Financial Planning Practice (R06)

Financial Planning Practice (R06) has been developed to help advisers develop and demonstrate their financial planning capabilities. 

The unit tests the practical application of technical knowledge and planning skills already gained, typically through previous study, thereby supporting the provision of competent and appropriate advice.

The unit starts by looking at obtaining appropriate client information and understanding client’s needs, wants, values and risk profile essential to the financial planning process. It then looks at the range of client information, subjective factors ad indicators to provide the basis for financial planning assumptions and decisions. It considers a client’s situation and the advantages and disadvantages of appropriate options.

It moves on to formulating suitable financial plans for action, explaining and justifying recommendations.

Finally, it looks at implementing, reviewing and maintaining financial plans to achieve the client’s objectives and adapt to changes in circumstances.

Building a successful career in personal finance

Financial Planning Practice (R06) is a core unit for the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning which meets the FCA’s qualification requirements for retail investment advisers. This unit is relevant for paraplanners, technical consultants and those in financial planning support roles. It is also relevant for those seeking additional CII credits towards completion of the Diploma in Financial Planning. those who do not hold additional CII credits counting towards completion of the Diploma in Financial Planning.

Purpose

This unit enables candidates to demonstrate their expertise in the application of the financial planning process through combining and applying learning content from all the other units in the CII RQF level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning:

• Financial services, regulation and ethics
• Investment principles and risk
• Personal taxation
• Pensions and retirement planning
• Financial protection

Assessment

• Three hour exam comprising two written case studies on financial planning practice (candidates receive the case studies two weeks prior to exam sitting)
• The standard pass mark is 55% (for more information on standard pass marks please see here)
• The 2024 pass rate for this unit was 71.3%

Units treated as equivalent

Due to the extent of syllabus overlap, certain combinations of current and withdrawn units will result in only one award of CII credits.

If a withdrawn equivalent is held you may not need to complete a current unit in order to satisfy a qualification's completion rules. Clarification should always be sought from CII Customer Service.

Find out more about CII credit awards for equivalent units

Revision aids available ** Please check individual shop pages for availability dates **

• Key facts booklet
• Audio revision
• E-learning
• Post-case study video

Find out more about revision aids. 

Note for purchasing revision aids: please make sure you do not already have the revision aid(s) as part of any enrolment plus purchase.

R06 post case study video technical guide

If you would like further support in order to prepare for the R06 exam, you will be able to purchase a video guide a few weeks before each exam sitting. Available on RevisionMate, this video course covers the main areas of knowledge that might be applicable, based on the case study released for each exam, and is only available for that particular exam session. Details, such as pricing, will be available on the video guide shop page when the product goes live.