“Attaining our qualifications and being a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute and Personal Finance Society is recognised by employers as well as the public as a commitment to upholding the standards we set for excellence in qualifications, business practices and professional development."
Not alone
But the CII is not alone in this as other adviser examination providers such as the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and the London Institute of Banking & Finance, have also had some issues.
CISI has seen complaints increase since the introduction of remote invigilation because of some "teething problems".
It began reviewing the option of introducing remote invigilation before Covid but said the project was brought forward in lockdown.
The CISI said it is vital to deal with these issues early and communicate well and it asks all candidates with issues like disconnections to contact it via the feedback or complaints system, so it can monitor trends or major issues.
Richard Bennett, assistant director, operations at CISI, said the firm introduced remote invigilation for multiple choice qualifications (MCQ) in January 2021 and tested the platform extensively prior to launch which included external candidates testing.
“For remote invigilation there were some initial teething problems as everyone got used to this new exam delivery method,” he said. “To help prepare candidates for their exam, at the time of candidates booking their exam they are given a detailed user guide on the experience they are likely to face with remote invigilation.”
Some of the most common issues experienced were candidates being disconnected from their exam due to their poor internet, he explained.
“To protect the integrity of the exam if candidates are disconnected they will have to rebook their exam for another day.”
For other technical problems, the support team of the platform provider would attempt to resolve the issue whilst the candidate is online, however if they cannot, in both cases, the CISI said it normally offers these candidates a free retake of their exam and they can sit again when there is availability which is normally within 72 hours.
“For those candidates sitting at a test centre, the centre staff will normally be able to fix most issues but there are rare occasions where issues cannot be resolved and the candidate will have to re-book their exam free of charge,” Bennett said.
“With these important factors in place, there will always be occasions when we can’t get it right 100 per cent of the time and we accept that. However, we put a premium on good communication with candidates and putting ourselves in the position of the customer so when we do get things wrong, we make sure the candidate is not unfairly disadvantaged.”
