Advisers left in dark as CII exam system fails

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Advisers left in dark as CII exam system fails

Advisers due to sit an exam with the Chartered Insurance Institute this morning have been left in the dark after technology issues at the professional body delayed the test. 

The R06 financial planning exam was due to begin at 09:30 today (July 6), having been postponed from its original date in April in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

But the CII’s systems went down this morning and advisers were unable to contact the professional body via email or telephone for updates. 

In an update on its Twitter page the CII said a technical issue had resulted in a "15 minute delay" to the start of the exam, but hours later advisers were still commenting warning they were unable to access the site. 

One Twitter user called the delay a "shambles" and another said no phone calls to the professional body were being answered an hour and a half after the exam was due to begin.

The three-hour exam is intended to demonstrate an adviser’s financial planning skills and the CII recommends 100 hours of studying for the qualification. 

As a result of social distancing measures currently in place across the country, advisers were set to sit the exam at home. 

The CII said: "The Chartered Insurance Institute would like to apologise to candidates affected by a technical issue, which resulted in a 15 minute delay to the start of today's remote invigilation examination sittings."

The professional body encouraged advisers to log back into the exam site and said no student would be "disadvantaged as a result of the delayed start to their sitting". 

Gill White, learning and assessment director of the CII, said: "Any candidate who was unable to log-in today will be allowed to rebook their examination for a future sitting.

"We can reassure candidates scheduled to take other examinations in the coming days via remote invigilation that this morning’s issue has been investigated and fixed.

"We are deeply sorry that some candidates who experienced the problem with remote invigilation were unable to immediately speak to a member of our customer services team. This was due to the high volume of calls received."

rachel.mortimer@ft.com 

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