This exam can on two set dates throughout the year, usually in February and September.
This study plan is based on 150 hours of study time over an 8-12 week period. The CII recommendation is 150 hours of study time, however this is only an indication of how long you will need. You may take more or less time than this depending on your prior knowledge and experience, and work/study/home commitments.
Our student-led forums are a space for you to chat to other candidates about all things study and exam.
Click on the ‘BTS Forums’ in the menu on the left and check out the AF5 forum.
BTS run a live one-hour introduction webinar to help kick-start your AF5 studies. Get a better idea of what the AF5 exam is like, listen to different strategies that can help you maximise your chances of a pass, and find out about how to build a robust study plan.
You’ll also have the opportunity to ask any burning AF5 related questions throughout this hour long webinar.
Register to attend the live webinar and/or watch the recording after the event on the Webinars page.
Start working through the BTS study guide covering the full exam syllabus and guidance on the necessary exam question answering techniques.
Aim to get your wider revision completed before the fact-find is published.
Alongside your revision, you need to prepare yourself for the exam experience. Use past papers as mock exam sittings. Complete the paper in exam conditions then self-mark using the examiner’s report. BTS recommend you self-mark by applying the examiner’s comments to the letter, only awarding yourself a mark if it is clearly there.
The examiner’s report is a useful document to study as it contains information on candidate performance in previous sittings including common mistakes. Completing as many past papers as you can will allow you to build up a picture of regularly asked question types, examiner favourites, and common pitfalls.
You can access free past papers in the useful downloads section at the top of this page.
If you’re booked onto a BTS AF5 workshop you will also have access to the full BTS Fact-Find Analysis from the previous sitting to use as a past paper, complete with suggested answers.
The fact find will be made available on the CII supporting exam documents page, on the Friday two weeks before the exam sitting. As soon as this is released you need to be devoting your time to analysing the details of the factfind. Identify the key technical areas and use this to focus your technical revision and check your knowledge is up to speed.
BTS run a live webinar for every AF5 exam sitting, in collaboration with Professional Paraplanner.
The webinar will look firstly at generic aspects of this exam, followed by a closer look at the actual fact-find, the keys facts and possible areas of examiner focus.
The session will last approximately 60 minutes and will include time for questions.
Register to attend via the webinar here.
Continue your question answering practise by working through the BTS analysis of the fact-find. We make the analysis available as an e-Learning module two weeks prior to the exam sitting date. It contains a thorough analysis of the fact-find and considers potential questions, answer strategies and provides a range of crib sheets to revise key technical knowledge.
Workshop attendees receive access to this as part of their workshop booking. If you can’t attend a workshop you can purchase the analysis stand-alone.
Attend one of our one-day remote workshops held approximately two weeks before the exam sitting.
BTS will have analysed the fact-find prior to the workshop. Attending a remote workshop day allows you to walk through possible fact-find questions and suggested answers with an AF5 expert. Plus, cover off revision of the technical areas that may appear in the exam.
Attendees receive access to the BTS Fact-Find Analysis e-Learning module as part of the booking.
This AF5 study plan has been designed by the team at Bespoke Training Solutions (BTS).
Our highly-qualified and experienced team sit the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Level 4 and Level 6 exams annually. This helps to ensure that the materials we produce are as up to date and ‘exam-style’ as possible for our customers.
What is the aim of this guide?
As you read each chapter of the guide you will gradually work through the AF5 syllabus and practise the necessary exam question answering techniques, using:
What is the aim of a workshop?
You will work with an experienced BTS Associate to develop an understanding of what the examiner is looking for and how to approach the questions. We discuss and practice the key question answering techniques and revise possible technical areas that may be examined.
BTS AF5 workshop attendees receive access to the e-Learning module as part of their workshop booking fee.
What is the aim of the e-Learning module?
The BTS AF5 Fact-Find Analysis e-Learning module is also available to purchase stand-alone within days of the release of the CII fact-find. If you can’t attend a workshop, it allows you to work through your AF5 case study analysis at your own pace, covering:
Exam bookings are made directly with the CII.
Before booking an exam, candidates must purchase the unit from the CII website.
There is an option to purchase ‘assessment only’ which means just the exam sitting. This allows candidates to purchase study materials elsewhere, e.g. BTS.
Information and guidance on booking and sitting your exam can be found in our Exam FAQs:
