Where to Download the IIQE Paper 5 Study Materials — Free from Official Sources, and How to Use Them

Last updated 2026-08-10

When you prepare for Paper 5 (Investment-Linked Long Term Insurance), the first step is not hunting for questions — it is getting hold of the official study materials. That step costs nothing.

This page covers only two things: where to find the materials, and — once you have them — how a calculation-heavy paper should be read. Time allocation, enrolment and fee details are covered separately in the Paper 5 preparation guide.

Where to find them: free downloads from the official websites

Handbook clauses 2.1.4 and 14.1 state it plainly: the examination syllabus and study materials for each paper are freely downloadable from the PEAK website and the Insurance Authority website.

Two direct implications:

• You do not need to pay for the materials themselves. When you see "insider materials" or an

"exclusive syllabus" offered for a fee, remember that the official originals are free and public. What preparation actually costs is the examination fee — the official price list per paper is in the exam fees article.

• Use the version currently provided on the official websites. For anything about the

examination system, the latest official publication governs — download via the official PEAK or Insurance Authority pages, not from re-uploaded files of unknown origin.

One fact to know first: questions are in Traditional Chinese and English, side by side

Under Handbook clause 2.2.2, all questions are set bilingually — Traditional Chinese and English in parallel, with no Simplified Chinese version. For readers working in English, the practical consequence is straightforward: the English column is always there, and the official study materials use the same wording the questions do — the paper's full name, for instance, is "Investment-Linked Long Term Insurance". Get familiar with the official terminology during preparation; it is exactly what you will see in the examination.

How to read a calculation paper: worked examples are not for "just reading"

The biggest difference between Paper 5 and Papers 1, 2 and 3 is that Paper 5 involves calculation. That changes how the materials must be read: concepts can be absorbed through repeated reading; calculation only sticks when you do it by hand.

In practice, whenever you meet a formula, or a worked example with numbers in it — whether it appears in the materials or in a practice question — one step must never be skipped:

1. Read only the given conditions, cover the working, and calculate from scratch with pen and

paper;

1. Compare your answer — move on only once it matches;
2. If it does not match, first work out which layer went wrong: **a misunderstood concept, or a

slip in the arithmetic.** For the former, go back and re-read the concept; for the latter, redo that single step on its own.

Between "understanding someone else's working" and "getting it right yourself" lies a real distance — and the only way to close it is by hand, during preparation.

Investment side and insurance side: keep two separate tracks

An investment-linked product packs investment and insurance into one contract, so Paper 5 straddles two vocabularies. Read them mixed together and you will keep switching between two modes of thinking, each interfering with the other. Split the material into two tracks:

• On the investment side, ask about numbers. The relationship between risk and return, the

differences between investment vehicles, and — most easily confused — the fee and charge concepts: for every charge you meet, ask three questions. Who is it charged to, on what base is it calculated, and at what point is it deducted? Only when all three are answered is that charge dealt with.

• On the insurance side, ask about relationships and responsibilities. How the protection

element sits inside the contract, what rights the policyholder holds, and the intermediary's responsibilities and conduct in the selling process. This side is not about arithmetic — it is about mapping roles to obligations clearly.

Build each track into its own system before joining them up — far more efficient than memorising the two mixed together. If you are unsure where the boundary lies between contracts that all carry an investment element, the annuities article will give you the frame of reference.

Working with drilling: no past papers are published

Handbook clause 12.6 states that the Examination Centre does not release scores, questions or correct answers. That means there is no such thing as an "official past-paper collection" on the market — practice has to be organised on your own.

The recommended loop: read the materials through → drill to expose blind spots → return to the materials to repair concepts → drill again. The materials build the system; drilling tells you which part of that system is hollow. A wrong answer is not something to memorise — go back to the corresponding concept in the materials and read it until it sticks; for a calculation question, redo it by hand, using the method above, until it comes out right. When drilling Paper 5 on Mange, wrong answers enter the review queue automatically, which fits this loop.

Sources and currency

That the study materials are freely available on the PEAK website and the Insurance Authority website comes from Handbook clauses 2.1.4 and 14.1; that questions are set bilingually in Traditional Chinese and English with no Simplified Chinese version, from Handbook clause 2.2.2; that the Examination Centre does not release scores, questions or correct answers, from Handbook clause 12.6. All of the above are taken from the PEAK Insurance Intermediaries Qualifying Examination Handbook, edition 202508; for examination fees and similar matters, the latest official edition of the Handbook governs. The method of using the materials and the conceptual framework here are organised and written by Mange — they are not quotations from official materials or legislation.

Mange does not own, and does not claim to own, copyright in any official examination material; the content on this page is written by Mange. Nothing on this page is a promise about any examination outcome, nor does it constitute legal advice.