QFA Exam Dates 2026–27 (IOB & LIA) + Format: 100 MCQs, Case-Study Capstone

The next QFA exams are IOB’s 6–16 January 2027 session (register by 4 November 2026) and LIA’s January 2027 sitting on 9, 16 and 23 January (register by Friday 6 November 2026). Five QFA modules are 100 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, taken online; the capstone is a case-study exam (written at IOB). In 2026/27 IOB offers five exam sessions, two of them (April and July 2027) for Regulation, Loans and Investment only, and LIA offers January, May and September. Below are the remaining windows and deadlines for 2026/27, how each provider runs the exam, the time you get per question and when results come out. Independent — not affiliated with IOB, LIA or III. ProSyllabus is an independent study site and nothing here is official: every format fact, date and fee below is quoted or summarised from the official pages listed at the end of this page, read on 27 October 2026.

IOB key-dates PDF 2026/27 and LIA Level 7 exam timetable 2026-2027, read 27 October 2026.

IOB says it “is offering five exam sittings per year for QFA modules”, and that “some of these modules do not run in all intakes”. Intakes One, Three and Five take every module, including the capstone; Intakes Two and Four take only Regulation, Loans and Investment. Each intake has a trimester start, a closing date for registration, a multi-day exam session and a results date.

LIA’s Level 7 exam timetable 2026-2027 gives a date and a start time for each module, and adds: “Your exam start time will be within the specified time frame above and you will be notified in advance of your exact start time via email.” Exams are on Saturdays, two modules a day across three Saturdays. The same timetable lists a September 2026 sitting (registration closed Friday 17 July 2026), now past; registration for the three sittings below opened on Tuesday 1 September 2026.

For Regulation, Life Assurance, Loans, Investment and Pensions, IOB says “the exam consists of 100 multiple choice questions”, in a “Two-hour online exam for each module at the end of the trimester”. LIA says the same: its QFA page says “all exams are 2-hour multiple-choice assessments with 100 MCQ questions with the exception of the QFA Financial Advice module”. That is 120 minutes for 100 questions: 72 seconds a question on average (our arithmetic). LIA gives its students a chapter weighting table with the minimum and maximum number of questions that may come from each chapter of the textbook, so the possible range of questions per chapter is known in advance.

The pages we read do not say whether a wrong answer loses a mark in the QFA modules. The Insurance Institute’s FAQ for its own general insurance APA exams says “Incorrect Answer: -1 mark”, but those are different exams. Read your provider’s exam regulations (LIA publishes a Level 7 Exam Regulations guide) before you decide how to treat questions you cannot answer.

The sixth module is different. At IOB, “For the Financial Planning module, the exam consists of a written case study and essay-style questions”, within the two-hour exam format. At LIA, the QFA Financial Advice module “is a 2.5 hour exam consisting of 3 case study based questions”, and the 2026-2027 timetable lists it at 150 minutes from January 2027 (the September 2026 sitting listed 120 minutes). With three questions in 150 minutes, you have 50 minutes a case (our arithmetic). LIA says its Financial Advice module “must be completed last”; IOB’s rule is that to enrol for Financial Planning you must be enrolled for, have passed or be exempt from the other five.

LIA exams “are facilitated online using remote invigilation”, at home or in your office. You need a desktop or laptop computer with a working webcam, microphone and speaker, plus a mobile webcam to show your surrounding area and do a desk pan when asked (tablets, phones and Chromebooks are not supported), Windows 10 or macOS 11 or higher, at least 4 GB of RAM, photo ID in your registered name and a stable connection; LIA recommends at least 1.5 Mbit/s upload, 10 Mbit/s download and a ping under 25 ms. You do not use a web browser: you install the TestReach application in advance and run its system check, and LIA asks you to sign its Online Consent Form. Work laptops can block the software, so LIA encourages a personal machine.

IOB says its programmes “are largely delivered and assessed online”, with a two-hour online exam per module, and that students need a laptop and suitable software, including Microsoft Office. Its pages we read do not name the proctoring software.

To rehearse the timing, the ProSyllabus QFA Regulation mock test gives you two full mocks of 100 questions in 2 hours, every answer explained with the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code or statute it rests on, a score by topic after each mock, and 4 questions free.

Neither IOB nor LIA publishes a pass rate or a pass mark on the pages we read, so this page gives none. What is published is the format: 100 questions, 2 hours, and for LIA students the chapter weighting table, which tells you where the marks are.

For a full timed rehearsal of the 100-question, 2-hour format, start with the QFA Regulation mock test.