December 3, 2024 – The Level 1 Entry-Level Broker Exam Competency Profile and Blueprint, effective January 1, 2025, marks a significant step forward in setting new standards for RIBO’s examination process. This framework, introduced in October 2023, follows a year of successful piloting of new exam questions throughout 2024.
Level 1 Competency Profile and Blueprint
At the core of these changes is the new Competency Profile. It guides exam content development to assess candidates based on the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviours for success as entry-level brokers.
The 10 competencies include:
- Legal and Regulatory Compliance
- Professionalism, Integrity, and Ethics
- Insurance Product and Industry Knowledge
- Risk Identification, Assessment and Classification
- Consulting and Advising
- Claims Services
- Critical and Analytical Thinking
- Information Management
- Relationship Management
- Continuous Learning and Development
The Blueprint outlines how exam questions are distributed across these competencies, offering a transparent, balanced evaluation of core skills. This structure ensures that candidates are evaluated not only on their technical knowledge but also on the practical application of their abilities.
Key Changes to Content Domains
Starting January 1, 2025, the exam will follow the new blueprint, which outlines both the competencies, cognitive, and content domains tested, along with the relative weight of each in the exam. This blueprint, paired with the competency profile, offers insight into how specific topics, behavioral examples, and supporting knowledge for each competency.
A major update involves the restructuring of content domains to align with the Competency Profile and Blueprint:
- ‘General’ will become ‘General Insurance and Industry Knowledge’ with 25 questions
- ‘Automobile’ will become ‘Personal Lines Automobile’ with 25 questions
- ‘Habitational’ will become ‘Personal Lines Habitational’ with 25 questions
- ‘Commercial Lines’ is a new content domain with 20 questions
The ‘Travel’ section will remain as ‘Travel’ with 5 questions.
This structure ensures that exam content reflects the specific knowledge brokers need to succeed in both personal and commercial lines of business.
Piloting Questions
To ensure a smooth transition to these new content domains and beyond, RIBO will continue piloting new exam questions. Piloting is essential for maintaining exam security and ensuring content relevance. These questions are not scored and indistinguishable from regular exam questions, allowing RIBO to gather realistic data on their performance before officially including them in the exam.
This process allows RIBO to collaborate with subject matter experts to develop, refine, and validate each question, ensuring they meet industry standards and fairly assess candidate knowledge. By piloting questions, RIBO systematically gathers data on their performance and alignment with the required cognitive levels and competencies. This ongoing process keeps the exam secure, fair, and relevant to current industry practices.
Resources for Education Providers and Candidates
To support education providers and candidates, RIBO is releasing a curriculum guide for education providers and a sample of retired Level 1 exam questions.
Curriculum Guide for Education Providers
This best practice guide helps education providers build and align their courses with the Level 1 Competency Profile and Blueprint. It offers robust, competency-focused educational content to prepare candidates not just for the exam but for successful careers as insurance brokers.
Sample of Retired Level 1 Exam Questions
This sample includes actual questions previously used in the Level 1 exam, which are also applicable to equivalency exams. While it doesn’t cover all content domains, it provides valuable insight into the range of cognitive levels and competencies assessed by RIBO. More retired questions will be released over time, giving stakeholders deeper insights into the exam structure and expectations.
These resources are designed to help educators create effective training materials and to assist candidates in successfully navigating the exam and advancing their careers.
Education providers, brokers, brokerages, insurers, and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback about how RIBO can further support course development and industry needs. Please send your feedback to exam@ribo.com.