How hard is the Series 7?
The Series 7 is hard. It has 125 scored questions in 3 hours 45 minutes, you need a 72 to pass, and most questions ask you to apply rules to client situations instead of recalling facts. Prep providers put the pass rate at about 65 to 70 percent. Plan on 80 to 100 study hours with a finance background and about 150 without.
In more detail
The weight sits on one job function. Of the 125 scored questions, 91 (73 percent) are about giving customers information on investments, making recommendations, transferring assets and keeping records. That means suitability, options, municipal securities, variable annuities and direct participation programs, asked as situations: what would you recommend to this client, and what is the rule?
The length adds to it. Your exam has 130 items, 125 scored and 5 unscored pretest items spread at random, each with four answer choices and no penalty for guessing. With 3 hours 45 minutes, that is about 1 minute 45 seconds per item, and focus drops late in a long sitting.
FINRA's Series 7 page does not list a pass rate. The figure usually quoted is about 65 to 70 percent. One data point traced to FINRA is 71 percent for October 2018 to March 2019, which Kaplan reports from FINRA's 2019 conference. You also have to pass the SIE, a separate 75-question exam, and be sponsored by a FINRA member firm to sit for the Series 7.
Series 7 and SIE side by side
| Feature | Series 7 | SIE |
|---|---|---|
| Scored questions | 125 | 75 |
| Time | 3 hours 45 minutes | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Passing score | 72 | 70 |
| What it asks | Apply rules to client scenarios | Basic industry knowledge |
| Who can sit for it | Only people sponsored by a FINRA member firm | Anyone 18 or older |
| Needed for the General Securities registration | Yes, together with the SIE | Yes, together with the Series 7 |
Step by step
- 1
Count your hours: 80 to 100 with a finance background, about 150 without (Kaplan). Work back from your exam date; 100 hours over 8 weeks is about 12 hours a week.
- 2
Put roughly three quarters of your time on recommendations, options, municipal securities and the other products in the largest job function.
- 3
Learn each topic, then do practice questions on it the same week, and finish with mixed sets.
- 4
Take full practice exams of 130 questions in 225 minutes to train focus for the whole sitting.
- 5
Sit the exam once your practice scores are comfortably above the passing score, not after one good result.
How StudyPDF helps
The Series 7 rewards repetition on a lot of rules. Upload your course manual chapters and notes and StudyPDF builds flashcards, quizzes and practice exams from them, each answer linked to the page it came from. Your mastery per concept shows which topics, such as options or municipal bonds, still cost you points, so the next quiz goes after them.
See also
Do it on your own course
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More questions
Do you need the SIE before the Series 7?
The SIE is a corequisite: you must pass both exams to get the General Securities Representative registration. According to FINRA, the SIE is open to anyone 18 or older, and its result is valid for four years.
Can anyone take the Series 7?
No. To sit for it you must be associated with and sponsored by a FINRA member firm. The SIE, by contrast, is open to anyone 18 or older without a firm.