ASEW · Assessment of Mortgage Advice Knowledge
The ASEW exam is six case studies with ten linked questions each, 60 marks in two hours, pass mark 42. Purchase cases are the backbone: a first-time buyer or a mover with full facts, then ten questions that move from numbers (LTV, loan-to-income, SDLT or LTT, payments) to rules (affordability, interest-only, disclosure), protection, the legal process and ethics. Most marks are lost by misreading which client fact matters, using an old tax figure, or applying an English rule to a Welsh purchase. Read the scenario once for structure, then go back to it for each question.
9 min read6 sections
Checked against: Walbrook (formerly LIBF) CeMAP specification v14 (July 2026), Appendix 5, ASEW/ASSC LO1, LO4, LO6; FCA Handbook MCOB 4.7A, 6A.3, 11.6; HMRC SDLT and WRA LTT rates; gov.uk Lifetime ISA, shared ownership and Mortgage Guarantee Scheme pages; Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 s2; checked 11 Oct 2026. Independent prep, not endorsed by Walbrook (formerly LIBF).
Each case gives you one scenario and ten questions. The question stem does not repeat the facts, so every answer depends on a detail you must find in the scenario: an age, a date, a salary, who is on the title, whether a home is in Wales. The unit tests MORT knowledge first, with FSRE fundamentals, protection and ethics mixed in (Walbrook CeMAP spec v14, Appendix 5).
| Scenario says | Likely question |
|---|---|
| ‘never owned property’, price under £500,000 | SDLT first-time buyers’ relief (England only) |
| home in Wales | LTT main rates, no first-time buyer relief, 30-day return |
| wants certainty for five years | Rate type: five-year fix (MCOB 4.7A.6R(4)) |
Every note. Every question. One pass.
4 more sections of this note are part of Premium.
From ≈£2.72/mo on the Until-you-qualify pass (18 months)
| employer sick pay for 26 weeks |
| Income protection deferred period |
| has not sold old home yet | SDLT higher rates and the 36-month refund |
Trap: answering from general knowledge when the scenario contains a fact that changes the answer, such as the property being in Wales or a valuation below the price.
Takeaway: Find the deciding fact in the scenario for every question. Check the base of every calculation before you pick an answer.
LTV uses the lower of price and valuation. Loan-to-income uses gross income. The FPC flow limit restricts lenders to no more than 15% of new mortgages at an LTI of 4.5 or more, in aggregate (Bank of England, since June 2014). Affordability is a separate test on net income after committed and essential spending (MCOB 11.6.5R).
| Case | Working | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| £222,000 loan on a £240,000 price | 222 ÷ 240 | 92.5% LTV |
| Valuation £230,000, maximum LTV 95% | 95% × £230,000 | £218,500 maximum loan |
| £222,000 loan, £50,000 gross income | 222 ÷ 50 | LTI 4.44, under 4.5 |
| £304,000 loan + £999 fee on £320,000 | 304,999 ÷ 320,000 | 95.3%, over a 95% cap |
| Shared ownership: £108,000 on a £120,000 share | 108 ÷ 120 | 90% LTV on the share |
Stress: a rate fixed for under five years must be stressed by at least 1%, even if markets expect less (MCOB 11.6.18R). A 2-year fix at 4.59% is stressed at no less than 5.59%.
Trap: calculating LTV on the agreed price after a down-valuation, or adding a fee to the loan without checking it breaks the maximum LTV.
Takeaway: LTV on the lower of price and valuation, LTI on gross income, stress short fixes by at least 1%.
