However, full time study is not something everyone is able to do. Most people study for their CeFA qualification whilst also holding down a full time job and not everyone can use or want to use their holidays to take a CeFA course.

This is where home study CeFA courses come in. Distance learning CeFA courses mean you can stay at home and work at your own pace. It does require some self discipline but means you can study whilst working and it is also a cheaper option.

Reputable course suppliers will update their materials regularly and allow access to materials online so you can study when and where suits you. Online materials should be in a format so you can print them out if that makes it easier.

Studying CeFA online has worked for many people, saving them money and time in the process.

CeMAP

Firstly, are you studying using the home study method or the full time training course?  Full time training courses are naturally faster, but not everyone has the time.  Home study is of course slower but you learn at your own pace.  Each home study course has an estimated number of hours but when you can fit them in is up to you and it will also depend on how quickly you read.

How quickly do you absorb information and how do you learn?  Some people learn better from visual demonstrations such as diagrams, some like to make notes and some like to periodically go back over their study material to refresh their memory.

On the full time courses, many people are able to go straight out and take the exam after the one week but most prefer to take 7 to 10 days to digest and revise first.

On our home study courses, many people get through the material and take the exam in around 6-8 weeks, but others have been known to take 10 months.  This timing depends on home circumstances and motivation.  We offer assistance for those who need to speak to someone or perhaps have some email support, which many other courses do not offer.

Another factor we have noticed is the background people have.  Sometimes those with no background at all grasp things faster as they have no preconceptions whereas some people have experience of certain areas and this helps them.

The CeMAP and CeFA exams are not a fast and easy option that you can study for and take the exam in just one week from home, but with the right application and teaching methods, you can pass the exams quickly and more importantly, understand the material for future use.

CeMAP

As a responsible training course company, we feel it would not be right to not include mock exams within the courses.  People are understandably asking because, having spoken to several of them, they have seen or heard of irresponsible training companies running and advertising courses and later delegates find they have to pay extra for the mock exams or question packs.

In every single one of our training courses, whether it is for the CeFA, CeRER or CeMAP exams, we include mock questions and these are from actual past exam papers from the ifs School of Finance, where the exams are set – and we include the answers too!  And we update them as the syllabuses change, which not every company does.

The only thing not included in the courses are the exam fees, and that’s because often, people have already paid for them before they take one look at the material supplied by the ifs and decide they need help from a professional training company like ours.

None of our courses do actually include the exam prices within the advertised price and there is a very good reason for this.

The main reason is that although a large number of our course delegates do wish to study for and take the exams, a significant number do not. We are an approved training provider for many large corporations who buy their own exams in bulk direct from the ifs School of Finance so they do not want us to do any exam registrations for them. Those who do not wish to take the exams like to take the courses because they want to learn more about the mortgage market or finance in general. The CeMAP courses are very popular with property developers, for instance, and the CeFA courses are highly popular with those just wishing to get a general knowledge on how investments work, how to make sure they understand the investment products they are looking at and many people are interested in how pensions and even tax works!

By not including the exam prices within the course, this also helps people get onto the couses earlier as it removes the higher price barrier that some training providers cause by including the fees. This way, people can take the courses, and then take a little time to revise whilst budgeting for the exams. There is also a rather small minority who take the courses or one of them, and then decide that the career may not be for them. They haven’t wasted their money on an exam when they know they won’t be taking subsequent courses or exams.

Overall, we find that by not including the exam prices it keeps more options open for people.

CeMAP training

Every course should follow the syllabus and should have been put together with the latest syllabus in mind.  In the case of CeMAP, CeRER or CeFA this is particularly important because the syllabus is updated twice a year and an out of date course means you could miss out on vital points in the exam.

At Beacon Financial Training, we update our course materials immediately following a syllabus change and make sure it is clear.  Our instructors are all ex-teachers so are used to the ways different people learn and know how to explain things clearly, using diagrams or memory aid methods to help people not just learn the syllabus parrot-fashion but to actually understand it, which is much more important.  If you understand the material, then you will take it with you for as long as you need to and this is invaluable for any potential employer.

There are no set time limits for taking the exams, you can take them straight after the course or wait for a while if you wish to.

CeMAP

More often than not, as is the case at Beacon Financial Training, the exam fees are not included and there is a reason for this. When you register for your exams, the ifs School of Training sends out a syllabus and material with the exam registration. Many students know this and many try to learn the syllabus and take the exam using it and fail. If these materials were that easy to understand and learn at home, then most training companies would not exist as there would be no reason for them. However, training companies teaching CeMAP, CeRER and CeFA courses do exist because the ifs School of Training material is difficult to understand, makes heavy reading and the ifs was not set up to handle questions and queries and teach people directly.

In addition, some employers – although this is much more rare nowadays – are prepared to pay for the exams themselves but not the training, so if training companies did include the cost of the exams then many delegates would be paying twice.

On some occasions, students do not even take the training with the idea of gaining the qualification at the end. Particularly with CeMAP training, some students just want to understand the material, perhaps to help with property development or just understanding mortgages or finance for themselves.

It is generally more cost effective to allow students to book their own exams and this is why for many delegates, they do prefer to book the exams themselves.

CeMAP training

Before you book onto any training course with any training provider you might want to ask a few questions:

-    check how often the training materials are updated.  For example, the CeMAP syllabus changes twice a year as does the CeFA syllabus, so you need to be sure you won’t get partway through the course and find the trainer reading the materials and pointing out that actually, some of the material is out of date so please make extra notes.  That won’t help your exam revision
-    ask what materials they use during their training.  Typical training materials will include a projector connected to a laptop, a whiteboard, pre-printed materials, perhaps a flipchart, amongst others
-    check how long they’ve been training.  Training companies generally only learn from experience, for example, at one CeMAP training course in Birmingham held by a particular CeMAP training company, delegates were troubled to find the projector lamp blew and the trainer had no backup plan.  A course is not easy when the main equipment is broken, but without this experience what training company would think to check there were spare projector lamps in hand!
-    ask what provisions are in place for a refund should anything happen that will cause either the company to cancel the entire course, in which case a reputable training company should offer a full refund or a place on an alternative course.  It is worth making sure that these policies are in place as you should not assume

At Beacon Financial Training, we have many years of experience with training CeFA and CeMAP students and have been offering CeRER courses for as long as they have been available.  Our courses are well organised and training materials changed with every update so we can be confident of our promises.

People will always want to own their own homes in Britain as it’s part of our culture so there will always be demand for mortgage advisors – there are just too many mortgage lenders and mortgage products to choose from and even at times like these with criteria much tighter, the mortgage market is still a minefield.

However, the range of products that a financial advisor can give advice on includes pensions, insurance, investments and much, much more.  To become a financial advisor, the first step is CeFA training.

So why take up CeFA training during the recession?

If you want to get into the financial industry then CeFA training is ideal.  It requires no prior knowledge and will show potential employers that you are keen and willing to learn.  With the right teaching and material, you could have your CeFA qualification in just a few short weeks.

If you are already a mortgage advisor and have your CeMAP qualification then you’re a quarter of the way there already because when you did CeMAP 1 you also did CeFA 1 because they are the same syllabus and exam.  You can simple expand your knowledge and your offering to your customers and open up new doors for yourself.

CeMAP

To acquire the CeMAP qualification, there are three separate units to pass: CeMAP 1, 2 and 3.  To acquire the CeFA qualification, there are four units to pass, aptly named CeFA 1, 2, 3 and 4.

CeMAP 1 and CeFA 1 are in actual fact the same exam with exactly the same study material.  This is why on our Booking page, you will see these courses listed as the same dates in the same locations.

It is quite a strange concept for people to understand because it isn’t one seen on other courses, but CeMAP 1 or CeFA 1, however you choose to call it, is the ‘general knowledge’ part of the financial industry where you learn about the role of the Bank of England, general information about how financial institutions work, and the basics of pension, tax, insurance and more.

For this reason, some people who specifically want to be mortgage advisors may find some of the material difficult.  This is not because it is hard to understand but because parts of the syllabus do not interest them as much as the mortgage side.  We all find it easier to learn when we are truly interested in the subject.

On the other hand, if you were to attend a training course for CeMAP 1 and take the exam in the name of CeMAP 1 and decide you actually want to become a financial advisor then that exam will still count towards the CeFA qualification because they are interchangeable.  Similarly, if you take the exam as CeFA 1 and decide you actually want to become a mortgage advisor, then you can take CeMAP 2 and 3 and count CeFA 1 as your CeMAP 1.

Whether or not you should study CeFA online depends on a few factors and we hope the below pointers will help people come to an informed decision:

• Motivation: a good CeFA online training program will give you access for up to a year but there is no reason why a CeFA distance learning course should take anywhere near that long.  The average home study user takes 2-3 months to complete an online course if they are motivated and have the time,  but are you motivated enough and do you have the time to set aside in order to study regularly?
• Course sample: you should be able to see a sample of the course contents before signing up, just to get an idea of what you are purchasing.  However, be wary of home courses that show fancy video and audio clips and little else.  These aids certainly make the delivery of a course more enjoyable, however, the content of the course is the key and video and audio is difficult to update
• Course updates: speaking of course updates, the CeFA syllabus, like all the other syllabuses for exams in the financial industry such as CeMAP and CeRER, is updated twice a year.  The training course provider should be pro-active in getting these updates from the ifs School of Finance and updating their home study course as well as their full time training course.  These updates should cost you no extra
• Support: even on home study courses students sometimes need a little help.  Make sure there is some sort of support from qualified CeFA trainers.  If you are studying CeFA at home, support can still be offered via email and/or telephone.

There are many other factors, so if you are unsure on anything, ask the CeFA training provider who should be happy to answer any questions you might have.