Cefa – Information on the qualification
If you are looking into becoming a financial advisor with investment, retirement planning or protection options than you will need to be certified with a Cefa. The Cefa is the certificate for financial advisors and provides a piece of mind to those people who are looking for advice. It means you have gone through the Cefa training program and have tested as being knowledgeable in the following areas UK Financial Regulation, Investments and Risks, Retirement planning and protection, and Assessment of Investment advice knowledge.
Cefa is acknowledged by the Financial Services Skills council and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. It is incorporated into the Framework for National Qualifications at the 3rd level.
There are no entry requirements for the Cefa and qualification level for this exam is a 3. The study times for the Cefa certification is about 40-60 hours per module depending on your study methods since there are four modules you are looking at a total study time with this certification of 160- 240 hours.
During your initial registration for the certification, you will receive the learning manual necessary for completing this registration. There are also support materials to help you with your studies. They come in the following forms
CD Competence Development Tool or CDT
Revision notes
Specimen Examination papers
Study materials for Cefa are updated every year and are available in July. If you are taking your test after September first make sure that you have the updated materials since the updates appear on the exams after September first of the year they are released.
The exams themselves consist of 3 exams. The first is a 2 hour, 100 question multiple-choice test on Module one. Modules 2 and 3 consist of 40 multiple-choice questions and 2 case studies of 5 questions each. The 4th module is a multiple-choice exam containing 6 case studies with 10 questions each and lasting a total of 2 hours. In order to pass these exams you must make at least a 70% on each unit within the module. The tests are electronic so results are shown immediately.
The cost is £130.00 per module for a total of around £620.00 to take all the exams for the Cefa. It includes registration to Cefa exam and the Cefa learning manual along with the initial exam entry fee.
Registration for the Cefa exams can be done online, by post, by fax or by phone. Online registration includes payment options available through the site directly at the time of registration. Please mail in payment for the Cefa exams at the time of registration if by post or call in payment information if you are doing your registration by either fax or phone.
The Cefa certification is a professionally recognized certification that brings with it a level of professionalism and trust. By taking the time to earn this Cefa certification you can easily let your clients know that you are serious about your profession and about giving the best advice possible to your customers.
