considering CII Diploma - advice
little_green
Member
Hi all newbie here.
I am considering a change of career & have been advised to complete the CII diploma in Finance level 4.
I have been advised by someone in the industry to complete R01, R06 & R07 first & this would suffice at getting me in at a junior position & then i can complete the rest on the job.
I am not currently & have no experience working in the field so wondered what the best place to start would be? I've read some other threads on here & saw that R04 & R05 are helpful to sit prior to R06 as it draws on things from the previous 2. Similarly would I need (or would it be recommended) to do CF6 before R07?
So yes the much asked question of "what's the best order to sit the exams" though i'll rephrase to what's the most helpful order to give myself the best chance at passing. Also bearing in mind I don't work or have any experience in the field , what is a good starting point that won't completely freak me out (i'm terrified of failing!).
Re the exam timescale, i'm not sure how much time i'll need to study (currently working a full time job in a totally different field) & don't want to pressure myself too much. I can see that materials on the website that you purchase seem to be specifically for a certain exam sitting. Going by the website it seems 19-20 edition materials are ok to be used for exams up until 31 Aug 2020. Will there be new materials released in sept 2020 that will then be valid/applicable for year 20-21.
If i were to purchase the materials now does that mean i could not then sit the exam past aug 2020 (how different will the new materials be?)
Re purchase of materials, do I just purchase one course at a time? then do the exam & then move on when ready or do you have to get each paper within a certain time of the last?
I assume i should sign up to become a member as that would cost £80/year + £37 joining fee. I'd save that doing more than 1 course. I assume i could cancel the yearly membership after a year if for whatever reason I didn't need/want it anymore? What about paying montlhy can i cancel free at any point?
is the enrollment "plus" option worth it.
In terms of what they send you how much can I be expecting to fork out on textbooks etc? Are textbooks necessary & where are they best sourced or am i better with revision aid direct from CII or something like brand FT notes?
Sorry for all the questions, a little bit nervous about starting a new journey. Hope someone can shed some light 
Comments
Hi Little_Green,
Yes, the R06 exam is an exam that pulls all of the other R0 exams together so relies on knowledge from all other aspects of the R0 exams. If you do not have experience in this field then you might find it tricky.
Other than leaving R06 to the end, I don't think that there is any particular way to do them; I did them R01, R02, R05, R03, R04, R06 but not for any particular reason - it just worked with what I was working on at the time (i.e. I did R05 before R03 because I had been doing a lot of protection cases at work so it helped me to relate the questions back to real life).
R05 is a certificate rather than diploma so is often seen as a little easier so might be a good route in - but in reality there is no hard and fast rule, just depends what you find interesting or relevant.
I completed my exams in 18 months but I have an experience in banking so I had a bit of background knowledge. There's no real timescale, it just depends how quickly you can absorb it.
The materials are issued each year for the new year as you have said. However, you could sit an exam up to the August 2020 date and it will still relate to the 2019/20 tax year. The new issues in the September are typically only updated for tax-year info and any important legislation updates.
If this is something that you are looking to do for a role that you already have then you should see if your employer will fund the exams. My employers have all had a stance where they will pay for the exam and then one re-sit if needed (after that I need to pay myself but luckily it has never come to that).
The textbooks are very handy as they cover off the syllabus and again, if you do not have any experience or knowledge in this field it will give you a place to start.
Hi @little_green
Welcome to the Big Tent!
You have a lot of questions, which is brilliant, and it's totally understandable to be nervous about a career change but there are lots of people on here who will be able to help you.
There is a whole section on here for people who are new to paraplanning: https://thebigtent.paraplannerspowwow.co.uk/categories/new-to-paraplanning
I would have a little look on there as are likely to be answers to a few of your questions. There's also a booklet available on paraplanning: https://www.thepfs.org/media/10122021/getting-you-started-in-paraplanning.pdf which may also be a bit of help.
As well as those, there are also apprenticeships into paraplanning, and whilst this may not be what you are looking for now, they are good for telling you what the role involves and the qualifications you'll find useful:
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/paraplanner/
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/media/1096/paraplanner.pdf
Re the membership fees for exams, there are several options and it is possible to pay monthly. It could be worth giving them a call to chat them through. They are very helpful and really know their stuff and will be able to help.
Re exams and the order etc, that's really down to you and how you want to go about doing them, but as rwooffatst says, some employers will help pay for them as it's in their best interest to get and retain good quality staff.
If you want to have a proper natter, just drop me a DM and we can have a really good chat (in real life!) about it if you like 😊
I did the diploma in 2 years sitting the exams one at a time in more or less the numerical order except I did r05 then r04 With r06 last and not while working in the field either and I wasn’t pushing myself really hard (took a few breaks when things clashed with other work demands etc) so it can definitely be done
The only area I had a little pre existing knowledge was pensions. Good luck 
glad to hear this!
has put some faith in me as most people seem to be already working in at least a related field.
thanks to everyone that has replied. Since we are in feb now & i would need to book the exam by march (though think i could forward book to august). would it be doable to achieve R01 in this time or would I be better waiting until the new materials are out in sept? & booking for 2021? Could I study for R01 now based on Sept 2019 release of info but potentially sit the exam after the august deadline or would you recommend against this.
I think this would be no problem in fact if you don’t do so you’d be wasting half the year while always waiting for Sept. just be careful when doing questions and checking numerical answers as you sometimes end up scratching your head and then finding out you were using the bang up to date allowances etc and the model answers were on last years and vice versa.
Hi
Does anyone have R07 Papers / Mock Tests they could share?