CII R06 · written case study practice · 2026/27
CII R06 practice case studies, marked point by point
Four original financial planning case studies laid out like the R06 paper: a client case, then lettered short-answer questions with the marks shown. Type your answers against a 90-minute clock and see every point you earned, every point you missed, a model answer for each part and your total against the 55% standard pass mark.
- Case study 190 minTom and Paula: a self-employed client's retirement, income protection, a gift towards a first home (72 marks)
- Case study 290 minMargaret: a recent widow, inheritance tax, an inherited ISA allowance, care and LPAs (78 marks)
- Case study 390 minJames and Amy: a young family, protection, the £100,000 threshold and Child Benefit (76 marks)
- Case study 490 minRichard and Helen: selling a company, employer pension contributions, CGT and IHT (74 marks)
Free: a short case study with three questions, marked in full
Read the case, then answer each part in short points, as in the exam. About 15 minutes. No sign-up.
Question 1 12 marks
Short case study: Leah Marsh
Leah (29) is single, rents a flat in Leeds for £950 a month and works as a laboratory technician earning £34,000 a year. She is a member of her employer's workplace pension at the auto-enrolment minimum. She has £6,000 in her current account and saves about £400 a month. She has never owned a home and would like to buy her first flat in about three years, for around £250,000. Her attitude to risk is balanced (4 on a scale of 1 to 7).
Answer all three parts.
The 4 case studies
One payment unlocks every case study
- 4 original case studies, 72 to 78 marks each; case studies 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, together make a 150-mark paper
- Read the case, then answer each lettered part against a 90-minute clock
- Every part marked point by point: what earned marks (your own words quoted) and what you missed
- A model answer for every part, in short points
- Your total against the 55% standard pass mark and your weakest learning outcomes
- Up to 3 marked attempts per case study
The R06 exam in 2026/27
- Format
- A three-hour exam of two written case studies with short-answer questions. You receive the two case studies two weeks before the exam; you cannot take your copy into the exam.
- Marks
- The paper carries 150 marks, and each question part shows its marks. The exam guides advise about 90 minutes per case study.
- Pass mark
- The standard pass mark is 55%. The 2025 pass rate was 71.34%.
- Syllabus
- The 2026/27 syllabus is examined from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, on English law and practice in the 2026/27 tax year unless otherwise stated. Tax tables are provided in the exam.
- Next sittings
- 19 January 2027, 20 April 2027 and 6 July 2027 (booking closes on 4 January, 5 April and 21 June 2027).
- Where it fits
- A core unit of the CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. It applies what you learnt in the other units of the Diploma: regulation and ethics, investment, tax, pensions and protection.
Source: CII: Financial Planning Practice (R06) the R06 syllabus 2026/27, the R06 exam guides of January and June 2026 and the CII exam deadlines page, read 6 November 2026.
Questions
Is this the official exam or a CII case study?
No. The four case studies, questions and model answers are our own, written for English law and practice in the 2026/27 tax year, using the CII tax tables 2026/27. The layout follows the CII's R06 syllabus and exam guides. ProSyllabus is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the Chartered Insurance Institute.
How is my answer marked?
Each part has a model answer split into points, one mark each. An automated marker checks your answer against every point and must quote your own words for any mark it gives; the score, the pass line and the weakest areas are then worked out from those points. It is practice marking, not a CII result.
Do I need to write full sentences?
No. Short points are fine. The CII says marks are not lost for spelling or grammar in the exam, and our marker does not mark them down either. Answer for the client in the case, and give as many relevant points as the marks shown.
Why 90 minutes per case study?
The CII exam guides advise spending about 90 minutes on each of the two case studies in the three-hour paper. Sit case studies 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, back to back for a full 150-mark paper.
The real case studies come out two weeks before the exam. How does this help?
Practising on questions you have not seen before, for a client you have just read about, trains you to apply what you know to one client's facts, quickly and in points.
Can I try it first?
Yes. A short case study with three questions is free and marked in full, with no sign-up.
Independent: ProSyllabus is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). The case studies, questions and model answers are our own, written for English law and practice in 2026/27 using the CII tax tables 2026/27; no CII case study, question or model answer is reproduced.