ASIC today released exam results from the 16^th Financial Advisers Exam cycle, held in February 2022.

This is the first financial adviser exam cycle that ASIC has administered. The exam was previously administered by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA). The exam has been continuously conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) since its inception and follows a rigorous process to ensure all candidates in all cycles are held to the same standard.

In this exam cycle:

• 333 advisers sat the February exam;
• 32.4% (108) of candidates passed the February exam;
• 73% of candidates were resitting the February exam for at least the second time.

Overall results:

To date over 19,850 candidates have sat the exam. Nearly 91% of candidates who have sat the exam have passed, demonstrating they have the skills to apply their knowledge of advice construction, ethics and legal requirements to the practical scenarios tested in the exam.

Of those who have passed:

• Over 15,600 are recorded as current financial advisers on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR), representing 90% of current advisers on the FAR.
• Over 2,260 are ceased advisers on the FAR and may be re-authorised in the future. 
• Over 480 were new to the industry.
• Over 3,250 unsuccessful candidates have re-sat the exam, with 67% passing at a re-sit.

For this exam cycle, as has been the practice for past exams, unsuccessful candidates will receive feedback from ACER to highlight the curriculum areas where they have underperformed. Candidates can contact ACER at faexam@acer.org to request a re-mark of the written response questions.

Financial adviser exam Sitting 17

The next exam sitting of 2022 will be held from 12 May until 16 May 2022. Enrolments for the May sitting will be open from 4 April 2022 and close on 26 April 2022.

For more details on how to enrol, please visit the Book to sit the exam webpage.

Background

The Better Advice Act requires ASIC to administer the exam in accordance with the principles approved by the Minister. The Minister prescribes the format of the exam in the Corporations (Relevant Providers – Education and Training Standards) Determination 2021.

ASIC has adopted the administrative arrangements put in place by FASEA to ensure consistency in delivering the exam, and equity between past and current candidates.

All financial adviser exams are adjusted to a common and consistent scale across different cohorts and exams through appropriate test design and statistical equating. This is to ensure that all candidates, in all cycles, are held to the same standard.

For more information visit Financial adviser exam.