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
1
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
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
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
3
How to Study
I don’t want to do this –
don’t worry, nobody does
 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 !
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
4
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
5
How to Study
How to Study
 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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
6
How to Study
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
7
How to Study
Five Golden Rules to Studying
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
8
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
9
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)
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
10
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 !
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
11
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 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
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
13
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 !
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
14
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
15
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 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
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
17
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
18
How to Study
Step Five
 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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
19
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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
20
How to Study
It’s 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 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
How to Study
Don’t just write notes
 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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
22
How to Study
Don’t 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’
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
23
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)
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
24
How to Study
Anyone for Tennis ?
 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
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
25
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)
 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
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
Updated C Paine January 2008
27
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
Updated C Paine January 2008
28
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 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
How to Study
The end is in sight, so keep going
 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 !
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
30
How to Study
Remember ……..
 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 !!!!!
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
31
How to Study
Co-Authors of this Presentation
Len Wilkins FCII
SICAT Training Consultancy
Telephone
01451 821063
Mobile
07970 668849
E-Mail
lenwilkins@btinternet.com
Chris Paine Dip CII
Independent Training Consultant & Advisor
Telephone
01923 775049
Mobile
07770 671840
E-Mail
painefamily@supanet.com
With grateful acknowledgement to The Chartered Insurance Institute
Updated C Paine January 2008
32