FINRA Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam
The Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam from FINRA, the entry-level exam on securities industry basics for people starting a career in the US securities industry.
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SIE, Series 7 or Series 65: Which Exam Can You Take First?
The SIE is a co-requisite, not a prerequisite, and the only FINRA exam with no sponsor. The Series 65 and 66 are NASAA exams with no SIE requirement of their own. Fees, sponsors, the clock, a chooser.
SIE Practice Test: What to Drill in Each Section, With 3 Sample Questions
How to use SIE practice tests, the pace the real exam asks for, what to drill in each of the four outline sections, and three practice questions with the reasoning behind each answer.
SIE Passing Score 70, What the Pass Rate Is, and a Weighted Study Plan
The SIE's 70 is a scaled score, not 70% correct. FINRA's only recent pass figure covers three exams at once; the 2019 numbers are reported and disagree. Then a study plan split by the outline weights.
Failed the SIE? Retake Waits Now and From 19 January 2027
Today you wait 30 days after a first or second SIE fail, and 180 after a third in a row within two years. From 19 January 2027: 15 and 60 days. The transition and a retake calculator.
SIE Content Outline 2026: Four Sections, 75 Scored Items, 5 Pretest
FINRA's current SIE outline: 44% products and risks, 31% trading and accounts, 16% capital markets, 9% regulation. Every outline heading, the main rules it names, and the pretest change from 10 to 5.
FINRA SIE From India: No SSN Needed, Fees in Rupees, Test Centres
The SIE is the one FINRA exam you can sit without a US firm, a US passport or an SSN. How enrolment works from India, what it costs in rupees, and what FINRA does not say about centres here.
Leave with a plan for today.
- 21 min
Study: Securities industry
- 6 min
Review what you missed. Write down the reason behind each correction.
- 3 min
Close your notes and recall the main ideas in your own words.
A personal study plan, saved only in this browser.
Disclaimer
Independent practice: original questions, not FINRA items