Raising standards of financial advice using portable e-assessment

This paper describes an innovative approach taken to address the delivery of qualifications for financial advisers in the United Kingdom. A portable e-assessment delivery system has provided a qualification entirely online for the UK financial industry. The system is shown to address issues of impact on a customer's in situ business, competitiveness with other qualifications, enhanced customer service and accessibility.The paper explains the use of a portable e-assessment delivery system which has entered a traditional market currently dominated by established awarding bodies and other organisations. The portable on-line system demonstrates distinct advantages for learners. This includes factors such as immediate feedback with insight, a comfortable low-impact assessment (which enables candidates to perform to the best of their ability, coupled with a smaller ‘footprint' than traditional paper-based assessment), adaptable delivery for vision impaired learners and a more efficient delivery than traditional qualifications can offer. This is coupled with a flexible, scalable model that is appreciated by learning organisations, corporate companies and learners alike in feedback supplied following their final examination session . The paper concludes by discussing whether a similar approach is applicable for other curriculum areas where previous modes of delivery have hitherto been used