How to Prepare for the Financial Adviser Exam (and How Hard It Is)

8 min read · facts checked 12 Oct 2026

As at 12 October 2026, ASIC's results releases show that between 66% and 73.4% of candidates passed each financial adviser exam sitting in 2025 and 2026, so about one in three did not. The exam is open book for statute, but it tests whether you can apply the law and the Code of Ethics to client scenarios under time pressure.

How hard is it?

• Applied, not recall: ASIC says the exam tests the practical application of your knowledge. In ASIC's practice set, most questions hang off a client scenario.
• Open book for statute only: the relevant section comes with the question, but ASIC regulatory guides do not, and you still have to know what to do with the section.
• Time pressure: at least 70 questions in 3 hours 15 minutes, about 2 minutes 47 seconds each.
• All-or-nothing true/false sets: one wrong part loses the mark.
• No calculator of any kind.
• A credit-grade pass mark: standard-set each sitting within 65–74% (see the pass rate guide).

A 10-week study plan

ASIC notes that how much preparation you need varies, especially if you have not sat an exam for a long time. This plan assumes 6–8 hours a week; stretch it if you are starting from scratch.

• Week 1: read ASIC's Exam preparation guidance (the learning outcomes and reading list), then take the free mock cold to get a baseline.
• Weeks 2–4, regulatory and legal obligations: Corporations Act Chapter 7 (licensing, disclosure, best interests and remuneration, conduct), breach reporting, AML/CTF customer identification, the Australian Privacy Principles and the tax (financial) advice rules in TASA subdivision 50-AA.
• Weeks 4–6, ethics: the five values and 12 standards of the Code of Ethics, applied to dilemmas, plus ethical frameworks, conflicts, referral, client files and biases.
• Weeks 6–8, advice construction: scaled and limited advice (RG 244, RG 90's example SOA), suitability for different client groups, risk tolerance, and spotting inappropriate advice and a better alternative.
• Weeks 8–10: timed mixed practice, ASIC's practice question PDF and ACER's online practice test, and a review of every wrong answer against the source.

The syllabus guide lists the full reading, and our study notes cover each area.

Scenario technique

• Use the 15 minutes' reading time to get through the scenarios. ACER says answers entered during reading time are not saved.
• For each client, note who they are, their goals, what advice is being given and by whom, and any red flag (a conflict, missing information, a vulnerable client).
• Answer the question asked. ASIC's practice guidance tells you to pick the best answer when more than one looks right.
• Watch the capitalised qualifiers. In ASIC's practice set, about a quarter of questions use MOST, BEST, FIRST or NOT.

True/false sets

Treat each statement as its own question and check it against the scenario and any extract supplied. You need every part right for the mark, so a quick guess on one statement throws away the work you did on the other.

Pacing and the no-calculator rule

• Work steadily and don't sink too much time into one question, as ASIC advises.
• Marks are not deducted for wrong answers, so answer everything. Note any question you want to revisit; unanswered ones stay unshaded in the navigation bar.
• Calculators are banned, including on-screen ones. Do any working on the whiteboard (or, in 2026, the blank A4 sheet) and practise that way.