August financial adviser exam pass rate plummets

On Friday morning, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that just 62 per cent of the 231 people that sat the financial adviser exam in August passed.

Among those sitting the exam, 73 per cent were sitting for the first time.

“The exam, conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) since inception, follows a rigorous process to ensure all candidates in each cycle are tested to the same standards,” ASIC said.

This figure is a considerable drop from the 70 per cent that passed both the June and March 2024 versions of the exam.

The August pass mark is the lowest since the November 2022 sitting, when just 57 per cent passed.

ASIC said unsuccessful candidates will receive general feedback from ACER on the areas where they underperformed.

Changes to the exam format earlier this year saw removal of short-answer questions from the exam, leaving only multiple-choice questions. The requirement that only provisional relevant providers and existing advisers could sit the exam was also removed.

The changes followed a brief Treasury consultation on draft legislation at the end of 2023 which ASIC then confirmed it would be implementing in January.

It was hoped that multiple-choice questions would be more efficient by enabling computer marking to replace manual marking which would reduce the cost of administering the exam and improve response times for candidates to receive their results.

To date, 21,430 individual candidates have sat the exam. Over 19,835 (92 per cent) of candidates who have sat the exam have passed, which ASIC said demonstrates “they have the skills to apply their knowledge of advice construction, ethics and legal requirements to the practical scenarios tested in the exam”.

ASIC also announced the indicative dates for exams in 2025: 6 March, 5 June, 7 August, and 6 November.