ASIC has released exam results from the 18th Financial Advisers Exam cycle, held in July and August 2022.

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: 

• 628 advisers sat the July and August exam;
• 328 (52%) of candidates passed the July and August exam;
• 76% of candidates were resitting the July and August exam for at least the second time.

Overall results: 

To date 20,148 candidates have sat the exam. Over 92% 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 15,800 are recorded as current financial advisers on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR), representing 95% of current advisers on the FAR.
• Over 2,500 are ceased advisers on the FAR and may be re-authorised in the future. 
• Over 700 were new to the industry.
• Over 3,300 unsuccessful candidates have re-sat the exam, with 74% passing at a re-sit.

For this exam cycle, as has been the practice for past exams, unsuccessful candidates will receive general 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. Requests for a re-mark must be submitted by Wednesday 7 September 2022.

This exam sitting was the last opportunity for financial advisers who are operating under the nine-month exam extension to pass the exam. From 1 October 2022, all financial advisers must have passed the exam to continue to provide personal advice.

See Important next steps for existing financial advisers who have not passed the exam and their licensees.

Financial adviser exam Sitting 19 

The next exam sitting of 2022 will be held on 3 November 2022. Enrolments for the November sitting will open on 23 September and close on 13 October 2022.

Note: For all exam bookings made after 30 September 2022, remote proctoring will be the only available method to sit the exam.

Updating the Financial Advisers Register

It is critical that the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) is maintained to ensure that the public can reference accurate and up-to-date records when making decisions about whether to engage an adviser.

In order to continue to be authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products, and to remain ‘current’ on the FAR:

• Existing providers who did not qualify for the exam extension (until 1 October 2022) were required to have passed the exam by 1 January 2022; and
• Existing providers who did qualify for the exam extension, are required to have passed the exam by the 18th exam cycle, because there will be no more exam sittings before 1 October 2022.

Under the Corporations Act 2001, AFS licensees are responsible for ensuring that details about their financial advisers on the FAR are correct. This includes updating the status of financial advisers who have not passed the financial adviser exam by the required date to ‘ceased’.

See Important next steps for existing financial advisers who have not passed the exam and their licensees.

Exam eligibility numbers 

If you are a new financial adviser, or a foreign adviser, ASIC needs to assess your eligibility to sit the exam before you can book for an exam. If ASIC determines that you are eligible to sit the exam, you will be issued with an exam eligibility number which you must use to book for the exam.

To make sure new financial advisers are issued an exam eligibility number in time to book for an exam, their AFS licensee should apply for an exam eligibility number through the ASIC Regulatory Portal no later than 15 days before the last day of the booking period for an exam. For Sitting 19 the deadline is 28 September 2022.

Foreign advisers can apply for an exam eligibility number by emailing ASIC at foreignexistingadvisers@asic.gov.au. See eligibility to sit the exam for further information. For more details on how to enrol, please visit the Book to sit the exam webpage.

For more information, see ASIC’s Financial Advisers’ Quick Reference Guide.

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 the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority 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.

ASIC is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator.