How to Study

Insurance Institute of London Revision Lecture

Xchanging Building
1.15pm, Monday 21st January 2008

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

How to Study

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
Lloyds 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

How to Study

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

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute

Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

I dont want to do this

dont worry, nobody does
Youre 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 !
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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Firstly, why people fail !!

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
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How to Study

How to Study

Were 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

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute

Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Five Golden Rules to Studying

Rule One organise yourself
Rule Two - activate your brain - find out
what motivates it - if youre bored, so is
your brain !

Rule Three - you cant revise until youve

learned your subject - you should allow
eight weeks to revise

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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Five Golden Rules to Studying

Rule Four - if your existing study methods
dont work, perhaps its 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

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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

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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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

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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How to Study

Step Two
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 !
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How to Study

Step Three
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 doesnt worry
about or removed from syllabus two years
ago

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How to Study

Step Four
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

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How to Study

Time to make plans

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 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 !

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How to Study

Time to make plans

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

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How to Study

Time to make plans

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 partners support)
Once youve made this plan, KEEP TO IT !

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Weekly Time Plan

How to Study

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
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How to Study

How to Plan
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

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How to Study

Step Five
Assess syllabus and course text-book to
see what study time required. Dont 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

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How to Study

Step Five

Now allocate your time over these

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

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How to Study

Its up to you
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 dont need. Take text thats
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

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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Dont just write notes

Dont 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
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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Dont just write notes

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

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How to Study

Making notes will give your brain

something to retain when it gets
DIFFICULT
MOVEMENT
EXAGGERATION
Make it INTERESTING
Make it FUNNY
Use MNEMONICS (system for improving
memory)

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How to Study

Anyone for Tennis ?

If you have partner in life, dont forget
about them
Are they supportive - ask them to test you
Get them to use flash cards

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How to Study

Stupid, but it works !!

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)
Dont get bored - give your brain variety
Work personal reward system

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute

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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Revision
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 !

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute

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Updated C Paine January 2008

How to Study

Revision
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

With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute

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How to Study

The end is in sight, so keep going

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 youve learned for 5
minutes - technique will help put facts into
your long-term memory start all over again

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How to Study

The end is in sight, so keep going

Just before you go to bed, review key points
of all facts youve learned during session
LASTLY, dont 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

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How to Study

Remember ..
Practise writing answers - you will find out
what you dont 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 ACIIs, Dip CIIs and Cert CIIs
Remember, one day this could be
..YOU !!!!!
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute

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How to Study

Co-Authors of this
Presentation
Len Wilkins FCII
SICAT Training Consultancy
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

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Updated C Paine January 2008