CII R04 Exam 2026/27: Format, Pass Mark, Syllabus and Tax Tables

The CII R04 Pensions and retirement planning exam is 50 multiple-choice questions in one hour: 39 standard format and 11 multiple response. R04 is in the CII’s words “a core unit for the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning which meets the FCA’s qualification requirements for retail investment advisers.” The syllabus now in force is examined from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, on English law and practice in the 2026/27 tax year. This page sets out the two question formats, how many questions the syllabus gives each of its eight learning outcomes as a guide, the pass mark and how the CII adjusts marks, the tax tables you are given, the pension rules that changed recently, and the official practice material. ProSyllabus is an independent study site. It is not affiliated with the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), and nothing here is official. Every format fact and figure below is quoted or summarised from the CII’s own pages and documents, read on 25 October 2026.

CII R04 unit page, syllabus and examination guide for exams from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, read 25 October 2026.

The examination guide describes both. A standard format question “consists of a problem followed by four options, labelled A, B, C and D, from which the candidate is asked to choose the correct response. Each question will contain only one correct or best response to the problem posed.” One mark is awarded for each correct response, and “No marks are deducted for candidates choosing an incorrect response.”

A multiple response question “consists of a problem, followed by between four to six options. For each question more than one option is correct. Candidates must select all the correct options to gain the mark.” Miss one of the correct options and the question does not gain the mark. The syllabus’s guide puts all 11 of these in three learning outcomes: 2 in outcome 5 (defined contribution schemes), 4 in outcome 6 (drawing pension benefits) and all 5 of outcome 8 (the aims and objectives of retirement planning).

The syllabus gives a number of questions for each learning outcome. It calls this a guide: the specification “has an in-built element of flexibility”, is “not a statement of actual number of questions that will appear in every exam”, and the number testing each outcome “will generally be within the range plus or minus 2 of the number indicated.” Outcome 2, the HMRC tax regime, carries the most questions: 10 standard questions on contributions and tax relief, the annual allowance and its taper, the lump sum allowances and death benefits. The examination guide adds that R04 examinations “test the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority rules and regulations”.

The skill word at the start of each outcome tells you the kind of question to expect. The examination guide explains that an “understand” outcome can test knowledge or understanding; “analysis” questions typically “will relate to a given set of circumstances or provide data which requires analysis so a conclusion can be drawn”; “evaluation” questions typically ask for “the selection of the correct or best evaluation”; and an “explain” outcome may include “a calculation to evidence an explanation”. Outcomes 5 and 6 are analysis, outcome 7 is explain and outcome 8 is evaluate.

The CII’s R04 unit page states: “The standard pass mark is 65%”, and “The 2025 pass rate for this unit was 70.15%”. On 50 questions, 65% is 32.5 marks, so 33 correct answers is the first whole score at or above it (our arithmetic). The standard is not a fixed raw mark on every paper. The CII’s guide “Understanding your exam result” explains that, “where necessary”, it will “automatically adjust the marks that every candidate receives on that exam version to compensate them for the degree of difficulty encountered”, and that it “will always report to you the moderated number of marks/adjusted marks relative to the standard pass mark”. The examination guide adds that “A pre-defined quota of passes to be awarded does not exist.”

The examination guide says your feedback shows the result and, for each syllabus learning outcome, the percentage of questions you answered correctly.

The 2026/27 R04 syllabus says candidates “will be examined on the basis of English law and practice in the tax year 2026/2027 unless otherwise stated”, and that “It should be assumed that all individuals have long-term UK residence status unless otherwise stated.” The examination guide states the general rule: “the new tax year and changes arising from the Finance Act will be examined from 1 September each year. Other changes, not related to the Finance Act, will not be examined earlier than 3 months after they come into effect.”

So an exam sat between 1 September 2026 and 31 August 2027 is on the 2026/27 tax year. The “Tax year” line in the qualification update on the CII’s R04 unit page, read on 25 October 2026, still named 2025/2026 for exams from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026; the 2026/27 syllabus and examination guide name 2026/2027.

The examination guide says: “Extracts from tax tables will be provided at each examination”, and “Candidates may not take their own tax tables into the examination.” The CII’s supporting exam documents page lists the tax tables “provided for candidates taking examinations from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027” for R04 (shared with CF1, LP2, R01, R02, R03, R05, R07, J10 and J12). The pension and State benefit figures they print for 2026/2027:

Some figures R04 relies on are not in the tables. For automatic enrolment, the Department for Work and Pensions kept the 2025/26 thresholds for 2026/27: an earnings trigger of £10,000 and a qualifying earnings band of £6,240 to £50,270. For the new State Pension, GOV.UK says you need 10 qualifying years for any amount and, for a National Insurance record that started after April 2016, 35 for the full rate.

You can sit R04 at an exam centre or by remote invigilation. For remote invigilation, the examination guide says that once you have booked you can launch a tutorial from your MyCII/MyPFS dashboard, which “can only be accessed three times”, and which you cannot open in the 2 hours and 30 minutes before your scheduled exam. A calculator must be a silent battery or solar-powered non-programmable calculator; a financial or scientific calculator is allowed if it meets those rules. You may make rough notes.

For questions in the same format, our R04 practice questions page works through three questions from the ProSyllabus CII R04 practice test, an independent test of two full 50-question exams for the 2026/27 tax year.