This exam can be taken on two set dates throughout the year, usually in February/March and September.
This study plan is based on 100 hours of study time over an 12 week period. The CII recommendation is 100 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 J05 forum.
Passing J05 needs a very focused approach when it comes to your study plan. This is a challenging exam with a narrow syllabus, which means your knowledge levels and ability to apply this knowledge to short answer questions needs to be good. Last minute cramming will generally not result in an exam pass – a ‘little and often’ approach is recommended, as always with any advanced exam.
Start by working through the BTS study guide covering the full exam syllabus and guidance on the necessary exam question answering techniques.
We have provided a week by week study timetable for you to follow and keep you on track.
The J05 exam comprises 15 short answer questions worth a total of 130 marks. You will not see any of these questions before your exam day, so ensure that you factor in plenty of past paper practise to your exam preparations.
Practise as many exam-standard questions as you can before the real thing. It is good practice to start attempting mock exam questions when you are around two-thirds of the way through the study guide. Use them to review your weaker areas and target your revision.
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 from the CII website on the J05 pages – they call them ‘Examination Guides’. The most recent ones are also available in the useful downloads section at the top of this page.
Have you booked your exam? If not, this date is the final day that you are able to do so.
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This J05 Study Plan has been designed by the team at 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 areas 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 J05 syllabus and practise the necessary exam question answering techniques, using:
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:
