The Institute of Financial Services (ifs) Route

The Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA)

The complete course of study runs over 9 months and has a recommended 370 guided learning hours of study time.

The DipFA consists of 2 core units:
Unit 1 – Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics (FSRE)
Unit 2 – Advanced Financial Advice (AFA)

The DipFA has been designed to be studied in 2 ways:

1. ifs distance learning – materials are available online plus the core texts for Units 1&2 will be posted onto an individual.
   Access will be provided to a web tutor who will provide you with guidance and technical support, and help you prepare for the FSRE objective test, AFA coursework assignment and AFA examination
2. Via direct tuition through a training provider, where the basic learning materials will be provided to you online by the ifs and you will be sent copies of the core texts for Units 1&2. Your training provider will offer support to replace the support provided by the web tutor above.

Assessment is via:

• The FSRE objective test
  

  Tested electronically and available at over 150 Pearson VUE tests centres

  FSRE is assessed by a 2 hour multiple-choice examination consisting of 55 multiple choice questions and 2 case-studies of 10 questions each. You must achieve a minimum of 70% to pass this unit. You will have a 3 month period to study and sit this examination

• The AFA coursework assignment
  

  Representing 30% of the overall unit weighting.

  Takes the form of a written coursework assignment, covering a range of topics, to be submitted approximately 16 weeks after the start of study. The course work will comprise of a written piece of work with a bibliography (with a word count of no more than 4000 words), and three short answer questions. (The pass mark for this assessment is 50%) The time allowed for this and the next part of the assessment is 6 months

• The AFA examination
  

  Representing 70% of the overall unit weighting.

  Takes the form of a written 3 hour examination combining knowledge, understanding and application of AFA. The assessment will be taken at an examination centre at the end of the period of study, intended to be within a period of 36 weeks, and will involve the production of a report, based on a client fact find received 6 weeks prior to the examination date. (The pass mark for this assessment is 50%). Please note you are not allowed to take the pre-provided fact find into the examination with you in case you have notes written on it. A new fact find will be provided along with an additional information sheet containing more information and changes to the original fact find. (This makes the examination more realistic and life like, but it should be noted that the information will not change drastically, but may change some of your initial thoughts on the suitability letter)
  
  Both the coursework assignment and final examination will focus primarily on the learning outcomes associated with the cognitive skills of knowledge, analysis and application and how these are communicated

An individual will be required to pass all 3 assessment elements.