Not a day goes by without us being asked for advice on the best study material for the level 1 REs. In terms of our status as an approved regulatory exam body, we are not allowed to endorse any study material. The following guidelines appear in the FSB preparation guide:
Numerous training materials have been developed by various training providers for the purpose of the regulatory level 1 exams. It should be noted that the FSB does not endorse any of these training materials. It is advisable to still refer back to the relevant legislation as contained in the acts and regulations in order to eliminate difference in terminology use, if you decide to use designed study material and/or training.
From numerous discussions with candidates, we found that the majority of them had studied diligently, and quite possibly acquired the required knowledge, yet still battled in the exams. The problem often arises when you have to interpret the interpretation of the author of the study material. The questions in the exam are based on the legislation, not any study material.
The answer to this is contained in what the FSB said above: it is advisable to refer to the relevant legislation.
There are numerous formats of reference material containing the required legislation. The challenge for many is to obtain updated acts and regulations.
One publisher produced reference material specifically for the regulatory exams. It consists of a legislation handbook containing all the required legal documents relating to the level 1 RE, and a preparation guide containing the qualifying criteria for reps and key individuals. The preparation guide refers you to specific pages in the legislation handbook which relate to the task you are busy with. This makes finding the relevant information related to the task in the qualifying criteria much easier.
It is also useful to know that amendments to legislation are updated in the original document, instead of you having to refer elsewhere. Board Notice 104 of 2008, for example, had three updates since it was first published, but those changes are contained in the document published in the legislation handbook. The current version contains all the relevant legislation, except the amended financial soundness requirements. One simply needs to download the relevant Board for this.
If you want to find out more, send an e-mail to Nerine.
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