The newly-opened “doors” are more virtual than real, since the teaching process is to be carried out mainly online through the use of a so-called online learning management system (LMS).
This LMS will “contain content…in a number of different formats from e-learning sessions, online assessments, reference and reading material, MP3 files and video clips,” according to the school’s website, www.thefaschool.co.uk.
In addition to the “online virtual classroom”, students will be asked to attend face-to-face learning events roughly every five weeks throughout the duration of their enrolment period.
During the school’s first phase of development, these sessions are expected to take place either in Altrincham or Huddersfield, Sesame Bankhall said in a statement released yesterday, although eventually it expects to add other venues.
The first phase of the new school will see 15 students brought up to “full competent adviser status and QCF Level 4 standard within 18 months”.
Potential candidates for those 15 slots will be assessed next month by putting them through what Sesame Bankhall said would be “a robust selection process to assess their aptitude, commitment, experience and [existing] qualifications”.
Once the first group of students is settled in, the company will work on developing the school further, resulting in a steady increase in student numbers over the coming years, according to the statement.
Sesame Bankhall Group executive chairman Ivan Martin said the new Financial Adviser School is being developed in response to what the company sees as a lack of clear entry routes and career paths for people coming into the advisory profession.
It will deliver "a practical solution”, he added.
“We will be equipping people with the all round skills to become the advice professionals and entrepreneurs of the future.”
Martin said he believed this “holistic approach” would set the new Sesame Bankhall school apart from other recent industry initiatives.
What is more, Sesame Bankhall would look to place graduates of the programme with jobs in advisory firms, he said, which in turn would offer Sesame Bankhall-affiliated firms “a route to help grow their business and put succession plans in place, [while] saving significant amounts of time and money on recruitment.”
More information on the new Sesame Bankhall Financial Adviser School and a copy of its prospectus may be found on its website, or by emailing info@thefaschool.co.uk.
Sesame Bankhall was created in October, 2009, by the acquisition of Bankhall and Premier Mortgage Services by Sesame. It now claims to be the largest single distributor of financial services in the UK, and to account for almost a quarter of the UK’s financial advice market.
As reported, AES International, the UK-based international IFA firm, has also unveiled plans to create a school for teaching advisory skills. In the case of AES, this has involved it purchasing a former boarding school in Tunbridge Wells, where it intends to run three types of residential courses.
Unlike the Sesame Bankhall school, however, it is envisioned as a place for boosting the skills of existing advisers rather than training up new ones, and also has an international focus.
