Insight Events

The CISI does not just offer qualifications to young people.  The employability and careers agenda is very much at the heart of our work with CISI partner schools and colleges.  We connect financial services firms with Year 12 and Year 13 students who are studying towards our qualifications, through the provision of Insight Events.

These events help to demystify the industry for students and contextualise some of the content covered in CISI qualifications.  They also enable students to network with practitioners at different levels, from various disciplines, in addition to helping them identify the wide range of career opportunities on offer to them on leaving school or university.

Financial Services Education Programmes for Year 12 and Year 13 Students

Are you in the sixth-form, interested in a career in financial services and want to make yourself stand out from the crowd?

The CISI will be offering free education programmes to Year 12 and 13 students attending state schools or FE colleges in and around the following cities in academic year 2021-22:

  • Birmingham
  • Leeds
  • Liverpool
  • Manchester

This virtual one-year programme will provide the knowledge, skills, and insight to help kickstart a career in financial services by combining the opportunity for you to study towards a professional qualification and work alongside individuals in the Wealth, Investment Management and Financial Planning professions via employability workshops.

You will study towards the CISI Level 2 Fundamentals of Financial Services qualification via 25 one-hour long online teacher-led sessions.  These sessions will take place at the end of the school day and will culminate in you sitting an exam in the summer of 2022.  You will also participate in five 90-minute online employability workshops (Sessions will cover transferable skills, communication, writing a CV and interview skills) where you will meet and work with local financial services professionals.

To apply, you will need to:

  • be in Year 12 or Year 13 attending a state school or college from September 2021.
  • have achieved a minimum grade 4 in GCSE English and Mathematics.
  • have access to a PC, laptop, or tablet to attend online sessions.
  • have access to a reliable wi-fi or internet connection (mobile data should not be used as videoconferencing will use significant amounts of data and will become expensive).
  • be prepared to travel to Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool or Manchester city centre to sit the exam in the summer of 2022.
  • attend every session.
  • commit to completing at least one-hour of work outside of sessions per week.

For more information about the education programmes and to apply/register an interest, please take a look at the YouTube videos explaining more about the programmes and apply (Should take no longer than 7 minutes) using the link to the online application forms below.

Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester Education Programme:



Application form (Deadline 24th September 2021)

Liverpool Education Programme:



Register your interest: (Deadline 17th September 2021)