July exam ‘last chance’ for advisers eligible for October extension

ASIC has reminded financial advisers that the July exam (cycle 18) will be the “last chance” for advisers who are eligible for the 1 October 2022 extension to sit and pass the exam.

Advisers who do not pass the July sitting will be required to stop providing personal advice to retail clients from 1 October 2022 and their Australian financial services licensee will need to revoke their authorisation to provide personal advice on or before 30 September 2022 for the adviser to retain their status as an existing provider.

Enrolment for the July exams close at 11.59pm on Tuesday, 12 July.

“Financial advisers who lose their status as an existing provider will be treated as a new financial adviser,” ASIC said.

“New financial advisers must meet additional education requirements, including completing the professional year, before they can be re-authorised to provide personal advice.”

The exam will be held from Thursday, 28 July to Monday, 1 August 2022.

It comes after ASIC revealed that 42.7 per cent of the 496 advisers that sat the 17th financial advisers exam in May passed, while 72.2 per cent of candidates were resitting the May exam for at least the second time.

Unsuccessful candidates are set to receive general feedback from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to highlight the curriculum areas where they have underperformed.

To date, 20,000 candidates have sat the exam, with the passing rate now at 91 per cent. The corporate regulator noted that this demonstrates "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 93 per cent of current advisers on the FAR.
• Over 2,400 are ceased advisers on the FAR and may be re-authorised in the future. 
• Over 600 were new to the industry.
• Over 3,250 unsuccessful candidates have re-sat the exam, with 68 per cent passing at a re-sit.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.