How long is the Series 7 exam?
The Series 7 exam takes 3 hours and 45 minutes. You answer 130 multiple-choice questions: 125 that count and 5 unscored pretest questions mixed in at random. The passing score is 72. You also have to pass the SIE, a separate exam of 80 questions (75 scored, 5 unscored) in 1 hour and 45 minutes with a passing score of 70.
Each Series 7 question has four answer choices, and there is no penalty for guessing, so answer everything. With 225 minutes for 130 questions, you have about 1 minute 45 seconds per question. The pretest questions look like all the others, so you cannot skip them on purpose.
The 125 scored questions follow four job functions, and one dominates. Providing customers with information about investments, making recommendations, transferring assets and keeping records makes up 91 questions, or 73% of the exam. Opening accounts has 11 questions, processing and confirming transactions 14, and seeking business for the firm 9. Most of your study time belongs to that big third function.
FINRA places scores on a common scale, so the 72 is not a simple count of correct answers, and every version of the exam is held to the same standard. To sit the Series 7, you must be associated with a FINRA member firm. Exam guides that describe a much longer test are from before the SIE was introduced in 2018.
| Exam | Questions | Time | Passing score | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 7 | 130 (125 scored + 5 pretest) | 3 h 45 min | 72 | $395 |
| SIE | 80 (75 scored + 5 pretest) | 1 h 45 min | 70 | $100 |
- 1Check the order: you need the SIE and the Series 7, and a member firm to sit the Series 7.
- 2Download FINRA's content outline and weight your study time by function, with most of it on function 3.
- 3Learn one topic block at a time, such as options, municipal securities or margin, and quiz yourself after each one.
- 4Practice at real pace, about 1 minute 45 seconds per question.
- 5Take at least two full 130-question practice exams in 3 hours 45 minutes before test day.
- 6In the last week, redo the questions you missed and review the rules and numbers you keep mixing up.