CII diploma- Can I do RO6 before RO4 and 5?
CRO2017
Member
in CPD & Exams
Hi all, new to the forum and was hoping someone would have experience of completing the RO exams outside of the typical order. I’ve had some changes in circumstances which means I’m unlikely to be able to get RO6 done in April 20 once Ive finish the other 5 (hopefully). I’m hoping someone can give ideas as to whether you could get through the exam with additional support, brand/study days etc. I’m not looking to cut corners it’s just likely I’ll be unable to sit RO6 until October next year otherwise, maybe later 
Any help would be appreciated 👍🏻
Any help would be appreciated 👍🏻
Comments
You can sit the exams in any order you like. However, I understand that R06 draws on the knowledge from the preceding exams, so I guess you may need to know about the subject matter from the papers you haven't done yet. To what extent I don't know, so maybe someone who has done R06 can help in this regard.
I would say it depends on your experience in the field and your current knowledge. The analyses are really helpful, but they can't cover all eventualities and you could find several 10+ mark questions that haven't been covered that you will need to use your prior knowledge for.
Having R04 knowledge is crucial for R06 because at least one of your case studies is going to have pension questions and often they throw in generic questions to test your knowledge. Examples of things you would need to know well include annual allowance, lifetime allowance, MPAA, how tax relief works, carry forward, DB and DC pensions and more besides. It seems like a lot of work if you need to learn it for R06 and then learn it again for R04
R05 probably isn't quite such an issue, in that there's likely to be a case study where a client has a protection policy or is considering what they might need or if they should join an employer scheme. but these tend to be more specific e.g. "Mr Smith's company has a private medical insurance scheme that he is considering joining and would like advice on this". So you could then just learn about PMI. They could however ask you to recommend and justify a specific policy to fulfill certain circumstances, so that would need a bit more knowledge.
Overall, I would say it's wise to do R04 as the knowledge you will need from it is substantial, and R05 is so easy that you could just get it out of the way. (no multiple repsonse questions to worry about. I took it 13 days after buying the course material whilst working 3 days a week and looking after 2 preschool children) The past papers are free to download from the CII site. Download a few, read through the case studies, make notes, then try and do the exam. That will give you an idea of whether you can manage it.
You're welcome. Good luck whatever you decide 😊
I did my R06 last April before sitting my R05. I had completed the other modules though. Definitely agree that R04/or the knowledge of pensions equivalent to that is essential.