News and blogs Five top tips for passing the CeMAP exam

The Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP) is the starting point for mortgage advisers and – as the industry-standard qualification – will enable you to launch your new career. This page offers advice to help you successfully complete the CeMAP qualification – from studying to taking the exam.

When you register for CeMAP, you’ll get a weekly study planner which you can use to keep your learning on track.

For example, if you’re new to mortgages you may need up to 80 hours of study time for CeMAP 1. If that’s ten or five hours a week, when are you going to do that? Before work? In the evening? A couple of hours at the weekend?

Another tip is to book your exam straightaway. That will give you the impetus to stick to your study plan. You can always move the exam if you need to but many students find it useful to work to a target.

You may work in a mortgage company, with a lender or in a completely different sector. Whatever you’ve been doing before CeMAP, it’s worth thinking about the experience you have that you can bring to the learning.

If you can, speak to people in the industry and read the trade press. That will help you get a good grasp of what's happening in the sector and give context to your CeMAP learning.

Look at the syllabus and think about the learning outcomes for each topic before you start studying. You’ll find the CeMAP exam questions are about those learning outcomes.

Learn in small chunks, make notes and take regular breaks.

Use the assessments at the end of each topic to check your learning and revise the gaps in your knowledge before moving on.

Use your LIBF tax table. You don’t need to memorise all the tax rates in England, Scotland and Wales because they’re in the tax table. The only thing you need to understand is the tiering of the rates.

You’ll be learning on our new VLE Brightspace, which includes – the study planner, any syllabus updates and tax table mentioned above – and:

• access to a student-led discussion forum

• study tip videos.

You may also opt to use a 'trusted partner' or an ‘accredited learning support provider’, especially if you prefer a classroom setting for your studies.

It sounds obvious but read the question. Then read it again. Think about what the examiner is actually asking?

When you’ve read the questions, read all of the answers. This is where many people fall down in multiple choice exams, but it’s important to read all the options and consider them carefully.

Our student feedback has consistently confirmed that there’s more than enough time to complete this exam. You have two hours for CeMAP 1 but most students get through it in an hour.

That means you don’t have to rush. You have time to read all the questions carefully and go back and check your answers.