Commonly made mistakes
As the CISI receives an increasing number of SPS applications we are noting a series of commonly made
mistakes. These are set out below to help firms and individuals:
Applicants are Student
members or non-members of the CISI
The CISI can only process SPS applications for members (excluding
students) or employers of a CISI Corporate Supporter. To apply for membership you can find the
appropriate application form here.
Unsuitable CPD submitted as
gap-fill.
Gap fill refers to the additional learning that needs to be
undertaken to bring certain qualifications up to the new RDR/RFA exam standards. Any gaps between
the content of these qualifications and the new Level 4 exam standards needs to be filled by
structured learning.
SPS submitted outside of
CPD three month window.
Your CPD year-end date must be set within 3 months before your SPS
date. You can move your CPD year-end date so it falls in line with your SPS date by emailing
cpdscheme@cisi.org.
CPD year not passed yet
Standard SPS applied for.
You need to ensure you have a pass/provisional pass awarded to you
in your CPD year record to apply for an SPS. If your CPD log has been selected for Audit you will
still be able to apply for your SPS but please note that if you fail to meet the Audit requirements,
you may have your SPS withdrawn. You can find details on how to achieve your CPD at
cisi.org/rdrcpdwithcisi
Applicants ticking that
their firm will verify their applications but their firm has not applied to the CISI to be a
verifier.
Firms looking to apply to appoint a verifier for their firm for SPS
applications, will need to email
spsapplicatons@cisi.org with their name, job title,
phone number and email address. Recommended verifiers usually work in Training & Competence, HR
or Compliance.
Entering the incorrect or
FCA number on your application form or MyCISI details.
Individual FCA numbers must be entered onto MyCISI by the
applicant. You can do this by logging on to
MyCISI,
selecting the 'My Details' tab and editing your profile. You will need to also ensure that you have
ticked yes to the 'Are you a Retail Investment Adviser' option.
Information not correlating
between application form / CISI system / FCA register.
You will need to ensure that your details in your MyCISI record
correlate with your SPS application form and the FCA register. This includes employer details and
spelling of names.
Applicants stating that
they have submitted gap-fill to the CISI via the CISI gap-fill log, when this has not been
submitted.
Details on how to submit your gap-fill. Once you have declared you
have met all of the gap-fill requirements in your CISI CPD log, then the below message within the
gap-fill log will appear. Under the RDR qualification gap-fill tab you will see a submit button in a
yellow box which you can push to submit your qualifications and gap-fill for verification. Please do
this before submitting your SPS application.