How to Study With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008 1 How to Study & Revise for your CII Exams

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

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How to Study & Revise for your CII Exams

Insurance Institute of London Revision LectureXchanging Building

1.15pm, Monday 21st January 2008

Len Wilkins FCII, Consultant

& Chris Paine Dip CII, Consultant

IIL Revision Lectures are kindly sponsored by Xchanging

Chairman : Mr Richard King BSc (Hons) AMIMA ACIArbSenior Consultant, Helix UK Limited

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Introduction

CII has introduced important changes to 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

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New CII Designation System Award in Insurance (FIT) Certificate in Insurance (Cert CII) 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

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

I don’t want to do this – don’t worry, nobody does

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Research has show that students fail CII exams for three reasons

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

Firstly, why people fail !!

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We’re going to look at :

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

How to Study

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Five Golden Rules to Studying

Rule One – organise yourself

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

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Rule Four - if your existing study methods 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

Five Golden Rules to Studying

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Step One

Decide on correct examination route : 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

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Study Time & CII Credits Required

Cert CII Average 50 hours ( 40 credits)

Dip CII Average 96 hours (110 credits)

ACII Average 120 hours (290 credits)

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Buy stationery supplies Pads, pens, highlighter pens 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 !

Step Two

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Start with copy of syllabus. CII grades it, so see what's important and what extra reading 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

Step Three

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Look at previous exam guides for past two years (last four exam sessions)

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

Step Four

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Obtain copy of CII Examination Guides - provide hints, tips and answering ‘styles’ – 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 [email protected] 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 !

Time to make plans

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You need to plan your time 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

Time to make plans

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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 !

Time to make plans

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Weekly Study Time for each Subject Level

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

Weekly Time Plan

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For example :

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

How to Plan

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Assess syllabus and course text-book to 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

Step Five

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Now allocate your time over these subjects on 3:2:1 ratio

3 hours for hard 2 hours for difficult 1 hour for easy

Step Five

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Try to get face-to-face tuition. If not, arrange own your study group at work

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

It’s up to you

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Don’t just write notes - use colours, pictures, boxes, rhymes - anything to help 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

Don’t just write notes

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Put important points on “flash” cards, 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’

Don’t just write notes

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

memory)

Making notes will give your brain something to retain when it gets

DIFFICULT

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If you have partner in life, don’t forget about them

Are they supportive - ask them to test you

Get them to use flash cards

Anyone for Tennis ?

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

Stupid, but it works !!

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Passive Revision - learning, reviewing 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 !

Revision

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Use continuous assessment facilities or correspondence courses, On-Line help such 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

Revision

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Revise in attainable chunks - not whole syllabus all at once

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

The end is in sight, so keep going

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Just before you go to bed, review key points 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 !

The end is in sight, so keep going

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Practise writing answers - you will find out what you don’t know! Would you have 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 !!!!!

Remember ……..

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Chris Paine Dip CII

Independent Training Consultant & AdvisorTelephone 01923 775049 Mobile 07770 671840E-Mail [email protected]

Co-Authors of this Presentation

Len Wilkins FCII

SICAT Training Consultancy

Telephone 01451 821063

Mobile 07970 668849

E-Mail [email protected]

Documents

How to Study With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute Updated C Paine January 2008 1 How to Study & Revise for your CII Exams