Award in Pension Trusteeship

Public Examination Sittings

There are two public examinations per year; March and September. 

Private Examination Sittings

It is possible to arrange a private examination sitting.

Each question on the exam paper scores one mark. All questions should be attempted there is no difference in marking between a wrong answer and one left unanswered

There are two grades for this qualification: (P) Pass or (F) Fail. However, a Fail is broken down into two different segments. An S - Grade is mentioned if you fail within 5 marks of passing. A T - Grade is mentioned if you fail by greater than 5 marks from the pass mark.

Successful candidates receive a Qualification Certificate.

It is a condition of acceptance of an examination entry that learners carefully read the examination regulations and agree to abide by them. Exam instructions will be sent to each learner ahead of their exam.

It is possible to arrange ad hoc private sittings of the examination at dates and times to suit specific groups of candidates. This facility is provided by the PMI to make the APT examinations as widely and as flexibly available as possible. Should an organisation wish to use this facility it allows them to select a date and time to suit their requirements. Examinations can be taken on any working day during the hours of 9am to 5pm.

NOTE: We will not hold private sittings for less than 10 individuals. If you would like to hold a private sitting with less than 10 individuals, you will be charged a cost of £5500.

10 people = £5500

11-15 people = £8000

16-20 people= £10,500

NOTE: An absolute minimum of one calendar months notice is required to request a private sitting.

Private sittings are taken online only

How to apply to run a private examination

To apply, please contact James Cumine PMIqualifications@pensions-pmi.org.uk

In the event of the examination being cancelled less than two weeks prior to the examination date, 10% of the standard fee will be charged, or deducted from any refunded fees.

These are samples of previously used questions and may not reflect current legislation.

Each either poses a question or makes a statement which requires completion, and is followed by four possible responses lettered 'a', 'b', 'c' and 'd'. Only ONE is correct.

Please note we do not publish past papers.

1. What is a corporate trustee?

A. A trustee appointed by the court.

B. An individual trustee appointed by the sponsoring company.

C. A company which acts as a trustee.

D. The sponsoring employer.

2. If the sponsoring employer of a defined benefit scheme becomes insolvent who is responsible for exercising all trust discretions in the company pension scheme?

A. The Pensions Regulator.

B. The Insolvency Practitioner.

C. Pension Protection Fund.

D. The person specified in the Trust Deed and Rules.

3. Meetings of trustees must be held..

A. at least twice a year.

B. following the actuarial valuation.

C. in the way as stipulated in the trust deed and rules.

D. as required under the Pension Schemes Act 1993.

4. Under statutory requirements, the decisions of the trustees may be taken by a majority unless...

A. there are less than 12 members.

B. the trustees agree otherwise.

C. the scheme's trust deed and rules provides otherwise.

D. there are less than one hundred members.

5. The trustees are ultimately responsible for the collection of contributions....

A. only if Additional Voluntary Contributions are paid by members.

B. at all times.

C. if instructed to do so by the employer.

D. if the trust deed permits.

6. It is a legal requirement that the trustees' Annual Report must be available...

A. at the end of the scheme year.

B. within 7 months of the end of the scheme year.

C. within 12 months of the end of the scheme year.

D. within 18 months of the end of the scheme year.

7. Which one of the following does NOT have to be included in the trustees' annual report?

A. Details of changes to the trustees.

B. Details of discretionary pension increases made in the scheme year.

C. Details of any self investment.

D. Home addresses of trustees.

8. Investments should generally be stated in the audited accounts of a pension scheme at...

A. cost.

B. fair value.

C. book value.

D. the value used by the insurance company.

9. In general in-house investment managers...

A. specialise only in UK equity investment.

B. are independent companies that frequently attend in-house meetings.

C. are employed by the company sponsoring the pension scheme or another company within the same group.

D. have few restrictions placed upon them by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

10. If a fund manager has purchased a financial future to buy stock it will have...

A. a future option to buy at a fixed price.

B. a guaranteed profit.

C. an obligation to buy at a fixed price in the future.

D. an option to buy at a negotiable price in the future.

1. What is a corporate trustee?

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Right

D. Wrong

2. If the sponsoring employer of a defined benefit scheme becomes insolvent who is responsible for exercising all trust discretions in the company pension scheme?

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Wrong

D. Right

3. Meetings of trustees must be held..

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Right

D. Wrong

4. Under statutory requirements, the decisions of the trustees may be taken by a majority unless...

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Right

D. Wrong

5. The trustees are ultimately responsible for the collection of contributions....

A. Wrong

B. Right

C. Wrong

D. Wrong

6. It is a legal requirement that the trustees' Annual Report must be available...

A. Wrong

B. Right

C. Wrong

D. Wrong

7. Which one of the following does NOT have to be included in the trustees' annual report?

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Wrong

D. Right

8. Investments should generally be stated in the audited accounts of a pension scheme at...

A. Wrong

B. Right

C. Wrong

D. Wrong

9. In general in-house investment managers...

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Right

D. Wrong

10. If a fund manager has purchased a financial future to buy stock it will have...

A. Wrong

B. Wrong

C. Right

D. Wrong

A number of providers run trustee training courses combined with sittings of the APT examinations.

If you run trustee training courses and would like to combine a course with a sitting of the APT examination please contact the PMI team.

PMI does not run trustee training courses neither does it recommend or endorse any particular training courses. The list of providers is assembled as an aid to those seeking training for trustees. 

Capita

Capita Employee Benefits is one of the leading employee benefits consultancies in the UK; a multi award-winning organisation serving over 1,600 clients and more than 4 million company employees and pension scheme members. We are part of Capita plc, a FTSE 100 company.

By listening and engaging closely with our clients we deliver carefully designed administration services and unrivalled consultancy solutions through our employee benefits specialists, using market leading, creative and innovative technology solutions.

We have a long established history of providing Trustees of pension schemes with training on all aspects of the operation of occupational pension schemes in order that they may undertake their duties effectively and with confidence.

The following courses are offered:

Introductory Trustee Training – A one day, introductory seminar giving an overview of legal responsibilities and dealing with actuarial, investment and administrative issues. This course is suitable for recently appointed trustees of defined benefit or defined contribution schemes and non-trustees who perhaps work on administration issues.

Focused  Training for Trustees of Defined Benefit Schemes – A two-day seminar giving a detailed look at investment and funding issues for defined benefit schemes, essential in view of the major changes brought about by the Pension Act 2004. This  course is designed for trustees (or anyone involved with running defined benefit schemes) who have a basic understanding but want to know more about developing an asset allocation strategy appropriate to a scheme’s liabilities and the trustees investment objectives and appetite for risk..

Although this course is designed to help trustees to meet The Pension Regulator’s expectations regarding funding and investment, because of the specific nature of some of the strategies that are covered, further bespoke training would be required before the full scope of The Pension Regulator’s requirements are met.

PMI Award in Pension Trusteeship – The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) Award in Pension Trusteeship (Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) examination gives formal recognition of a trustee's knowledge and understanding of pension fundamentals.

This two-day training course is aimed specifically at trustees (and others) who wish to sit the PMI Award examination and covers the full (Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) syllabus including:

Unit One – Law and Pensions overview

Unit Two – Investment and Funding issues

Unit Three – Scheme Management issues

We also aim to provide candidates with an understanding of the techniques associated with passing this examination.

If you have any queries please contact Paul Tabrett on 0207 709 4864 or at paul.tabrett@capita.co.uk

Eversheds Sutherland

Our online training programme is designed to draw on our long experience of successfully helping trustees to prepare for the PMI Award in Pension Trusteeship (CPT unit 1) exam through face to face training sessions. It uses pre-recorded modules to cover the core elements of the syllabus. The programme also includes two live, interactive sessions to encourage Q&A discussion.

Our programme:

• is a unique offering in the market, providing pre-reading, access to eight short recorded training modules, which should take around 30 minutes each to complete, and two live sessions of up to one hour. The live sessions are a welcome webinar on what to expect and exam technique, and a closing “clinic” to deal with final pre-examination queries from the recorded modules
• is led by experienced pension lawyers who have passed the PMI APT themselves
• provides a mixture of self-paced learning and live group sessions
• will give you the opportunity to ask questions of the presenters and share experience with other delegates

The programme is available to individual or small groups of trustees.

Please contact pensionstraining@eversheds-sutherland.com for more information.

Squire Patton Boggs

Squire Patton Boggs has provided market leading trustee training since the early 1990s. All our experienced presenters are qualified pensions lawyers, and we place a real emphasis on interactive workshop exercises enabling delegates to put theory into practice. Whilst we can and do sometimes run open access, public courses, we tend to find that most trustee boards want to be trained together as a group. This helps the board develop together and builds team spirit.

The main courses we offer are:

• Introductory – A one day course looking at the context for current pensions issues, and covering the legal responsibilities and powers of trustees, the different kinds of schemes, the role of the actuary, the principles of investment, the role of the Regulator and the protection of members. Suitable for both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, and ideal as a basic grounding for new trustees, or a refresher for those with more experience.
• Advanced - A one day course which focusses in more detail on the new regulatory regime governing schemes and trustees under the Pensions Acts 2004 and 2008, the tax regime under the Finance Act 2004 and subsequent legislation, and on the financial priorities for trustees - particularly funding and investment.
• PMI Award in Pension Trusteeship – A one or two day course (depending on delegates' diaries, time commitments and level of confidence) aimed specifically at those with some prior experience and wishing to sit the PMI Award in Pension Trusteeship examination. We aim to cover the PMI entire syllabus, using sample questions of the type used in PMI examinations to encourage interaction and discussion, and to bring out the underlying issues. The course includes a complete mock examination, and finishes with a private exam sitting supervised by a PMI invigilator. We have run this course for many years and have a success rate of around 98%.
• Bespoke - We can tailor a half or full day course around your particular requirements. Typical courses tend to cover Hot Topics and Scheme Conversance, but we respond to clients' needs.

Training can be delivered at our UK offices (London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds) or at your premises

Catherine McKenna, Global Head of Pensions, Squire Patton Boggs, 2 Park Lane, Leeds LS3 1ES
Email: catherine.mckenna@squirepb.com Telephone 0113 284 7045

Matthew Giles, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs, Rutland House, 148 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2JR
Email: matthew.giles@squirepb.com Telephone 0121 222 3296

The PMI have recently launched the 'study skills' website, which will help learners understand how best to prepare for their exams, as well as gives tips and information regarding the specific style of exams you may be taking.

The study skills website can be found here -

https://www.pmi-study-skills.co.uk/