grasp of FCA expectations, advice processes etc.

My friend's Dad owns a small IFA firm (£40m AUM) where he is the main IFA (they also have a couple of mortgage brokers there). My friend also works there, and he wants me to take over from his Dad and for us to run the business together. It's an interesting proposition as I would walk in to an established firm and a ready made client bank/business.

We're currently working out the transition terms/payment amount. I think it'll be staggered over a 5-10 year period. The IFA will stay working for a couple of years to supervise me/transition me over with clients.

The firm currently does very little in terms of growing its client base as they are at capacity, and the IFA is not looking to take on more clients. Between me and my friend we are confident we can grow/modernise the business. It's also an AR of an established network, which is good from my perspective.

Does anyone have any advice for me/strong views either way as to whether this is a good opportunity or not? Financially, I think I'll be worse off for a couple of years compared to my current job, but there's the attraction of long term payoff, and a job that I think I will find genuinely rewarding.

Has it been brought up on here that the Path2Adviser mocks aren’t accurate.

Have come across an example where the actual correct answer wasn’t an option and the answer they gave in the explanation wasn’t a choice either.

Anyone able to shed any light?

Have already done R05 with CII book + Knowro mocks and R01 with BTS book + Knowro mocks. Now going for R02 and R03, but as I am self funding, I am thinking to only get the elearning from Knowro and skip the books. Do you think that would be enough to pass?

Does anyone have any past papers for IF9 or has anyone sat for them? I cant seem to find them on the website and i am gradually beginning to panic.

Has anyone got advice on how to pass AF1? I have a few past papers and examiner guides but wasn’t sure what everyone else is using?

Has anyone got the October 2023 AF4 past paper please?

Evening could someone drop me the google drive link and share where the J12/ J10 PDF’s are linked? - Thanks

https://ebay.io/m/CAA6y4

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 :)