Do you look at the CII exam pass rates of each exam you sit? What do the pass rates actually tell you?
Pass rates can sometimes lead you down the wrong path. For example, if the past few years reflect a high pass rate, there can be a tendency to think the exam is easy. Remember though, the pass rates don’t just show us first-time sittings, they show us the pass rate based on every candidate that attempted a sitting in the year, including those who were attempting the exam for a second, third or even fourth (or more!) time.
Equally, an exam with a 47% pass rate, whilst clearly a tricker paper to pass, isn’t impossible – four or five people out of every ten sitting the exam, pass!
What pass rates can show us, is the relative difficulty of each exam compared to the others.
The CII published the 2022 countrywide pass rates in June 2023. Has much changed from 2021 rates to 2022?
Which exams have the lowest pass rate?
R03 Personal Taxation now takes the title as the R0 unit with the lowest country wide pass rate – down to 54%. Almost half of candidates sitting this paper last year deferred their success. Why? The biggest challenge is time. You only get 60 minutes to complete 50 questions, many of which involve some maths. Brutal time management is a must – take too long over any question and you will come unstuck. Some candidates feedback that they needed to experience a sitting to know how to handle the time pressure. What can we learn from their experience? Practise full papers, under timed conditions, before attempting the real thing.
R04 Retirement and Pension Planning pass rates have stayed the same this year, at 57%. This is generally one of the least favourite units with candidates as there is so much to learn (pension simplification anyone?). Some candidates struggle with all the details they need to understand and be able to apply.
Which exams have the highest pass rates?
R05 Financial Protection consistently has the highest pass rate of the R0 exams. This is a level three unit with no multi-response questions so it could be said to be less challenging that its brothers and sisters. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s easy. Those that have deferred success on this unit will tell you it contains quite a bit on tax and state benefits so it’s definitely not a walk in the park.
R06 Financial Planning Practice has a 71% pass rate. Whilst this is another of the highest pass rates of the R0 set, anyone thinking this is a shoe-in and they only need to work for the last two weeks when the case studies are released, please think again. The CI recommend 100 hours of study for this unit, and we think you will need it. Almost 30% of candidates fail this unit and the reason is often poor application of knowledge to the question asked.
The R02 Investment and Risk paper went up to a 70% pass rate in 2022. Candidates must answer 100 questions and get 65 correct which means you can get 35 incorrect and still pass, and with two hours to answer them in time should not be a major issue.
There are now only six J0 units left – we used to have 12! Gone are the days of unit 1 through to unit 12.
The J02 Trust unit pass rates appear to have levelled out. Candidate chances in this unit really depend on how nasty the questions that come up are. Sometimes this unit tests core knowledge, other times really technical and obscure stuff can come up!
J05 Pension Income Option pass rates continue to improve.
J07 Supervision pass rates are steadily going down from a peak with Covid, at 79%. This unit has a very wide syllabus and is not an easy option.
J09 Paraplanning has maintained a steady set of pass rates over the years. This unit is assignment based so submission time requires careful management. We would suggested starting submissions asap with the aim to finish all the assignments early, just in case any resubmissions are required.
The J10 Discretionary Investment Management unit has maintained high pass rates, despite a slight fall in 2022 results. There is quite a lot of cross over here with R02 /AF4 so this is a good unit to do as part of a ‘double bubble’ approach.
Finally, the J12 Securities Advice & Dealing paper. This is a bit more of a specialist unit – pass rates have dipped slightly but still above pre-Covid levels.
These units are fantastic to do at the same time as studying for the associated AF exams – so if you are doing AF7, add in J05 – after all pensions are pensions. If you are study for AF1, think about combining your study with J02.
Which exams have the lowest pass rate?
The AF1 Taxation & Trust paper retains the crown for the unit with the lowest pass rate. Only 42% off candidates got through this unit last year, meaning a staggering 58% ‘deferred their success’.
Some candidates underestimate the depth of knowledge required with this paper. Knowing tax to an R03 level just won’t cut it – candidates need to know all the stages of each tax calculation in depth, as you would expect. They also need to pull out key info from the case studies ‘on the hoof’. There could be a one liner about a couple having had twins last year. That needs to get candidates thinking about checking income, and a possible CB high income charge. An exam pass requires a combination of in-depth knowledge, analysis and application.
Not far behind AF1 was AF4 Investment Planning with a 57% pass rate. There are so many different types of investment candidates must understand and be able to apply their knowledge on and that’s before we get into all the performance theories, measurements and formulae!!
The third lowest is the AF7 Pension Transfers unit with a 61% pass rate. One reason this is a challenging unit is the level of knowledge required on COBS rules. Candidates must have an in depth knowledge of regulatory rules. The 2nd reason is that there is a narrow syllabus and candidates must really know there stuff in relation to pensions simplification, freedoms and transfers.
Don’t let pass rates put you off attempting any of these units. With the right approach, and dedicated study time, they are achievable.
To help you get started, take a look at the BTS Study Plans for each unit that we support. These give you an idea of the amount of time you will need to put aside, and offer guidance on where to focus your efforts to maximise your chances.
BTS tips to pass CII exams:
