Free CII R01–R05 Knowledge Check: 10 Exam-Style Questions

Table of Contents

• • Take the knowledge check
• • What the ten questions test
• • Review calculations by rebuilding the method
• - Exact real return
• - Protection shortfall
• • Review rule questions by finding the boundary
• - FCA versus PRA
• - Bond price versus yield
• - Pension allowance conditions
• • Turn the score into a next action
• • Use a 48-hour repair loop
• • Check the official basis for your sitting

Quick answer: take the ten-question check without notes. Then review every explanation, including correct answers reached by guessing. The result is a map of what to revise next—not a pass prediction.

These are original CII Academy practice questions, not official CII questions. They use concepts found across the published R01–R05 unit scope, but they do not reproduce CII examination content and cannot predict a live paper.

Take the knowledge check

Allow about 12 minutes. Use a calculator only where a question requires arithmetic. Do not open notes or search for a rule while answering; the aim is to test retrieval.

After submitting, record three things:

1. the unit for every incorrect answer;
2. whether the cause was knowledge, calculation, reading or guessing; and
3. the exact action you will complete next.

“Revise R03” is too broad. “Practise three gains questions that allocate the unused basic-rate band” is usable.

What the ten questions test

The check uses two targeted questions per unit.

Unit	Question focus	Skill being tested
R01	Response to a conflict of interest	Apply a regulatory and ethical principle to a practical fact
R01	FCA and PRA roles	Distinguish conduct from prudential responsibility
R02	Exact real return	Use the correct relationship between nominal return and inflation
R02	Bond price and yield	Identify the direction of change without confusing yield with coupon
R03	Personal Allowance taper	Recognise the relevant adjusted-net-income trigger for the stated tax year
R03	Taxable gains and the basic-rate band	Allocate the gain in the correct order before applying rates
R04	Tapered annual allowance	Check both threshold-income and adjusted-income conditions
R04	MPAA and carry forward	Distinguish the money-purchase limit from the standard annual-allowance rules
R05	Protection shortfall	Calculate the uncovered capital need from the facts supplied
R05	Income protection or critical illness	Match the benefit shape to the stated client need

This is deliberately a narrow diagnostic. It does not cover every learning outcome, exception or question format in any unit.

Review calculations by rebuilding the method

A correct final number is not enough if the process is fragile.

Exact real return

The exact method is:

real return = ((1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation)) − 1

Write both rates as decimals, complete the division, subtract one, then convert the result to a percentage. The shortcut “nominal return minus inflation” can be a useful estimate, but it is not the exact calculation.

After reviewing the R02 question, change both inputs and calculate again. If you can only reproduce the original number, you remembered an answer rather than learned the method.

Protection shortfall

Use a transparent line:

required capital − available assets − existing suitable cover = shortfall

Check whether the question treats an asset as available for the need and whether existing cover matches the timing and purpose. Arithmetic can be correct while the planning classification is wrong.

Our R05 financial-protection study plan shows how to connect need, amount, policy feature and limitation after the calculation.

Review rule questions by finding the boundary

Most plausible distractors contain a nearby truth. Review the distinction, not just the correct letter.

FCA versus PRA

Write one line for each body covering its objective, scope and the type of problem it addresses. Then ask which fact in the question points to conduct and which points to prudential soundness. Do not reduce the answer to “both are regulators”.

Bond price versus yield

Separate three concepts:

• the bond’s fixed coupon payment;
• the market price an investor pays; and
• the income yield produced by that payment at the market price.

If market price changes while the coupon payment remains fixed, the yield moves in the opposite direction. A strong explanation states what remained fixed and what changed.

Pension allowance conditions

For tapered annual allowance questions, make two test boxes rather than searching for one threshold. For MPAA questions, first identify whether the stated action is a trigger; then separate later money-purchase input from other allowance analysis. Use the tax-year figures supplied or examinable for the sitting.

The official CII examination papers and test specifications page should be your starting point for available specimen material and unit-specific assessment guidance.

Turn the score into a next action

Use this simple CII Academy diagnostic—not an official pass scale:

Score	What it suggests	Next action
0–4	Several core distinctions are not yet reliable	Rebuild one unit framework at a time, then retake with new questions
5–7	Knowledge is present but uneven	Repair the missed topics and complete a timed, unit-specific set
8–9	Strong result on this narrow sample	Review every uncertainty and test broader syllabus coverage
10	All ten answers correct	Explain each answer without options, then move to a full timed paper

Count a guessed answer as uncertain even when the tool marks it correct. Recognition from four options is easier than explaining the rule or completing a fresh calculation.

Use a 48-hour repair loop

For every weak topic:

1. Immediately: read the explanation and write the governing rule in one sentence.
2. Within 15 minutes: complete a new example with different facts or numbers.
3. Next day: recall the method without notes.
4. Within 48 hours: answer another question under time pressure.
5. After one week: mix it with questions from other learning outcomes.

This loop prevents the familiar but ineffective pattern of reading an explanation, feeling that it makes sense and never testing the point again.

Check the official basis for your sitting

Each CII unit page publishes current assessment and syllabus information:

• R01 Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics
• R02 Investment Principles and Risk
• R03 Personal Taxation
• R04 Pensions and Retirement Planning
• R05 Financial Protection

Check the applicable exam year, syllabus, exam guide and published updates. Tax, pension, compensation and regulatory figures can change. A knowledge check dated for one period should never override the official testing position for another.

Finally, use our CII exam formats guide to move from a short diagnostic into assessment-specific practice. Ten questions can reveal a gap; only broad, current and timed practice can show whether the repair holds.