Learn the exam in families, not in task order. False casting comes first because everything is built on it, distance last because it cannot be forced.

What the instructor says

• Tasks 1, 6 and 8 are false casting. They are the fundamental parts of casting, so learn them first. Keep task 1 clearly vertical — about 20 degrees off vertical is what examiners want, though it is not in the rules.
• Then the presentation tasks. Tasks 4 and 5 (reach mends left and right) and task 7 (slack line casts, with and without aerial mends) put a presentation on the end of the false cast.
• Then accuracy, extending line as you go from 20 to 30 to 45 ft.
• Roll cast any time. It is its own cast, outside the family of the others.
• Distance last. Only with good loops, the roll cast and the double haul do you work on it; 50 ft one-handed with 3 ft loops and a double haul means task 15 is no problem at all.

Putting it to work

1. Stay off the distance cast for the first six, eight or ten weeks, sometimes three or four months: cranking at task 15 early is practicing failure and bad habits.
2. Do accuracy at 20, then 30, then 45 ft, extending line as you go.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 3, 00:00:59–00:03:57. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.