Preparing for the R06 exam can feel like stepping into the unknown, especially if it's your first written case‑study exam in the CII journey. The irony? The CII is actually incredibly predictable—once you know what to look for.
After analysing multiple years of past papers, examiner reports, and model answers, we've pulled together the clearest picture yet of what R06 really tests, the common traps that cause candidates to hemorrhage marks, and the types of questions that show up again and again.
Welcome to the Insights section—your unfair advantage for passing R06.
1. The Types of Questions the CII Loves to Ask
Across nearly all exam guides, the following question formats appeared consistently:
① "Additional information required" questions
These almost always sit at the start of a case study. They test whether you can gather the right fact‑find details — not just generic ones, but those tied to the client's situation.
Typical angles:
- Income and expenditure
- Existing plan details (charges, fund split, performance, contribution levels)
- Tax positions
- Risk profile & capacity for loss
- State Benefits position (commonly missed)
Examiners repeatedly note that weaker candidates give generic lists, not client-specific ones.
② "Explain" questions (especially tax treatment and product rules)
These are high‑mark questions and super predictable across all papers.
Frequent topics:
- Tax treatment of OEICs, direct equities, ISAs
- Pension contributions and allowances
- MPAA triggers (frequently misunderstood)
- Inherited pensions and death benefits
- Corporate bond funds vs equity funds
- State Benefits eligibility (Statutory Sick Pay, Bereavement Support Payment)
These questions bleed marks if you don't reference:
- Actual tax rates
- Allowances
- Why something is taxable or not
Model answers always include these specifics.
③ "Recommend and justify" questions
These are the lifeblood of R06.
They appear in almost every paper for:
- Tax‑efficiency improvements
- Protection recommendations
- Investment restructuring
- Retirement income strategies
- IHT mitigation
You must explain both the recommendation and why it helps THIS specific client. Not generic financial planning theory.
Examiners hammer this point every year.
④ "Benefits and drawbacks" questions
Regularly tested for:
- ISAs vs mortgage overpayments
- Retaining existing shares vs selling
- Investing a bonus into a pension
- Joint‑life vs single‑life cover
- Ethical/ESG funds suitability
These are often "list-based", which means quick wins if you stay concise.
⑤ The standard "Annual review – list 8 issues" question
This appears every single year in almost identical form.
Examiners expect references to:
- Changes in income, expenditure, objectives
- ATR / capacity for loss
- Performance & rebalancing
- Tax allowance utilisation
- Product charges
- Legislative or economic changes
- Protection needs
You can literally memorise this one.
2. The Style of Answers That Score Highly
The CII examiner reports all say the same thing:
✔ Bullet points outperform essays
The model answers overwhelmingly use:
- Short bullet points
- One idea per line
- No long explanations
✔ Client‑specific beats generic every time
Weaker candidates often lose marks because they write "textbook" answers that ignore the case study details.
Examiners repeatedly highlight this as a problem.
✔ Reference the technicals
You score more when you explicitly include:
- Tax rates
- Allowances
- Thresholds
- Eligibility criteria
- Product features
For example:
Weak: "He should stop drawing from his pension because it may reduce tax."
Strong: "He should stop drawing from his SIPP because his earned income will exceed the Personal Allowance, meaning SIPP withdrawals would be taxed at 20% unnecessarily, and pausing withdrawals preserves the IHT‑efficient wrapper."
The second one is what the model answers look like.
3. Where Candidates Typically Fall Short (Examiner Comments)
Analysing multiple examiner comment sections across the guides reveals very consistent patterns.
❌ 1. Weak knowledge of State Benefits
This is one of the highest recurring weaknesses.
Examiners say candidates often lack detail on:
- Statutory Sick Pay eligibility
- Bereavement Support Payment
- ESA
- State Pension forecasting
❌ 2. Generic answers not linked to the client
Nearly every year's report mentions this. Mark‑losing phrases include:
- "Clients should diversify."
- "Clients may need protection."
What they want is:
"Ken's SIPP is 100% equities and has fallen in value — diversification would reduce sequencing risk given he is drawing income."
❌ 3. Weakness in protection products
Examiners frequently say candidates:
- Confuse CI vs IP
- Recommend the wrong product (e.g., IP instead of life cover)
- Fail to justify why a product is suitable
❌ 4. Poor understanding of CGT and dividend tax
Candidates often:
- Forget the CGT exemption amount
- Forget to mention base cost
- Confuse interest vs dividend tax
- Don't mention interspousal transfer allowances
❌ 5. Missing pension rules & MPAA issues
Particularly common errors:
- Not recognising when MPAA applies
- Misunderstanding auto‑enrolment rules for older workers
- Failing to mention tax‑relief mechanics
❌ 6. Missing fund performance benchmarking
Examiners regularly note that candidates fail to mention benchmarking when evaluating "poor performance" in SIPP or ISA funds.
4. Questions That Come Up Repeatedly
Based on past papers analysis:
Highly likely:
- Additional info needed
- Tax‑efficiency recommendations
- Asset allocation / diversification
- Protection review
- Pension funding benefits
- Annual review issues
- Reasons to switch / keep certain investments
- Risk and capacity for loss
- State Benefits (especially SSP)
- ISA vs pension comparisons
- Inheritance tax planning
Likely:
- Why a client should stop SIPP withdrawals
- Why to increase pension contributions
- Differences between CI and IP
- Pros/cons of ISAs vs mortgage overpayments
- Benefits/drawbacks of retaining individual shares
- Reviewing fund choices
- Cashflow modelling inputs
Occasional but predictable:
- Deed of variation
- Lifetime ISA suitability
- Business protection
- PMI considerations
- ESG fund considerations
The above topics are drawn from past case studies. The topics covered in your exam will follow directly from the case study and may not cover all topics mentioned above.
5. Other Useful Insights You Won't Find in the Textbooks
✔ Marks follow the number of bullet points, not long prose
A 12‑mark question usually expects 12 separate points.
✔ There are always more marks for "justification" than "recommendation"
The why matters more than the what.
✔ The case study is your answer sheet
Everything in the scenario is included for a reason. If a child is mentioned, expect:
- Protection
- Guardianship
- Wills
- IHT
If a client mentions worries about markets, expect:
- ATR
- Diversification
- Capacity for loss
✔ Annual review is the easiest 8 marks of your life
Never leave it unanswered.
✔ Examiners want to see that you understand Consumer Duty
More recent papers subtly test:
- Fair value
- Ongoing suitability
- Vulnerability
6. Final Thoughts: How to Use These Insights to Pass First Time
If you know:
- The question patterns,
- The preferred answer style, and
- The common traps,
…you can massively increase your R06 score without learning anything new technically.
If the question awards twelve marks, put down more than twelve points. There is no negative marking and examiners will mark up to the marking allocation. This is the best chance you have of scoring full marks on a question.
The exam isn't about being the smartest technician. It's about writing exactly what the examiner wants to see.
Good luck!