Cornwall Adviser Creates Free CeMAP Training Tool Featured by FT

A mortgage adviser from Newquay has been featured in the Financial Times for developing a free interactive training resource designed to help aspiring advisers prepare for their CeMAP exams.

Helping Others Learn for Free

Isaac Barco, founder of Overcome Mortgages, created the online quizzes after realising during his own studies that free resources were limited.

“There’s a limited number of questions you can get for free when you’re studying so I thought, why don’t I just for myself and then for future people create this,” said Isaac.

He spent around 100 hours sourcing questions and teaching himself how to code them into a website, resulting in several interactive mock exams that cover the full CeMAP syllabus.

“At the end of the day, it’s a help for me and my studies, and ultimately it will be a help for other people,” he said.

Building Knowledge and Breaking Barriers

Isaac works as a self-employed adviser for CS Financial Group, part of The Openwork Partnership. He explained that while the tool also helps draw attention to his mortgage advisory business, his main focus was on reducing barriers to entry for new trainees who might not be able to afford paid resources.

Training providers such as LIBF already offer learning materials, but many are behind paywalls. Isaac said: “You’ll get a textbook online and [in] physical form. And I think there’s around 10 questions at the end of each topic that you can do with LIBF. And then the rest is the occasional video and audio, but mainly just written content that you’ve kind of got to self study.”

LIBF charges £690 for the CeMAP qualification and has recently updated its package to include free specimen exams for each unit. However, additional revision tools and practice exams still come at a cost.

A Cornish Approach to Financial Education

At Overcome Mortgages, Isaac’s mission goes beyond providing expert mortgage advice for first-time buyers, remortgagers, movers, and investors. The firm also aims to support aspiring advisers nationwide with free CeMAP study resources, offering over 1,000 multiple choice questions and extensive blog content.

Although the company serves clients across the UK, it remains rooted in Cornwall, with a focus on helping local families navigate the unique challenges of the Cornish housing market.

Isaac and his team are also planning local outreach in Newquay to raise awareness of their services, while continuing to expand their free study tools and create new video and blog content for homebuyers.

You can access the free CeMAP quizzes at www.overcomemortgages.co.uk