Level 5 course changes: Cost increases
The base training standard for financial advisers has had an update and also the cost of taking the course has risen by 36%.
Monday, March 23rd 2015, 6:55AM 
3 Comments
Skills Organisation, has released an updated version of the National Certificate in Financial Services (Financial Advice) (Level 5), Standard Set B exam.
Skills Organisation Corporate General Manager Alexandra Vranyac-Wheeler says changes in legislation have meant it had to update the exam.
the changes have been brought unit standard is now updated to reflect the modifications from the last review in 2012.
The cost to book the exam has also risen $100 to $375 excluding GST.
Vranyac-Wheeler says this is the first price change since the exam started in 2009.
She says the original price was established during development of the competency framework and assessment tools, when significantly greater volumes of candidates were expected to be sitting.
The final terms of the Financial Advisers Act reduced the scope of coverage, resulting in much lower volumes than anticipated when the price was originally confirmed.
“It will allow us to continue proper support and management of the exam system, ensuring it remains robust, current, and of value. This is the first price revision since the exam was introduced in 2009.
“We are strongly encouraging trainees who are currently undertaking training and who feel they are prepared for their Set B exam to book immediately if they wish to sit the current version.”
“We expect confirmation of the unit standard’s new version listing from NZQA very soon. There will be changes to some questions within the exam to align with this,” she says.
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Comments from our readers
Maybe it's the writing skills!
Interesting how we each differently filled in the missing word - you meant "by $100" and I read "from $100".
If we can be confused over such simple things, imagine the difficulties when the debate gets down to "what I explained".. vs "what she told me" in a financial adviser service complaint!
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It seems Skills Organisation is operating a cost recovery fee model. Their costs might have gone up a tad but it would seem that there are fewer people taking the exam, so the cost per candidate has to rise. [Another unintended consequence...?]
Wouldn't it be great if we all had that pricing power.