Financial Adviser Accreditation Autumn Round 13

Portfolio papers released to candidates: from 19th of September 2025
Core papers released to candidates: 14th of November 2025
Deadline for Core and Portfolio papers to be returned: Midday, 17th of November 2025

Find out everything you need to know about accreditation in the prospectus.

Who can apply for accreditation?

You can apply for accreditation if you are an associate of Resolution and your membership subscription is up to date.

Much of the specialist work assessed as part of this accreditation is not FCA‑regulated. This includes, for example, work undertaken as a financial neutral, coach, or in cash‑flow modelling.

It is now common practice for specialists to separate their FCA‑regulated financial advice from their non‑regulated specialist work, either within the same firm or through separate business structures. Some specialists choose to focus exclusively on this non‑regulated work and act as a conduit to others for regulated financial advice where required.

As this is the case, Resolution does not require evidence of FCA‑regulated status or qualifications for the purposes of this accreditation. Regulated financial advice sits outside Resolution’s remit.

However, when applying for accreditation (and at each re‑accreditation), applicants must sign a declaration confirming that if they choose to provide regulated financial advice, they are appropriately authorised and qualified to do so.

There must be no assumption that undertaking this specialist, non‑regulated work will lead to regulated activity, regulated intermediary work, or contingent fees.

For that reason, candidates must be able to confirm that they can undertake this work on a standalone fee basis (time‑costed, fixed‑fee, or a combination), without any expectation of future regulated activity arising from it.

Non‑regulated activity

Where candidates or re‑accrediting members operate within an FCA‑regulated firm, they must confirm that their Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) provider has explicitly agreed to cover this non‑regulated activity.

Where candidates or re‑accrediting members operate a separate non‑regulated business, they must confirm that they hold appropriate PII cover for that work.

Regulated activity

Where candidates or re‑accrediting members offer regulated financial advice, they must confirm:

• that they are an FCA‑regulated individual; and
• that suitable PII is in place for any regulated advice provided.

Where Defined Benefit pension transfer advice is offered, candidates must also confirm that:

• they,
• someone within their firm, or
• a suitably qualified third party

is authorised to provide that advice.

What will I need to do?

To achieve Resolution accredited status, you must pass two assignments:

1. The Core Assignment: an open-book assignment, taken over a set weekend, which assesses your ability to fulfil the competencies set out in the Prospectus.
2. Portfolio Assignments: the creation of two portfolios of work to prove you have the knowledge and experience outlined in the Prospectus in two different topic areas. You will have approximately eight weeks to complete the portfolio assignments.

 You must pass both assignments to qualify as an Accredited Specialist.

We run one round of FA accreditation each year and you can take the assignments in the same round or separately.

Taking the assignments separately means you can complete the Core Assignment at an early stage of specialist experience and then to take the Specialist Portfolios over the following two years. For those who are more experienced, the Core and Portfolio Assignments can be taken at the same time, or in separate assessment rounds.

If you take the assignments separately, you must take and pass the Core Assignment before progressing to the Portfolio Assignments. Both assignments must be completed within a three-year period.

What’s the Core Assignment?

The Core Assignment consists of one case study with four questions. You will need to answer all the questions and one will focus on pensions.

What are the Portfolio Assignments?

Over about eight weeks you will need to complete two portfolio assignments from the following options:

• Pensions (mandatory for all applicants)
• Cashflow modelling and budgeting
• Taxation and State Benefits

For each specialist area there are two elements to the assignments:

1. A case study with four questions
2. Two reflective case accounts