Insurance Institute of London Revision Lecture

Xchanging Building
1.15pm, Monday 21st January 2008
How to Study

How to Study & Revise

for your CII Exams
Len Wilkins FCII, Consultant
& Chris Paine Dip CII, Consultant

Chairman : Mr Richard King BSc (Hons) AMIMA ACIArb

Senior Consultant, Helix UK Limited

IIL Revision Lectures are kindly sponsored by Xchanging

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
1
 Introduction
 CII has introduced important changes to
How to Study

structure of obtaining CII qualifications

 CII constantly reviews syllabus content
 No comments on syllabus changes today

 CII has now taken over responsibility for

Lloyd’s Training Centre & their courses
 Please contact CII Face-to-Face Training for
ACII Revision Days on 0207 283 3117

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
2
 New CII Designation System
 Award in Insurance (FIT)
 Certificate in Insurance (Cert CII)
How to Study

 Diploma in Insurance (Dip CII)

 Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII)
 Beyond that is CII Fellowship
 MSc in Insurance and Risk Management at
Cass Business School
 Chartered Status & Chartered Firm Titles
 New CII Faculties – Underwriting, Claims,
Broking, London Market
 CITIP & Certificate in Contract Wording
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
3
 I don’t want to do this –
don’t worry, nobody does

 You’re not going to believe it, but studying

How to Study

can be fun

 For those of you used to studying, some

thoughts

 For those of you who struggle, or are

studying for the first time, some ideas !

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
4
 Firstly, why people fail !!
Research has show that students fail CII
exams for three reasons
How to Study

 ONE - they did not PREPARE

 TWO - they did not FINISH examination
paper
 THREE - they did not PRACTISE answering
questions

You have been warned – so you need to

study properly to avoid these traps
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
5
 How to Study
 We’re going to look at :
How to Study

Studying
Recalling
Reviewing
Revising

Although CII exams are not typical academic

exams, exam techniques still vital – please
attend “How to Pass Your CII Exams” here at
Xchanging at 1.15pm on Monday 18th February
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
6
 Five Golden Rules to Studying

 Rule One – organise yourself

How to Study

 Rule Two - activate your brain - find out

what motivates it - if you’re bored, so is
your brain !

 Rule Three - you can’t revise until you’ve

learned your subject - you should allow
eight weeks to revise

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
7
 Five Golden Rules to Studying

 Rule Four - if your existing study methods

How to Study

don’t work, perhaps it’s time to find new

ways of learning

and lastly, and perhaps most importantly,

 Rule Five - promise yourself you will

study NOW and not day before exams

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
8
 Step One

 Decide on correct examination route :

How to Study

 Award
 Certificate
 Diploma
 Advanced Diploma
 Decide number of study subjects - no more
than two at any one sitting, please
 Establish how long it will take to study
various subject levels

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
9
 Study Time & CII Credits Required
How to Study

 Cert CII Average 50 hours ( 40 credits)

 Dip CII Average 96 hours (110 credits)

 ACII Average 120 hours (290 credits)

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
10
 Step Two
 Buy stationery supplies
 Pads, pens, highlighter pens
How to Study

 Drawing pins or ‘Bluetack’

 Sticky tape
 Tape recorder
 Old posters or flipchart

 Now make up study plan allowing for

study and play time – then STICK TO IT !

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
11
 Step Three
 Start with copy of syllabus. CII grades it, so
see what's important and what extra reading
How to Study

is recommended

 Exams set from syllabus, so make sure you

know what is important and how much
detail you need to know

 Shame to study something CII doesn’t worry

about or removed from syllabus two years
ago

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
12
 Step Four
 Look at previous exam guides for past
two years (last four exam sessions)
How to Study

 Look at topics that have been used for

compulsory questions, essay questions
and short answer questions

 Produce list, grid or ‘matrix’ of what

comes up regularly and what never
seems to be examined

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
13
 Time to make plans
 Obtain copy of CII Examination Guides -
provide hints, tips and answering ‘styles’ –
How to Study

only official source of CII questions

 £9.00 + VAT from CII website or CII e-mail for
members (£10.00 + VAT for non-members)
 www.cii.co.uk or customer.serv@cii.co.uk
 CII Customer Services 0208 989 8464
 Talk to others who have taken exam recently
and pick their brains – now you know where
to focus your mind !
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
14
 Time to make plans

 You need to plan your time

How to Study

 Work out when you are most responsive to

new ideas - weekends, early mornings, late
at night
 How much time will you need ?
 Fit studying around work, social life,
holidays, study assignments, revision times

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
15
 Time to make plans
How to Study

 Do this and you will accept study time

more easily, realise your aims are feasible
and stand chance of keeping your sense
of humour (and your partner’s support)
 Once you’ve made this plan, KEEP TO IT !

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
16
 Weekly Time Plan

 Weekly Study Time for each Subject Level

How to Study

 Cert CII – Total Study 35 to 50 Hours

 3 to 4 hours a week

 Dip CII – Total Study 100 to 150 Hours

 6 to 8 hours a week

 ACII – Total Study 120 to 150 Hours

 8 to 10 hours a week

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
17
 How to Plan

For example :
How to Study

 Starting in October for April Exam

 Mid-September to Mid-December = 13 weeks
 January to February = 8 weeks
 Revision should begin on or near 1st March

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
18
 Step Five

 Assess syllabus and course text-book to

How to Study

see what study time required. Don’t allow

set time for each chapter. GRADE the
subjects into degrees of difficulty :

 HARD – much thought & concentration

 DIFFICULT - some hard work
 EASY - needs revising, simple background
reading

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
19
 Step Five
How to Study

 Now allocate your time over these

subjects on 3:2:1 ratio
 3 hours for hard
 2 hours for difficult
 1 hour for easy

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
20
 It’s up to you

 Try to get face-to-face tuition. If not, arrange

own your study group at work
How to Study

 Continuous Assessment Assignments

 Time to start studying. Scan-read book,
ignore bits you don’t need. Take text that’s
important to you and rephrase words into
your own style. Summarise text passages
 Get friend to ask you questions, check your
answers and assist your revision

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
21
 Don’t just write notes
 Don’t just write notes - use colours,
pictures, boxes, rhymes - anything to help
How to Study

your memory and give your brain

something tangible to hold on to

 Use your imagination – even write your

own short questions in margin

 Use unrelated items – any form of thought

association

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
22
 Don’t just write notes

 Put important points on “flash” cards,

How to Study

posters or notes suitable for you - use

acronyms, phrases, triggers
 Tape main points of a passage and replay
them - use gags, music, sing to the text
 Could you forget principles of FSMA 2000
sung to ‘I will Survive’?
 Play Insurance ‘Mastermind’ or ‘Scrabble’

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
23
 Making notes will give your brain
something to retain when it gets
DIFFICULT
How to Study

 MOVEMENT
 EXAGGERATION
 Make it INTERESTING
 Make it FUNNY
 Use MNEMONICS (system for improving
memory)

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
24
 Anyone for Tennis ?

 If you have partner in life, don’t forget

How to Study

about them

 Are they supportive - ask them to test you

 Get them to use flash cards

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
25
 Stupid, but it works !!

 Before you start, say out loud : ‘I am going to

How to Study

pass this exam; in fact, I am going to get a

distinction’
(Okay, you might have to stretch truth there)

 Don’t get bored - give your brain variety

 Work personal reward system

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
26
 Revision
 Passive Revision - learning, reviewing
How to Study

notes, re-expressing facts, concepts and

ideas

 Active Revision - answer questions,

memory ‘joggers’ - words, rhymes, tapes,
flash cards or notes for key points and
legal cases - put them round house - mind
maps to link things together and above all
practise under exam conditions !
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
27
 Revision
 Use continuous assessment facilities or
correspondence courses, On-Line help such
How to Study

as CII ed, CD-RoM & Interactive, Key Facts

Booklets, Distance Learning, CII Revision
Days and CII Knowledge Services – again
please contact CII Face-to-Face Training
 Plan your revision - prepare timetable that
includes work and leisure, then stick to it
 Remember, you need somewhere quiet, free
of distractions, equipped with study space

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
28
 The end is in sight, so keep going
 Revise in attainable chunks - not whole
syllabus all at once
How to Study

 Study for 40 minutes - revise and review for

40 minutes - 15 minute reward break - then
repeat process

 Lastly review key points you’ve learned for 5

minutes - technique will help put facts into
your long-term memory – start all over again
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
29
 The end is in sight, so keep going

 Just before you go to bed, review key points

How to Study

of all facts you’ve learned during session

 LASTLY, don’t forget to set alarm clock for 30

minutes earlier than usual - revisit key facts
from previous day

 You will be amazed how many facts you

remember !

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
30
 Remember ……..
 Practise writing answers - you will find out
what you don’t know! Would you have
How to Study

passed your driving test without driving a car

first ?

 Thousands of people pass CII exams every

year and every year CII appoints hundreds of
new ACII’s, Dip CII’s and Cert CII’s
 Remember, one day this could be
…………..YOU !!!!!

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
31
 Co-Authors of this
Presentation
Len Wilkins FCII
SICAT Training Consultancy
How to Study

Telephone01451 821063
Mobile 07970 668849
E-Mail lenwilkins@btinternet.com

Chris Paine Dip CII

Independent Training Consultant & Advisor
Telephone01923 775049
Mobile 07770 671840
E-Mail painefamily@supanet.com

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008
32