A financial adviser who initially failed the AF5 examination has had his failure overturned by the Chartered Insurance Institute following a complaint to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual).
A financial adviser sat the exam in October and was shocked when he was told in December that he had failed. This is the same paper that a HSBC adviser failed in December, after the minimum pass percentage increased from 55 to 62 per cent.
The AF5 exam requires candidates to compile a case study report based on a hypothetical client’s fact find document. The exam is worth 30 credits towards Chartered status, attainment of which requires 290 credits.
The adviser said: “I knew that I had passed it. I got the mark overturned within 30 days from when I sent the letter to Ofqual. I asked for my paper to be remarked as there was no explanation of how I failed.
“I complained but they did not do anything. I then wrote to Ofqual. It seems that as soon as you mention Ofqual, the CII changes. I paid £77 for the remark which was later refunded.
“We need to know what the examiners look for and in what context – that would help advisers pass exams and I would like them to show me where I went wrong.”
The adviser criticised the CII for not sending examinee’s marked scripts back, claiming that other examination bodies will do this if it is requested, which the CII denies.
The adviser added: “With the RDR, advisers must be seen as being transparent but the CII is blaming client data protection for not telling you scores per question. It does not seem like a level playing field as they are doing whatever they like.”
A spokesperson for the CII told FTAdviser that the institute does provide feedback and “goes into far more detail than most”, as it articulates what an adviser scored highly on, what you did not and what the examiner wanted.
“It also said that for online exams, it cannot give the answers to examinees as the questions are from a live client bank and may be revisited. For written papers, the CII blamed logistics, adding it would be too costly to post marked scripts “and that cost would need to be met”.
He said: “Like most professional bodies we do not provide this service – I can assure you it is not an attempt by the CII to be secretive.
“The only examination boards that routinely allow access to scripts are those involved in delivering GCSEs and GCEs where the teachers are able to get access to their candidates scripts if a performance is a long way out of line with the teacher’s expectations and the predicted grades.
“I am not aware of any professional bodies who offer the script return service. Whilst I appreciate that the CII is by far the largest provider of examinations in the sector I do feel that we are being singled out for criticism. Other exam bodies will not provide such thorough or transparent feedback to candidates.
“We have a remark system in place as we recognise that if you are close to passing, a remark could help. If your paper is remarked and the mark is changed from a fail to a pass then you do get your money refunded. We very rarely get it wrong.”
Last year, the CII saw advisers apply to sit over 70,000 online exams with the institution.
