Certificate in Mortgage Advice
The mortgage industry’s qualification of choice.
With mortgage advisers now under a regulatory requirement to hold ’appropriate’ examinations, you are at the very heart of the UK’s financial services regulatory regime.
The Certificate, when combined with role-specific and work-based training, can greatly assist you and your employer in meeting the regulator’s training and competence requirements. Holders can apply to use designation ’Cert CII (MP)’.
CII qualifications demonstrate your commitment to your chosen profession. They provide an objective measurement of your knowledge and understanding of the business in which you work.
Completion of the Certificate in Mortgage Advice meets the regulatory examination requirements for mortgage advisers. You are required to pass two examinations in order to complete this qualification. These units combine to provide you with:
- a general introduction to the UK financial services industry (including common product types, the process of giving advice, ethics, regulation and legislation); and
- an introduction to the mortgage process (including the house-buying process, different types of borrowers and their needs, the various mortgage product and repayment options, and the regulation and legislation applicable to mortgages and the provision of mortgage advice).
The Certificate, when combined with role-specific and work-based training, can greatly assist you and your employer in meeting the regulator’s training and competence requirements. Upon completion, a Certificate will be awarded and you will be invited to apply to use the designation ‘Cert CII (MP)’ (membership and Continuing Professional Development requirements apply).
Equity release
In addition to the Certificate in Mortgage Advice, the CII also offers the new unit Equity release (ER1), introduced to meet the CF7/HR1 requirement through a single exam.
Home reversion plans (HR1) is a single top-up unit appropriate for anyone already approved to advise on lifetime mortgage activity prior to 6 April 2007. HR1 will continue to be offered until April 2009 for those candidates simply seeking a top-up.
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) accreditation
The Certificate is accredited with the QCA as ‘CII Level 3 Certificate in Mortgage Advice’ and is included in the National Qualifications Framework. For further information please refer to the QCA website at
www.qca.org.uk
Funding may be available for candidates studying for qualifications listed in the National Qualifications Framework. For further details, please refer to the Learning and Skills Council website at www.lsc.gov.uk
Note: For QCA accredited qualifications, ‘the regulatory authorities’ logo(s) on the certificate indicate that the qualification is accredited only for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Why the Certificate in Mortgage Advice?
The Certificate delivers many advantages:
- Satisfies the regulatory examination requirements for registered mortgage advisers.
- As a universal badge of professionalism and commitment, it enhances consumer confidence in the advice they receive.
- Improves your long-term career prospects by improving knowledge and understanding, and by demonstrating commitment to self-improvement.
- Provides online exam sittings that enable you to enter for the exam when you are ready, with results provided instantaneously.
- Upon completion you can apply to use the designation ‘Cert CII (MP)’ providing a means of demonstrating your achievement to the public and to peers (membership and Continuing Professional Development requirements apply).
- Holders are eligible to become ‘Certificate’ members of the Society of Mortgage Professionals.
- Provides one of the five units required to complete the financial adviser qualification, the Certificate in Financial Planning.
- It also provides more than two-thirds of the required credits to complete the Certificate in Insurance qualification, of interest to those providing advice on insurance products.
Is the Certificate in Mortgage Advice right for me?
The Certificate is the advisers’ qualification of choice, created by the mortgage industry, for the mortgage industry. It is appropriate for all advisers who need to comply with the regulatory examination requirements that came into effect on 31 October 2004. It is also ideal for individuals working in the mortgage market in non-advisory roles, such as in administration or in support functions such as marketing, sales support, human resources and IT.
There are no restrictions on entry, in terms of age or educational background.
Your next step
Now that you have read about the Certificate in Mortgage Advice, gained an understanding of what it offers and decided that it meets your career development plans, it is time to finalise your entry.
This Certificate in Mortgage Advice section contains all the information you require to study for and complete this qualification. As you read through this, you will learn about the units on offer, the available learning materials, terms and conditions relating to entry, and the different ways you can enter.
Please take the time to read this, as it will help you choose the study programme that best fits your needs.
Further study and career development
To accommodate changes in your career or aspirations, you can continue your studies after completion of the Certificate in Mortgage Advice in a number of ways, such as by studying for the Certificate in Financial Planning or the Certificate in Equity Release.
Prizes
Each year the CII may award a number of prizes for exceptional performance in its qualifications. These prizes cover a variety of situations, such as completing a qualification, the best performance in a single unit or certain groups of units, and exemplary performance by those working in certain sectors of the industry. The prizes are sponsored by a wide range of organisations within the insurance and financial services industry.
Should you not wish your contact details to be given to the sponsor of a prize for which your exam performance may make you eligible, you should indicate this by ticking the appropriate box in the ‘Declarations’ section of the application form.
