If you are thinking about sitting an AF exam in April, time to decide from the CII exams 2015.
I’ve just booked the CII AF4 exam for April 2015.

I like to sit the AF3 and/or AF4 exam at least once a year
This year it’s going to be AF4 in April and AF3 exam in October, from CII exams 2015.

I sit the exams for two reasons: CPD hours @level6 and to remind myself again what it’s like to sit these tricky exams. As someone who teaches them, I like to regularly test my study materials and really live the exam experience. It’s good to feel the exam tension first hand.

It’s good to test the study materials first hand; are those formulae and processes really easy to remember? Any new exam tips worth noting and sharing? Are those exam predictions on course? Are the top study modules still the top questions?

Of course, those who know me, I always carry my bananas and strong Starbucks into the exam room. The legal use of coffee and bananas is a tip that AWAYS works!
You might get an odd look from the man in the cardigan, but ALWAYS, ALWAYS make sure you have your full share of banana and coffee before the CII man says turn over….

Once he says turn over, I stop and look. And think.

I love teaching. I love slow thinking. I’m blessed with an ability to make complex things simple and I love doing it.

I teach everyday. I teach slow thinking everyday.

I am in the learning business. I offer the only truly and fully blended learning package for people who want to think (slowly) and learn how to solve problems in the CII AF exams. I make learning this complex stuff a little easier and a little quicker.

I offer amongst the best teaching study notes, video tutorials workshops on the CII AF exams available in the UK.

And I use it myself when I sit the exams. I roadtest my study materials at every exam session to make sure they are making your learning easier and helping develop your slow thinking. Yes, I mean SLOW thinking. The kind of thinking required for success in the CII exams 2015.

And I start with slow thinking, before I even turn the page.
Mr CII man (in cardigan, which is almost obligitary for exam invigilators??) has said turn over the exam and 95% dive head first into the deep end; dive straight into the brown stuff; straight to Q1 (A)….

Me?
I stop and look at everybody paddling away in the deep brown stuff.
Writing like mad. Writing a whole heap of fluffy, whaffley stuff.

STOP. Start thinking SLOW.

What’s slow thinking?

It’s widely recognised that thinking comes in two parts; system 1 (fast thinking) and system 2 (slow thinking):

System 1 (fast): good for generalisations/instant decision, even when they are mostly wrong. It’s easy. The brain likes easy.
System 2 (slow): good for problem solving and making better problem solving decisions. Not liked by the brain – it takes effort.

When you are faced with a problem in an AF exam, ANY strategy which encourages system two (slow thinking) is good. That’s why we spend as much time on the question within an AF exam paper. Then we analyse the answer; slow thinking about what the question is asking is critical.

That’s why we have a fully blended structured study plan teaching using online video and face-2-face workshops; problem solving is best done solving problems.
And it’s best done together.

That’s why I send people away every week who want fast thinking options for AF exams. They don’t exist; slow thinking is a skill you can develop through good teaching and good practice. Slow thinking requires effort from you and support from me. It develops your ability to express problem solving and knowledge in terms of rules, logic, associations and relationships.

In other words, it helps you pass exams. It helps you pass CII AF exams. It can be applied to any CII exams 2015.
That’s why I’m different. I help you develop the right thinking skills through my teaching, my tutorials and my support.

I run a Glasgow group for AF3 students on a Monday night; they all have the intellect, but it’s the development of the deeper analysis and slower thinking that is now paying dividends. The deeper understanding of the fundamentals and joining up the pieces.

This morning I was doing a 1:1 session with an AF3 student, yesterday a 1:1 with an AF4 student and 99% of the time was spent working on slow thinking and joining up the knowledge and understanding to enable the application. Application is what the AF exams are all about.

We’re in the learning business. We’re in the thinking business. The slow thinking business. And that’s what makes us very different.
We love what we do and we’re hopefully going to be sharing it with you for a long time.

Don’t forget, see you at the AF4 exam in April and if you haven’t started yet – there is still time to get started with your SLOW studies AND register for the CII exams 2015 (before the CII sting you for a late entry fee).

Have a great week and good luck in all your CII exams 2015.