Are you getting stressed about having to attain the National Certificate in Financial Services (Financial Advice) (Level 5)? Are you or anyone you know:
- Finding excuses as to why you cannot enroll right now.
- Thinking of doing distance learning rather than classroom learning to avoid the potential embarrassment of getting something wrong in front of your peers.
- Annoyed with the regulator or Code Committee that you have to be assessed when you have been giving advice for donkeys years.
- Feeling cheated as you have done heaps of courses over the years and surely they should count.
- Convincing yourself it is too expensive to do the training.
- Telling everyone there is no hurry. You will wait until everything is 100% clear and then you will start.
- Thinking this is all too hard and it’s time to leave the industry?
All of the above is perfectly understandable and is a natural human reaction to having to deal with something we regard as scary or unpalatable. Let’s face it, we don’t like doing exams and the older we are and the longer it is since we last sat in an exam room, then the more we fear it.
You cannot fail!
The really good news is you cannot fail! In the new educator speak, you either attain a status of ‘achieved’ or one of ‘not yet achieved’. It’s just like your kids doing NCEA. They don’t fail either, even though their maths, spelling and grammar may be appalling. If someone reads the manual, attends the courses, understands the questions, follows the assessment instructions and sends in everything that is asked for, then in theory, they will eventually pass.
This is how the assessment process works at Strategi Institute:
- We go to inordinate lengths to ensure you understand what the assessment is all about.
- We attempt to draft the assessment questions in a way that they are not ambiguous and where possible, we will give examples of what we are looking for the candidate to supply.
- If you are still not sure on a question, you can speak to the course facilitator or your assigned mentor. These people are skilled in the assessment process, they understand the questions and they are experienced mentors.
- When you submit your assessment, the assessor will mark it online and write their comments on the assessment form and an attached assessor comment sheet.
- You will be emailed to say your assessment has been marked and asking you to go online and view it.
- If you have not achieved a particular assessment, then there will be specific comments advising you of what is not correct and providing you with guidance on how to rectify the situation.
- You then have two more attempts to complete the assessment. Basically, you would need to be a real klux to fail after three attempts.
By now you may be asking “what’s the point?” Are these guys cheating the system? Once again, the good news is NO. The NZQA system is not about setting someone up to fail. It is about assessing your knowledge and competence and creating an environment where the candidate is sufficiently relaxed to be able to achieve the standards.
Strategi Institute sets high standards for both itself and its candidates. We are determined to ensure candidates complete a course knowing more than when they commenced. We want to ensure that the candidate not only learns something, but that they also can prove they know it and can replicate it back in the work place.
Consequently, we strive to make the assessments as close to the working environment as possible. Where we are different is our emphasis on explaining in detail what is required with each assessment.
What sort of assessments will I have to do?
There are different assessments for different Standard Sets. Obviously, the assessments are easier to complete if you have attended a course, as the answers for the assessments are usually covered during the course.
Strategi Institute has a philosophical aversion to the use of multi choice questions, especially ones where it is hard to even understand what the question is actually asking. In the majority of instances, Strategi Institute does not believe that memory retention and time bound examinations are appropriate for adult learning at Level 5 within the financial services industry.
Strategi Institute acknowledges that for Standard Set B, the only practical way to handle the anticipated numbers is to have a simple online multi-choice examination.
In Standard Sets A, D and E, Strategi Institute has either two or three assessments for each Standard Set. The first assessment(s) are open book, non-memory retention and involves reading the question, then writing down the answer. All the answers are contained in the appropriate manual and if a course is attended, then it is likely that the assessment question has already been discussed in some shape or form by the group and the answer is available within the room.
Each course facilitator attempts to have the majority of the assessments completed during the course. The last assessment is a practical one that involves the preparation of a small portfolio of evidence or utilisation of case study material to produce the portfolio. The portfolio of evidence is designed to meet the requirements of the relevant Standard Set, but also contribute towards making it easier to compile the three ultimate portfolios of evidence that are required for Standard Set C.
When it comes to Standard Set C, the assessment is predominantly around the production of three client files. ETITO has set the assessment and has produced the candidate assessment pack. The Strategi Institute course is all about educating the candidate on what is required to meet the unit standards plus rehearse and develop your three portfolios of evidence.
By the time a candidate completes the three day Strategi Institute Standard Set C course, they will know exactly what they need to do for the assessment, they will have practiced the compilation of client files containing all the necessary evidence, plus will be proficient to return to the work force knowing what they have to implement in order to operate under the Code of Professional Conduct. The Standard Set C course is the one that will give the candidate the greatest understanding of the Best Practices required in the new regulatory environment.
Standard Set B is short and sharp. It is likely to be a one hour examination utilising multi-choice questions relating to the Financial Adviser Act, the Financial Service Providers Act and the Code of Professional Conduct. This exam will be conducted utilising locked down computers, it will be closed book and there will be a time requirement.
Strategi Institute will be developing a detailed aide memoire and a half day training course to assist candidates to prepare for this examination.
Think positively
- Regard Level 5 as a refresher no matter how many years you have been in the industry and what qualification you may hold.
- Everyone will learn something. It is a matter of knowing how to operate in the new regulated world, not testing you to see what you know from the old world we are just transitioning from.
- If you spend the time, read the manual, attend the courses and understand the assessment questions, then you will not fail.
Throw away the stress and fear. We are all learning. This is not a situation where there is some old dog teaching us new dogs tricks. We are effectively all new dogs in a new playground and if we want to continue to operate, we need to learn the new rules and show we are competent in performing to the standards prescribed.
Reduce the stress levels by starting the education journey now rather than later in the year.
David Greenslade
BA, MBA, Dip Mgt, Dip Bus Studies(PFP), AFNZIM
Managing Director
Strategi Limited
