It is best to start with the core materials that are provided to you with your course, such as the textbook, student resource guide and online tutorial (if applicable).These will give you a good understanding of the level of learning that will be required in the exam. The online tutorial and student resource guide contain practice questions, supplementary materials and a discussion board. If your course does not include a student resource guide and online tutorial, there are practice questions in the CIP textbooks.

Our website has a number of resources for students, such as some study tools, tips on preparing for your exam, and the computer based exams tutorial that demonstrates the exam platform. Note, you need to be registered for a final examination to access the exam tutorial.

Also, check with your local institute or chapter to see if they are offering a study skills seminar. These seminars are particularly helpful in assisting students to prepare.

All students can reschedule their examination at no cost up to 7 days prior to the start date of the exam session of the semester. After the rescheduling deadline, if an emergency arises for medical, work-related or bereavement reasons, you will be given the option to reschedule your examination within the current examination session, if space permits. Requests to reschedule your examination after the rescheduling deadline must be submitted with supporting documentation and will be considered on their merits. An administrative fee may be required.

For more information, review our rescheduling policy.

If an emergency arises that causes the need to defer your examination to the next examination session, you will be required to complete the examination deferral form, and provide supporting documentation. Examination Deferrals are only granted for medical, work-related or bereavement reasons whereby supporting documentation can be provided. Requests for exam deferrals are considered on their merits and an administrative fee may apply.

Absence from a scheduled exam session does not entitle a student to write the examination at another session. Ineligible absence from an examination session will require the student to enrol in continued tuition.

Please visit the Absence and Deferrals policy for more information, along with instructions on how to request an examination deferral.

Our final exams are required to be written at a proctored examination centre—you do not write a final exam from a remote location such as your home. Students will be automatically booked into an exam centre within approximately 100 kilometres of their residence. An exam booking confirmation e-mail will be sent upon registration with detailed information on the date, time and location of your exam. Many exams will be held at your local institute or chapter or at other designated proctored exam centres. Exam sites will have laptops and a secure computer set-up, including screen protection and locked-down browsers.

Students who are unsuccessful on an exam and have received a grade of X or Y will have the opportunity to write the exam again in the exam session immediately following their unsuccessful attempt. This requires payment of the exam fee only, without having to re-enrol in the course. 

Please keep in mind that an exam rewrite is only granted once.  Students who are unsuccessful in the rewrite of an exam will benefit from, and therefore required, to re-enrol in the course.

If you are unsuccessful in an exam and receive a Z, you are required to enroll into the course again. We recommend re-enrolling in a methodology that works better for them through either our in-class, virtual or distance learning option.

More information on examination re-writes is available here.

The format of the college course evaluation and examinations sometimes vary – this is dependent on the individual college, course and instructor. CIP exams are designed and created by the Insurance Institute, while your college evaluations are developed and designed by your college. Most examinations in the CIP program are structured with multiple-choice, narrative and application questions to include a variety of formats which will accommodate students’ varied learning styles.

Full-time college students who write their Institute exam in addition to their college exam earn their college credits and simultaneously work toward their CIP designation. This is critical to your success in the industry and your move towards becoming a strong industry professional. Please see your school’s policies for further details.

CIP exams must be written at the Institute in the same final exam session in which they are taking the course at the college. College students who miss this window lose the opportunity to challenge the CIP exam and therefore, earn the CIP credit. Re-enrollment in the course at a later date is required in these circumstances.

Institute exams are marked by experienced industry professionals who have a CIP or FCIP designation. Markers are provided answer points as guidelines and, where appropriate, have the discretion to consider valid answers not included in the answer points.

Grades are released on a course-by-course basis and you will receive e-mail notification once your grade is available on your online member account.

Unlike a mid-term exam or quizzes and assignments, the final examination is not intended to be a learning exercise for review and discussion. Instead, it is an evaluation tool for the assessment students’ overall knowledge, understanding and application of the course material.

Since answers are not intended for review by students, the exam markers do not comment in or indicate which information is correct or incorrect on the exams. As a result, the answers would be of little value to students in determining where they were and were not awarded marks.

Students who wish to appeal their exam grade have two types of appeal available to them. Re-assessment or re-evaluation offer varying degrees of review and feedback. The fees charged for each service reflects the amount of time, scrutiny and feedback provided by markers.

Please visit the Examination Appeals page for more information.