Financial Adviser Exam Prep Courses Compared: Kaplan, TAL, myIntegrity, Knowledge Shop and Free Options

7 min read · facts checked 1 Nov 2026

As at 1 November 2026, listed prices for ASIC financial adviser exam preparation run from A$59 to A$900 plus GST (TAL Risk Academy's course page shows no price), and the most useful free material comes from ASIC itself. The table below takes each provider's price and features from its own course page on that date. We are one of the options, so we have stuck to what each page says. Prices change: check before you buy.

Free: start with ASIC and ACER

• ASIC's Exam preparation guidance (v6.0, September 2026): the learning outcomes for the three areas and the suggested reading list. The reading list guide summarises it.
• ASIC's Practice question guidance (v16.1, July 2024): a free PDF of 64 practice questions with an answer key and no explanations.
• ACER's online practice test: free and repeatable once you are registered for a sitting, in your candidate account.
• Whatever else you use, work through these: they come from the people who set and run the exam. The financial adviser exam study guides and materials page lists every free ASIC and ACER resource with its version and date, and the practice questions guide explains how to get the most from ASIC's PDF.

Paid courses at a glance

See how much has stuck: sit the free timed mock: try 5 questions with no sign-up. Or see the passes for the full question bank.

How to choose

• If your licensee pays and you need hours, look at the CPD and professional year column first. Kaplan, TAL, Knowledge Shop and some myIntegrity programs list hours; we do not. Structured training for the professional year has its own rules: see the professional year guide.
• If you want a person to mark or tutor you, myIntegrity's PLUS tier lists one-to-one tutorials. The other options are self-paced.
• If you want volume of exam-style practice, compare the practice column. The exam is at least 70 questions, and in ASIC's 64-question practice set 12 client scenarios carry 50 of them, so one or two practice papers is thin preparation for most candidates.
• If budget matters, remember the exam fee is A$1,500 a sitting and a resit costs the same again (see what the exam costs). Preparation that cuts the risk of a resit pays for itself.

What to check before you pay

• Does the practice match the exam? At least 70 multiple-choice questions, true/false sets that score only if every part is right, client scenarios, no calculator, and 3.5 hours including 15 minutes' reading time.
• Is the material current? The law changed in January 2025 (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes) and ASIC issued new preparation guidance in September 2026. Ask when the course was last updated.
• Does the access period cover your sitting? Sittings are about three months apart and results take four to five weeks, so check the dates on the exam dates page before you choose a course length.
• What is the refund rule? Knowledge Shop, for example, gives no refund once the training has been accessed.
• Be wary of "past" or "real" exam questions. ASIC publishes no past papers and changes its questions regularly.

Try before you buy

Our free financial adviser practice exam is a timed mock of 20 original questions in 30 minutes across all three areas, mostly on client scenarios. You can try 5 questions with no sign-up, each marked with a worked answer; the full timed mock needs a free account. It shows how our questions compare with ASIC's samples before you spend anything, and our pricing page sets out each pass. The study plan guide has a 10-week plan whichever course you choose, and the financial adviser exam study guides page lists the free ASIC and ACER material.