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Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Examination

SIE® Practice Exam

This independent SIE practice exam follows FINRA's Securities Industry Essentials content outline, section by section and in the same proportions. The exam is 80 multiple-choice questions (75 scored, 5 unscored) in 105 minutes, with a passing score of 70. The free 25-question diagnostic needs no account and reports your result for each of the four sections.

The free SIE diagnostic is being prepared and is not open yet. The exam facts and the content outline on this page are current.

One section decides most SIE results. Understanding Products and Their Risks is 44% of the exam, 33 of the 75 scored questions, and Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities is another 31%. Knowledge of Capital Markets is 16% and the Overview of the Regulatory Framework only 9%. A study plan that gives the four sections equal time is spending a quarter of its hours on 7 questions.

FINRA's current outline states 5 unscored pretest questions and 80 questions in total. Many prep sites still describe an older 85-question exam, so if the numbers you have seen elsewhere disagree with this page, that is why.

The SIE exam at a glance

What you are preparing for, in the exam owner's own numbers.

Questions80 (75 scored, 5 unscored)
Time limit105 minutes
Exam fee$100
DeliveryComputer-based, delivered by Prometric: in person at a Prometric test center or online with remote proctoring (Prometric ProProctor).
EligibilityOpen to anyone aged 18 or older; no association with or sponsorship by a member firm is required. A pass is valid for four years, and passing the SIE alone does not qualify anyone for registration.
Passing standardPassing score of 70. Scores are equated to a common scale across exam forms, so 70 is not a raw percent-correct figure.
Retakes30-day wait after a first or second failed attempt; 180-day wait after a third or later failure. FINRA has amended Rule 1210 to shorten these to 15 and 60 days, but the shorter waits had not yet been implemented when this was verified.
Outline in forceFINRA Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Examination Content Outline (© 2025 FINRA)

Exam facts are taken from FINRA’s own published material, last checked October 2, 2026. Source. Confirm fees, dates and rules with the organization you register with before you book.

Who takes it

The SIE is open to anyone aged 18 or older. You do not need to work for, or be sponsored by, a FINRA member firm, so you can take it before you are hired. A pass is valid for four years. Passing the SIE alone does not qualify you for registration: that also takes a representative-level exam such as the Series 7.

What the SIE exam covers

4 content areas and the share of the exam each carries. The bank is tagged to the same outline, so your results come back by area.

DomainWeightWhat it covers
1Knowledge of Capital Markets9 tasks16%
  • Explain why securities are regulated and what the SEC is, what it oversees and what powers it has.
  • Describe the purpose of self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA, the MSRB and Cboe, and the reach of their authority.
  • Identify the other bodies that touch the industry (Treasury/IRS, state regulators and NASAA, the Federal Reserve, SIPC, the FDIC) and what each one does.
  • and 6 more tasks
2Understanding Products and Their Risks10 tasks44%
  • Compare equity securities (common and preferred stock, rights, warrants, ADRs), including ownership and voting rights, convertibility and resale limits on control or restricted stock.
  • Compare debt instruments (Treasuries, agencies, corporates, municipals, money market instruments) and apply core bond concepts such as par, coupon, yield, ratings, call features and the price-rate relationship.
  • Explain options basics: puts and calls, equity vs. index options, premium, strike, expiration, moneyness, covered vs. uncovered positions, exercise and assignment, and the roles of the ODD and the OCC.
  • and 7 more tasks
3Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities12 tasks31%
  • Recognize order types and trading terms: market, limit and stop orders, bid and ask, principal vs. agency capacity, long vs. short and bullish vs. bearish positions.
  • Calculate and interpret investment returns: income and gains, dividend types and key dividend dates, yield measures, total return, cost basis and benchmarks.
  • State the settlement time frames for different products and distinguish physical delivery from book entry.
  • and 9 more tasks
4Overview of the Regulatory Framework3 tasks9%
  • Explain SRO registration requirements (who must register, background checks, fingerprinting, statutory disqualification, state registration) and the continuing education requirement.
  • Explain Form U4 and Form U5 obligations, the consequences of false or omitted disclosures, and how customer complaints and red flags are handled.
  • Identify what an associated person must report or get approved: outside business activities, private securities transactions, political contributions, gifts and entertainment, and criminal or financial events.

How to use the bank for the SIE exam

  1. 1

    Take the diagnostic, then look at Products first

    The 25-question diagnostic is scored by section. Whatever else it shows, check your Products and Their Risks result first, because that section is 44% of the exam.

  2. 2

    Learn the rule, not the question

    Each explanation names the rule or concept the question turns on and says why each of the other three options fails. The exam will ask about the same rule from a different direction, and the reasoning is what transfers.

  3. 3

    Move to timed sets

    80 questions in 105 minutes is about 79 seconds a question. Calculation questions take longer than that and definition questions less, so practice banking time on the short ones.

  4. 4

    Sit full-length mocks before you book

    A mock here is 80 questions in 105 minutes, weighted 16/44/31/9 across the four sections. After a failed attempt FINRA makes you wait 30 days, so the mock is the cheaper place to find a weak section.

What is in the paid SIE bank

  • The question bank

    The SIE bank is still being written. The live count appears here when questions are published.

  • Every option explained

    A written reason for every option, right and wrong, plus a one-line takeaway, a cited reference and the outline task the question tests.

  • Tutor mode and timed mode

    Tutor mode shows the explanation after each question. Timed mode holds everything back until the end, at exam pace.

  • A readiness band, by domain

    Your first-attempt results weighted the way the exam weights its domains, shown as a band rather than a pass probability: nobody outside the exam owner knows the cut score.

  • A study plan

    Set your exam date and the plan divides the questions you have not seen across the days you have left, weakest domains first, with the mock exams placed in the back half.

SIE passes

A pass is access for a fixed number of days. You pay once; nothing renews.

30-day pass

$49one-off

  • The full SIE bank for 30 days
  • Every mock exam, tutor and timed modes
  • Charged once. It does not renew.
Get the 30-day pass

90-day pass

$79one-off

  • The full SIE bank for 90 days
  • Every mock exam, tutor and timed modes
  • Charged once. It does not renew.
Get the 90-day pass

Refund within 7 days if you have answered fewer than 50 questions. Pass guarantee: complete 100% of the bank with an average of 80% or better, and if you still do not pass the exam your pass is extended by 90 days at no charge.

How the questions are written and checked

  1. Step 1

    Written to the public outline

    Each question is written by AI against one task in FINRA's published content outline. Nothing is taken from the exam itself.

  2. Step 2

    Solved blind by a second model

    A different model answers the question without seeing the key. If it does not reach the same answer, the question is not published.

  3. Step 3

    Audited for flaws and duplicates

    A separate pass looks for item-writing flaws: two defensible answers, a giveaway in the wording, a rationale that contradicts the key. Near-duplicates are removed.

  4. Step 4

    Corrected in public

    Learners can report any question. Reports and answer statistics flag questions for withdrawal or correction, and every correction is logged.

There is no human subject-matter-expert review in that process, and we do not claim one. What you get instead is a cited reference on every question, so you can check it yourself. Read the full methodology or see the corrections log.

SIE practice questions: common questions

How many questions are on the SIE exam?

80: 75 scored and 5 unscored pretest questions, which are not identified. That is from FINRA's current content outline; older material describing 85 questions is out of date.

How long is the SIE exam?

105 minutes.

What is the passing score for the SIE?

70. FINRA puts every candidate's score on a common scale by a statistical adjustment called equating, which allows for small differences in difficulty between sets of questions. So 70 is not the same thing as 70 percent correct.

What is the SIE exam pass rate?

We could not find a pass rate published by FINRA, so we do not quote one. Figures you may see elsewhere are estimates from prep providers, and we publish no pass rate for users of this site either.

How much does the SIE exam cost?

$100.

Can I take the SIE exam online?

Yes. FINRA delivers it through Prometric, either in person at a Prometric test center or online with remote proctoring.

How long do I have to wait to retake the SIE?

30 days after a first or second failed attempt, and 180 days after a third or later one. FINRA filed a rule change in June 2026 that shortens these to 15 and 60 days, but it had not announced an implementation date when this page was last checked, so confirm the current rule with FINRA.

Is this SIE practice exam free?

The diagnostic is free: 25 questions, no account, every answer explained when you finish. The full bank and the mock exams are part of a paid pass, charged once with no renewal.

SIE® and Securities Industry Essentials® are registered trademarks of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA). This site is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by FINRA.