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DipFA® Training
Testimonial - Ian Bond
Hi John
I had my FPP test today and passed with 63 out of 75 (84%).
Many thanks for all your help. I thought the course was fantastic. It really helped. I had read the book twice before I came on the course but you helped me understand it a lot better and it made a lot more sense when I came back and revised further.
It would have been a lot harder If I had not been on the course.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I am looking forward to coming back in June.
Tony has got his exam on Thursday and hopefully he will pass as well. I keep on ringing him up and pestering him to make sure he is revising.
Once again many thanks for all your help.
Regards
Ian
The DipFA® course has now been totally revamped as below :
Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA®)
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) recently announced that they have chosen to interpret Ofqual Level 4 more stringently than Ofqual itself. They are demanding that all elements of the qualification be at Level 4, whereas Ofqual insist on the majority. This is an unusual interpretation and one we could not have expected. This means that credits from Level 3 qualifications (e.g. CeFA® or FPC) cannot be used to award this qualification. The ifs School of Finance has had to make an amendment to the DipFA qualification and has introduced an additional element, a unit entitled Financial Planning Principles (FPP).
What this means for you – if you are an existing student.....
In order to complete the revised DipFA®, you will need to complete one further element of learning and assessment for FPP.
Your coursework and final assessments are not affected by this and are unchanged. Your results from these will still count towards the qualification. However, FPP represents an additional element, which builds on knowledge gained through CeFA®. In particular FPP will focus on the wider financial services environment, risk and its impact on portfolio planning for personal financial services consumers This element will be accessed via a two-hour, multiple choice examination, taken through Pearson VUE. In order to pass DipFA® you will need to pass all three elements, although the compensation rules between the coursework and final assessment still apply.
In future we will expect students to complete this part of the assessment first, but for you this may not be possible. However, you will be able to sit this when you feel you are ready as the examinations are available on-demand, with sufficient notice. There are over 150 Pearson VUE test centres across the UK.
The ifs School of Finance will not make any additional charges to students registered for and taking DipFA® up to and including the November intake. However, if you request to resit the examination a fee will need to be charged.
Materials for the new element of the DipFA® will be available soon via www.myifslearning.com
Key Facts
| Module Name: | Financial Planning Principles |
| Level: | Level 4 |
| Cost: | You will not incur a registration fee for this assessment component. This will be waived, although resits will incur a charge. |
| Study Materials: | You will have online access to these through www.myifslearning.com |
| Examination: | Two hour multiple-choice examination. You will receive your results upon leaving the test centre. |
The ifs School of Finance will be in contact with you shortly to discuss this in more detail after you have received your results from your recent examination to discuss your options.
Successful completion of all three assessment components will award you with the Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA®) qualification.
Ultimately this means that delegates who wish to give investment advice will have a choice to simply go straight for DipFA® or undertake CeFA® first and then DipFA®. I believe that to exclude CeFA® from the progressive study arena will have serious detriment to the DipFA® outcomes and we at New Leaf will be making it mandatory for our advisors to have CeFA® prior to taking DipFA®.
DipFA® Study Planner - October 2009
| Registration Window | 6 July 2009 – 11 September 2009 | |
| IFS DipFA® Course start date | 5 October 2009 | |
| Generic Study Guide available online (this will cover Financial Planning Principles & AFA) |
5 October 2009 | |
| UNIT 1 (3 months) – Objective Test (Financial Planning Principles) | ||
| Study Guide & Materials available for FPP | 5 October 2009 | |
| Study time for Objective Test | 5 October 2009 – 4 December 2009 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Option 1 | 16 – 20 November 2009 | |
| Option 2 | 7 – 11 December 2009 | |
| Objective Test (window of 3 weeks at Pearsons) | 7 December 2009 – 23 December 2009 | |
| UNIT 2 (Coursework element) (4 months) – Coursework Assignment (AFA) | ||
| Study Guide available online for AFA | 5 January 2010 | |
| Coursework Assignment available online | 5 January 2010 | |
| Writing of Coursework Assignment | 5 January 2010 – 30 April 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Option 1 | 29 March – 2 April 2010 | |
| Option 2 | 12 April – 16 April 2010 | |
| Coursework Submission Deadline | 30 April 2010 | |
| Examiner marking | 10 May 2010 – 4 June 2010 | |
| Coursework results | 18 June 2010 | |
| UNIT 2 (Examination element) (2 months) – Examination (AFA) | ||
| Study for exam | 3 May 2010 – 9 July 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Option 1 | 14 – 18 June 2010 | |
| Option 2 | 28 June – 2 July 2010 | |
| Exam Date | 12 July 2010 – To be confirmed | |
| (Exam to be held on Level 4/5/6 exam sittings) | ||
| Examiner marking | 19 July 2010 – 27 August 2010 | |
| Exam results | 10 September 2010 | |
DipFA® Study Planner – January 2010
| Registration Window | 5 October 2009 – 4 December 2009 | |
| IFS DipFA® Course start date | 5 January 2010 | |
| Generic Study Guide available online (this will cover Financial Planning Principles & AFA) |
5 January 2010 | |
| UNIT 1 (3 months) – Objective Test (Financial Planning Principles) | ||
| Study Guide & Materials available for FPP | 5 January 2010 | |
| Study time for Objective Test | 5 January 2010 – 12 March 2010 | |
| Objective Test (window of 3 weeks at Pearsons) | 15 March 2010 – 2 April 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Training week (Max 12 delegates) | 8 – 12 February 2010 | |
| UNIT 2 (Coursework element) (4 months) – Coursework Assignment (AFA) | ||
| Study Guide available online for AFA | 6 April 2010 | |
| Coursework Assignment available online | 6 April 2010 | |
| Writing of Coursework Assignment | 6 April 2010 – 30 July 2010 | |
| Coursework Submission Deadline | 30 July 2010 | |
| Examiner marking | 9 August 2010 – 3 September 2010 | |
| Coursework results | 17 September 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Training week (Max 12 delegates) | 7 – 11 June 2010 | |
| UNIT 2 (Examination element) (2 months) – Examination (AFA) | ||
| Study for exam | 2 August 2010 – 6 October 2010 | |
| Exam Date | 7 October 2010 | |
| Examiner marking | Not Known | |
| Exam results | 3 December 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Training week (Max 12 delegates) | 30 August – 3 September 2010 | |
DipFA® Study Planner - April 2010
| Registration Window | 5 January 2010 - 12 March 2010 | |
| IFS DipFA® Course start date | 6 April 2010 | |
| Generic Study Guide available online (this will cover Financial Planning Principles & AFA) |
6 April 2010 | |
| UNIT 1 (3 months) - Objective Test (Financial Planning Principles) | ||
| Study Guide & Materials available for FPP | 6 April 2010 | |
| Study time for Objective Test | 6 April 2010 - 11 June 2010 | |
| Objective Test (window of 3 weeks at Pearsons) | 14 June 2010 - 2 July 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Training week (Max 12 delegates) | 24th - 28th May 2010 | |
| UNIT 2 (Coursework element) (4 months) - Coursework Assignment (AFA) | ||
| Study Guide available online for AFA | 5 July 2010 | |
| Coursework Assignment available online | 5 July 2010 | |
| Writing of Coursework Assignment | 5 July 2010 - 29 October 2010 | |
| Coursework Submission Deadline | 29 October 2010 | |
| Examiner marking | 8 November 2010 - 3 December 2010 | |
| Coursework results | 17 December 2010 | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Training week (Max 12 delegates) | 11 - 15 October 2010 | |
| UNIT 2 (Examination element) (2 months) - Examination (AFA) | ||
| Study for exam | 1 November 2010 - 14 January 2011 | |
| Exam Date | January 2011 (TBC) | |
| Examiner marking | TBC | |
| Exam results | TBC | |
| New Leaf training week (5 days back to back) | ||
| Training week (Max 12 delegates) | 6 - 10 December 2010 | |
Should any of you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Suffice it to say we will all need to diarise and book our training around option 1 and 2 and we only have 16 delegate places (8 per option) therefore you need to get in fast.
Bookings to Sarah please – sarah.mitchell@nlgfs.com