Free CISI Financial Planning & Advice mock exam
Sit the whole Financial Planning & Advice paper: 80 questions weighted as the real exam is, pensions and protection included, under a 120-minute clock. Free, no sign-up, with a weighted score and an explanation for every answer.
What is on the CISI Financial Planning & Advice mock exam?
One full Financial Planning & Advice practice paper: 80 questions in 120 minutes, weighted across the five syllabus elements exactly as the real paper is. Score 56 out of 80 to meet the 70% practice threshold, then review every answer one at a time.
- Questions
- 80 original practice questions
- Time
- 120 minutes
- Practice threshold
- 70%, which is 56 of 80
- Access
- Free, with no account or card
How the paper is weighted
Financial Planning & Advice is a Level 4 technical unit of the Investment Advice Diploma, taken with the two compulsory core units. Its weighting is the most concentrated of any paper we cover.
| Element | Questions |
|---|---|
| 1. Financial Planning | 17 |
| 2. Financial Protection | 19 |
| 3. Retirement Planning | 24 |
| 4. Retirement Solutions | 12 |
| 5. Financial Planning Recommendations | 8 |
| Total | 80 |
Retirement Planning and Retirement Solutions are 36 of the 80 marks between them, and Financial Protection adds another nineteen. Pensions and protection therefore decide 55 of the 80. Financial Planning Recommendations, the element that reads like the point of the qualification, is eight marks.
For the cleanest rehearsal, set aside the full 120 minutes, avoid notes and answer every question. There is no negative marking on the real paper, so a guess is always better than a blank. The mock hides feedback until submission and warns you before handing in a paper with blanks.
Full practice paper
80 questions. 120 minutes. No sign-up.
Sit the paper in one go if you can. Answers and explanations stay hidden until you submit, so the score is a more useful rehearsal than an instant-feedback quiz.
The timer starts when you press the button. Reloading or leaving the page ends this sitting.
Sample Financial Planning & Advice questions, with answers
8 questions at the standard of the paper above, weighted towards the elements that carry the most marks. Pick an answer to see whether you were right and why. None of these appear in the timed mock, so working through them first costs you nothing when you sit it.
A letter of authority sent to a product provider is typically valid for how long?
Not quite. The answer is A.
A letter of authority is often valid for 12 months and allows the adviser to obtain policy details. The three-year, five-year and indefinite periods relate to record retention, not the validity of a letter of authority.
Where the two-adviser model is used for a defined benefit transfer, the transfer specialist and the investment adviser must:
Not quite. The answer is C.
The two firms must co-operate so that the facts gathered support the transfer decision and the receiving scheme's investment advice, because neither judgement is safe on partial information. Co-operating only once the transfer has completed comes far too late, since the information is needed before any advice is given. Attitude to transfer risk and attitude to investment risk are separate judgements and both must be established, so leaving either one unassessed makes the advice unsafe.
In shareholder protection, a cross option (double option) agreement is used rather than a binding buy-and-sell agreement mainly to:
Not quite. The answer is A.
Keeping the arrangement as an option, rather than a binding sale, preserves IHT business relief on the company shares. A business trust is still required to hold the policies. The agreement deals only with the deceased's holding, so the survivors are never obliged to sell their own, and it does not take the place of the owners' wills.
Income protection insurance is best described as a policy designed to:
Not quite. The answer is B.
Income protection is a long-term policy paying a regular income if the policyholder cannot work through illness or incapacity. A tax-free lump sum on diagnosis describes critical illness cover, a fixed sum for each night in hospital describes a hospital cash plan, and a fixed sum payable on death describes life assurance.
A member retires from a 1/60th defined benefit scheme after 30 years' service with a pensionable salary of £48,000. What is the annual pension?
Not quite. The answer is A.
The pension is 30/60 x £48,000 = £24,000. The £18,000 figure wrongly applies a 1/80th accrual rate, while £20,000 and £16,000 use too few years of service.
Compared with a level annuity, roughly how much lower can the starting income of an index-linked annuity be?
Not quite. The answer is A.
Because it must fund future increases, an index-linked annuity can start more than 30% below a level annuity. A 5% reduction understates the gap, and an index-linked annuity does not start higher than, or the same as, a level annuity.
A client plans to fund retirement by selling their owner-managed business. What is the principal risk?
Not quite. The answer is B.
A private trading business is illiquid and concentrated, so the client may find no buyer at the moment retirement is planned, or may achieve far less than the plan assumed. Business asset disposal relief reduces the rate on qualifying gains within a lifetime limit rather than removing the charge, so the proceeds are not automatically free of capital gains tax. A sale produces capital, not an index-linked income, and no age bar applies.
Which of the following is a minimum element of a set of initial recommendations?
Not quite. The answer is B.
As a minimum, initial recommendations outline the specific objectives, briefly outline the products or strategies recommended, and give the reasons they may be suitable. The client's attitude to risk belongs to the fact-find and to the financial plan itself rather than to that minimum list. An underwriting decision only follows once an application has been submitted, and a full illustration of a provider's charges comes later, with the detailed recommendations.
Where the marks go on this paper
This is a pensions paper wearing a financial planning title. Retirement Planning alone is 24 marks: state pension entitlement, defined benefit against defined contribution, annual and lifetime allowances, carry forward, and the tax treatment of contributions and benefits. Candidates who revise the syllabus in printed order arrive at the largest element with the least energy left.
Retirement Solutions adds twelve more marks on decumulation. Annuity shapes, flexi-access drawdown, uncrystallised funds pension lump sums and the death benefit rules are precise, changeable and easy to half-remember. This is the material most worth drilling rather than reading.
Financial Protection is nineteen marks and quietly technical. Term, whole of life, critical illness and income protection each have their own definitions, exclusions and tax treatment, and the exam will ask which product fits a described client rather than what a product is.
The eight-mark recommendations element is where the paper tests judgement: matching a solution to a client circumstance and justifying it. It is small, but it is also the element you cannot revise by memorising a list.
How to use your result
Treat 70% as a practice threshold, not a readiness promise. A stronger signal is a run of timed scores above the threshold with no element repeatedly falling behind. Score the two retirement elements together. If those 36 marks are under 70%, the paper is not passable yet whatever the rest of the breakdown says, because nothing else on it is big enough to compensate.
Use the answer review to understand each miss, then revisit the relevant part of the Financial Planning & Advice exam guide. To drill a single topic rather than sit a whole paper, start with the free Financial Planning & Advice practice questions.
Looking for official material? Financial Planning & Advice past papers: what actually exists explains what CISI actually publishes and how to combine it with question practice. For more full papers, see the paid plans, from £59.
Independent practice material: PasskeyPrep is not affiliated with, endorsed by or accredited by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. These questions were written independently against the syllabus. They are not copied from a live CISI exam or official past paper.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Financial Planning & Advice mock exam really free?
Yes. All 80 questions are free, with no account, email address or card. Submit and you get a weighted score, a five-element breakdown and an explanation for every answer.
Does this mock match the real FPA exam format?
It uses 80 questions, a 120-minute timer, a 70% practice threshold and the published weightings across the five syllabus elements. The questions are original PasskeyPrep practice material, not the CISI examination platform or official exam questions.
How much of the paper is pensions?
Retirement Planning and Retirement Solutions are 36 of the 80 marks, so 45% of the paper is retirement material before you count the pension content that appears inside other elements.
Which units make up the Investment Advice Diploma?
Two compulsory core units, UK Regulation & Professional Integrity and Investment, Risk & Taxation, plus one Level 4 technical unit. Financial Planning & Advice is one of the technical options.
Turn the element breakdown into a study plan.
Unlock the full Financial Planning & Advice question bank, more timed mocks, study notes, flashcards and weak-spot tracking as part of a paid pass: £59 for this paper, or £89 for all fourteen.