I’ve been working my way through AF8, a coursework-based module that contributes to the advanced diploma and chartered status.
It consists of three assignments, approximately 2,500 words each, due at three, six and nine months.
When I decided to do this module, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought it might be easier than the exams. Rather than an exam deadline, where you need everything crammed in your brain on that date, the thought of being able to spread the work over a number of months was appealing.
Of course, there’s still a submission deadline, but it felt less ‘all or nothing’ than the exams.
I found that one assignment informed the other, so it made sense to work on them in quick succession
In practice, however, it’s been far more challenging than anticipated!
For a start, there is very little guidance about how to structure the assignments. It may be an oversimplification but, for the exam-based modules, you have to simply learn everything that’s in
the textbook.
Easier said than done, of course, but at least you know what you’re aiming for. Not to mention the various options for exam support available from other providers in the form of textbooks, webinars, mock exams and so on.
There is little external support for this module, so I found myself relying solely on the exemplars provided by the Chartered Insurance Institute. Annoyingly, some of these are of limited use — and some are examples of outright failure, which means you can’t really use them as a starting point.
Writing the third piece of coursework even gave me ideas to go back and use to improve the second
Nonetheless, I finished the first assignment over the summer and then put the next one aside for a time. Without the looming inevitability of an exam deadline, it was easy to keep putting it off.
However, on receiving a pass for the first assignment, I felt motivated to resume the coursework and get it done as soon as possible (that, and the rapidly shortening days and dark evenings make going outside less appealing!).
It’s been a long slog but I’ve been able to submit both the second and third assignments fairly rapidly. I found that one informed the other, so it made sense to work on them in quick succession. Writing the third piece of coursework even gave me ideas to go back and use to improve the second, so I would definitely recommend others do the same.
There’s still a submission deadline, but it felt less ‘all or nothing’ than the exams
Having submitted both assignments, all I can do now is wait and cross my fingers. The main thing I keep telling myself is, even if either of the assignments is marked as a fail, I still have the option to try again and resubmit, without having to redo everything.
In the meantime, I’ve ordered another textbook (this time for AF7, the pension transfers unit) and booked the exam in March. The long road to chartered status continues.
Ryan Sharpe is a junior paraplanner at Almond Financial
This article featured in the December 2024/January 2025 edition of Money Marketing.
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