Learning and assessment tools launched by CII and Biba
Biba and the CII will launch a new learning and assessment system for brokers later this month.
Broker ASSESS will be unveiled at the forthcoming Biba conference in Bournemouth. It is being developed in conjunction with the CII and compliance consultancy RW Associates.
The system is claimed to help brokers satisfy the training and competence requirements of FSA regulation. It will be enhanced version of the CII current online education packages Competence and Compliance System (CCS) and Learning Management System (LMS).
Biba chief executive Mike Williams said: "Broker ASSESS will contain all the tools of the CII product such as learning records, knowledge testing and scoring, but it will be populated with broker-specific material."
The system will include technical training material developed specifically for brokers, based on actual market practice and real life scenarios. It will also provide knowledge and understanding assessments in multiple-choice format, drawn from an extensive bank of Biba-validated questions. These have been specifically developed for Biba members in conjunction with the CII.
CII director general Sandy Scott said: "This leads on from our launch of Financial ASSESS last month for the IFA market. It is about our commitment to improving the industry's competence.
"We also hope to roll out an Insurance ASSESS for the general insurance and possibly Lloyd's later this year,"he said.
Changes in market practice and legislation will also be reflected in the material as it will be regularly updated and enhanced to ensure that users have the latest information at their disposal.
Broker ASSESS will initially be available online, but Williams said that Biba was looking at CD-ROM and paper-based versions.
The cost of the system has yet to be determined.
"The cost of the system will depend on the number of users,"said Williams. "It will be lower than the CII learning products, but we have yet to negotiate this with the CII."
Broker ASSESS will be available to brokers by the end of the year.
