The two fully online courses from Lockie Consultants are designed to provide comprehensive training materials and resources for those embarking on CISI level 7 case study financial plan assessment, the route to becoming a Certified Financial Planning professional.

Lockie Consultants was founded by former CISI head of Financial Planning Jacqueline Lockie.

She spent over four years at the CISI and played a key role in the integration of the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) membership following the CISI/IFP merger in November 2015 and supported the institute while it 're-engineered' the new Certified Financial Planner pathway, the first to offer a Level 7 designation.

The courses include pre-plan preparation, training for constructing the financial plan (including spreadsheet training), and guidance both before and during the student’s financial plan creation. The courses include videos, reading and links to additional resources.

Students will have two year’s access to the course materials and will be able to refer back to them at any time.

Previously there was only one course running with the Financial Planning Training Academy which can accommodate only 15 trainees per course.

Ms Lockie said the new courses could be a “game changer” for those looking to get their certification as one of the two online courses does not restrict how many students can take part, enabling more people to train for the Financial Planning qualification.

The numbers of students purchasing the enhanced course is limited as they will also get individual 1-2-1 sessions with Ms Lockie.

Ms Lockie said: “Our aim is to help students maximise their chances of passing, giving them the knowledge and support along the way.  Our course materials are comprehensive and affordable. The courses can also cope with demand from all those interested in undertaking the financial plan element of this global certification. We have also built community support into all the courses as well as 1:2:1 coaching option in one. 

“This could be a game-changer for growing the numbers Certified Financial Planner professionals in the UK.”

The new courses will launch in two stages; pre-preparation on 4 November (when the Level 6 exam results are released), then financial plan creation will be released on 25 November (the day the CISI issues the case studies to all those eligible).