Trust & methodology
A competency index is only worth anything if it can’t be inflated, gamed, or awarded early. These are the commitments that keep the PCI honest — written down, so you can hold us to them.
A provisional PCI appears after two completions, always clearly labelled as provisional. Domain scores unlock at three completions in that domain; full PCI readiness and the benchmark report unlock once all six domains have reached that threshold. A visible number always has real evidence underneath it, and is never presented as more certain than it is.
Every simulation is reviewed against current UK regulation before publication — real allowances, real thresholds, real rules, with a written rationale and regulatory references on every task. Content is re-verified over time as rules change.
Scores reflect a candidate’s most recent attempt, never a cherry-picked best. A cooldown between retries means improvement comes from learning, not memorising an answer key.
How the PCI is weighted, gated and adjusted for evidence volume is explained in full on this site. The exact formula and constants are kept private, deliberately, so the index can’t be reverse-engineered or gamed.
We publish real simulation counts, describe our progress as it actually is, and don’t claim certificates, accreditations, or user numbers we don’t have.
PlannerPath is independent. Its scenario and competency work is informed by UK financial-planning and paraplanning professional standards. It is not a qualification, endorsement or accreditation from any professional body.
The scoring, plainly
The PCI is a Bayesian-adjusted index from 0–99. Every candidate starts at a neutral prior; each completed simulation pulls the score toward demonstrated ability, with deeper case-file work weighted more heavily. The exact formula and weights aren’t published, deliberately, to protect the index from being gamed — the principles behind it are explained in full on the PCI page.
A note on where we are
PlannerPath is working directly with a deliberately small group of firms and universities as we launch. That means the candidate pool is growing, not grown — and we’d rather tell you that plainly than let a marketing page imply otherwise. What’s already true: active simulations are version-controlled, reviewed before publication, and scored through the published PCI methodology where PCI scoring applies.
PlannerPath reports are designed to support human judgement, not replace it. They should not be used as the sole basis for recruitment, rejection or employment decisions.
