The R01 (Financial Services – Regulation and Ethics) exam forms part of the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and upon successful completion will give you 20 credits at diploma level.The exam itself is a two-hour computer based multiple choice exam held at test centres throughout the country. As the exam is computer based, you can sit it on a date of your choosing throughout the year providing more flexibility to accommodate your studies. The exam format consists of 100 questions – 87 standard questions with only one correct answer and 13 multiple response questions with more than one correct answers.The pass mark is 65% and as this is a computer based test rather than a written test it is unlikely that there will be much deviation from this unless a question is subsequently found to be invalid. So in terms of the mark needed to pass, you are looking at a minimum of 65/100The following guidance comes from our learning programmes.
The exam is based on 8 learning outcomes with varying emphasis given to each section. The approximate split of marks is as follows, although this can vary up or down slightly depending on your specific exam:Learning OutcomeExpected number of exam questions1. Understand the UK financial services industry in its European and global context6 standard2. Understand how the retail consumer is served by the financial services industry12 standard3. Understand legal concepts and considerations relevant to financial advice.9 standard4. Understand the regulation of financial services6 standard5. Understand the financial regulators’ responsibilities and approach to regulation29 standard 6. Apply the principles and rules as set out in the regulatory framework4 standard / 5 multiple response7. Apply the regulatory advice framework in practice for the consumer.5 standard / 8 multiple response8. Understand the range of skills required when advising clients4 standard9. Understand the financial regulators’ use of principles and outcomes based regulation to promote ethical and fair outcomes7 standard 10. Apply the Code of Ethics and professional standards to business behaviours of individuals.2 standard11. Critically evaluate the outcomes that distinguish between ethical and compliance driven behaviours3 standard
As noted above, there are 11 learning outcomes for the R01 exam, with different weight and emphasis applied to each but they are extremely broad headings which don’t tell you very much about the content of the examination. The more detailed syllabus does break this down a bit further but still to pretty broad headings and as such, we need to go a bit further in planning your study.The study plan has been built around spending the right amount of time on each of the learning outcomes to help you get the most out of your study time.The learning material has been split up into five weekly chunks which will guide you through the syllabus and prepare you for the exam.This week, you should prepare what you need for your study and have a think about how you can fit the extra work into your busy schedule. Some learners prefer to come in to the office early and do an hour every morning, others prefer to break it up into smaller chunks and fit it in throughout the day but you have to find out what works for you. One thing that is clear though, is that it will be a reasonable commitment of your time, and if you fail to plan it properly you are planning to fail.You might also want to get some stationery together like a pad of paper for your own notes and workings, and a highlighter to allow you to pick out key pieces of information and of course, a calculator. Remember that you are allowed to take a financial calculator into the examination (as long as it isn’t capable of being programmed to hold formulae) and these are useful for a number of the exams as well as working with customers in real life.
The R01 study schedule is split into a five-week learning programme. We would recommend that you allow yourself around a week after the programme finishes to consolidate your learning, practice taking some examinations and revise. This means that you should leave yourself around 6 weeks from starting the programme, to taking the exam.As part of our structured study plan, rather than just giving you a book and expecting you to read it and learn, we will be providing an interactive and structured journey to help you through your studies.We have broken the key learning outcomes down into various areas that will be rolled out over the 5- week study schedule for you to study as you go. The learning materials will include written summaries of the material covered in the form of a study guide that you can print off and read through. As well as this and alongside the specific learning material, you will find other useful documents that will help with your study.The learning schedule for the R01 exam has been broken up into weekly sessions, and it is recommended that you complete each weekly module and learning within the week. You should find that there is just about the right amount of material for one week’s study and if you have time before the next week starts it is a good idea to consolidate your learning rather than trying to jump ahead to the next module.The modules break down as follows:
Everyone learns in their own way and you will need to find the way that works for you but some tips you might consider include:
Above all – make sure you do the work. If you don’t work, you won’t get the results. Good luck and we’ll see you in module one…
Redmill Advance has been a leading provider of training & development services to the UK financial advice market since 2018 and is based in Linlithgow, Scotland.
