How to study for CPI and CPPI by jurisdiction

A CPI or CPPI answer is only as good as the source behind it. A rule from the wrong jurisdiction or the wrong year costs marks however well it is applied. The fix is simple to describe and needs discipline to keep up: every note carries three labels, the qualification, the jurisdiction and the exam year.

If you have not chosen your paper yet, start with CPI vs CPPI.

Plan from the paper, not the syllabus length

All four papers share one structure: three hours, 100 marks, and only ten of those marks from multiple-choice questions. The other 90 come from short-form answers and longer computational or essay-style questions, two of which you choose from three. The syllabuses also put about 20% of the marks on regulation, ethics, Statements of Insolvency Practice (SIPs) and other guidance.

That gives two planning rules. Written answers have to be part of every study week from the start, not a final-month activity. And ethics and SIPs should be studied alongside the procedures they govern, because a fifth of the marks depend on them.

Build one source set and keep it clean

The syllabuses examine legislation and practice in force on 1 January of the year you sit. Build your sources around that date:

• The syllabus for your exact paper, from the IPA's CPI or CPPI page. In October 2026 the CPPI page linked the CPI England and Wales syllabus for both CPPI variants; if it still does, ask the IPA for the right document.

• The legislation the syllabus lists: for example the Insolvency Act 1986 and the debt respite scheme regulations in England and Wales, or the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 and the Debt Arrangement Scheme legislation in Scotland.

• The SIPs and the Insolvency Code of Ethics, in the version that applies to your jurisdiction. Several SIPs have separate Scottish versions.

• Past papers, for the shape of questions only.

For every threshold, time limit or monetary figure, note the source and the date it applies from. Past papers are an easy way for an out-of-date figure to reach your notes: keep their technique and check their numbers.

Adapt for your paper

For CPI, keep corporate and personal work running in parallel through the whole plan. If your job is mostly one side, test yourself on the other side early; workplace familiarity with liquidations does not prepare you for personal advice, and the reverse is also true.

For CPPI, go deeper on the range of personal options and the advice that chooses between them, including non-statutory solutions. Compare options under the same headings each time: purpose, who can use it, effects on assets and income, duration and what the office holder has to do.

If you study Scottish law, do not adapt notes from England and Wales by swapping names. Sequestration and bankruptcy differ in their institutions, procedure and terminology, and the examiner will see the wrong framework even if the reasoning is sound.

Practise the calculations the syllabus names

The syllabuses list the calculations you should be able to produce: statements of affairs, estimated outcome statements, receipts and payments accounts, dividends and employee claims under the Employment Rights Act, plus the prescribed part and a liquidation versus arrangement comparison in CPI. Practise each as a laid-out working, not a single number. In the exam you type into an answer box that supports tables but has no spreadsheet, so build your tables by hand in practice too.

Write from the first week

Short answers, advice and calculations each need practice in producing them, which reading cannot replace. Use CPI and CPPI written answers for technique: reading the requirement, structuring advice, setting out workings and reviewing what you wrote. It also covers how to debrief an answer without copying a model.

Use past papers late and carefully

Once most topics are covered, sit relevant past papers under timed conditions, including the Part D choice. Check every legal figure against your current source set before learning from the answer, and repair the biggest weaknesses before sitting another.

Qualifico provides objective revision for retaining the rules and Written Response practice for producing answers, for all four papers. Written Response is available on the Qualifico web app. Its feedback is indicative and is not an IPA examiner's mark.