In an e-mail to members, the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) has issued a valuable update on the latest guidance on gap-fill. It follows consultation with the FSA and other professional bodies to try to clarify a situation which has caused considerable confusion for advisers.

The FSA's Policy Statement 11/1 stated that: "gap-fill should be structured, rather than unstructured, CPD. However, if structured CPD is not available to fill the gap identified, then an adviser may complete the gap by reading suitable material. We expect that such cases would be for a minority of gaps, if any".
 

Following a recent meeting with the FSA and other professional bodies, it was agreed that 'a minority' would mean less than 25% of gaps. It was also agreed that reading will only be acceptable where the material has been produced to meet the specific gap learning outcomes and there is some form of test, whether a self-test or a more formal test. This is to help the adviser's chosen accredited body to verify that the learning activity has filled the relevant learning outcome(s).
 

IFP members who have already read material to contribute towards their gap-fill have also been told this will count, as long as they follow it up with "some form of testing".