AF Exams 2023 - Simultaneous AF study
DC01
Member
in CPD & Exams
Hi All,
I'm looking toward my journey to chartered and was looking for guidance for the AF 2023 exams.
what is the general consensus about studying two exams at the same time?
Now that the exams are back to two a year I'm looking to see if people have managed this and if so, how was the preparation?
Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.
Comments
I've heard of a few people doubling up on AF exams, but it's not something I would try. I think AF5 +1 is quite popular.
I did J05 and AF7 together, and there are others that work in a similar way, AF4 and one of the J exams (J10/J12?) go well together, and it also helps to get more points to chartered if you need them, without too much further study
Thanks for the reply, I already have 175 credits so just need the 120 AF level credit for Chartered, I was just looking at two AF's at once, have you heard of anyone pairing AF1 and AF4?
I didn't, and wouldn't, pair AF papers. It's a lot of study and worst case, if you fail both then you'll be second guessing whether that was the reason. If you then decide to sit them separately it's taken you an extra six months and lots more money.
What I would recommend is doubling up on syllabus. J05 and AF7 like Andy did, or I did AF4 then sat J10 and J12 during the AF4 marking period. Both J10 and J12 are on the FCA T&C list as Appropriate Qualifications for discretionary management and stockbrocking respectively. 70 credits, a more attractive CV and hardly any additional study. If anything, the knowledge application for the multiple guess J papers boosted my confidence in AF4.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, seems like I have my answer.
Ill maybe look to do AF1 and J02 in feb and march then to double up!
Did you need much additional study to AF4 to prepare for J10 & J12?
I'm thinking of combining AF6 with AF1, so combining a coursework one and an exam. More flexibility with study time etc.
> @benjaminfabi said:
> I didn't, and wouldn't, pair AF papers. It's a lot of study and worst case, if you fail both then you'll be second guessing whether that was the reason. If you then decide to sit them separately it's taken you an extra six months and lots more money.
>
> What I would recommend is doubling up on syllabus. J05 and AF7 like Andy did, or I did AF4 then sat J10 and J12 during the AF4 marking period. Both J10 and J12 are on the FCA T&C list as Appropriate Qualifications for discretionary management and stockbrocking respectively. 70 credits, a more attractive CV and hardly any additional study. If anything, the knowledge application for the multiple guess J papers boosted my confidence in AF4.
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> Hi,
>
> Thanks for the reply, seems like I have my answer.
>
> Ill maybe look to do AF1 and J02 in feb and march then to double up!
>
> Did you need much additional study to AF4 to prepare for J10 & J12?
Hi,
I studied for AF4 and sat J10 a few weeks before and passed without opening the J10 CII book. That said I would recommend getting the Brand J10 exam papers and calculation workbook and completing them until you know the calculations off by heart.
J10 is essentially just AF4 but in multiple choice format.
Also, PCIAM is around 50% of the same content which is found within AF4 and you get 30 advanced credits when notifying the CII.
So complete J10, then AF4 and then PCIAM for maximum credits. The content was actually enjoyable to learn so if you like investments then great.
Thanks
I found the J10 and J12 books useful as study material for AF4. The Brand material gets a thumbs up from me too. I was preparing for all three exams at once, so I couldn't tell you what additional study I needed to do. I would do 45 minutes nearly every working day by arriving at the office early or staying late, then 3 hrs on Saturday morning in the library. For AF4 etc I used all three books, as there is more techncial detail in the J manuals and more practical application in the AF one.
I know a few people who did that PCIAM too, but as I said above, I did the J papers because they are FCA T&C specific qualifications with wider market value than CII credits.
Thanks for the guidance! I appreciate it! I have now passed, AF1, J02, AF4 and J10 and am now working on AF8
i'm glad I didn't try and double them up...
We often see candidates take two exams close together as it makes sense if there is a lot of technical overlapping content. In fact when the CII exam dates were released for 2024 we wrote a blog article which you may find useful:
https://brandft.co.uk/cii-exam-combinations-to-consider/
Excellent Dan, great to hear your success.
I did AF1 and AF5 together and passed both. It was 10 years ago right enough.
I only did the two together as I figured that you can't really study for AF5 as it based on whatever is in the fact find so I thought I might as well be up to date on my technical knowledge for at least one area.
I did go to a CII run study day for AF5 though which was a big help.