Checked 25 October 2026. Low for the format (NASAA test specifications effective June 12, 2023; FINRA Series 63 page read 25 Oct 2026). The drill list is ours, not NASAA's.
NASAA says the Series 63 evaluates knowledge of securities law principles under federal and state law. This guide gives three practice questions to try, each with the rule behind the answer, the pace the real exam asks for, and what to drill in each of NASAA's eight sections. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of NASAA or FINRA. The facts here are quoted or summarised from NASAA's and FINRA's pages listed under Sources. Each state decides whether and how to adopt NASAA's models, so check the registration requirements of the states where you will do business, with your firm.
NASAA Series 63 test specifications and FINRA Series 63 page.
FreeTests: Communication with Customers and Prospects · Ethical Practices and Obligations · Regulation of Broker-Dealer Agents
Series 63 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
Try three practice questions
These are original questions written to NASAA's test specifications, one each from three sections. Try each before you open the answer.
Practice question · Communication with customers
An agent tells a customer: "This stock is registered with the state, so the Administrator has found the prospectus to be true and complete." Under the Uniform Securities Act, this statement is:
- A. Lawful, as long as the agent gives the customer a prospectus before the sale
- B. Lawful, because the security really is registered with the state Administrator
- C. Unlawful, because registration is not a finding that the filed documents are true
- D. Unlawful only if the security later proves to be a poor investment for the customer
Show the answer and why
Answer: C.
USA Section 405(a)(2): the fact that a security is effectively registered does not constitute a finding by the Administrator that any document filed under the Act is true, complete and not misleading. Section 405(b) makes it unlawful to make any representation to a prospective purchaser inconsistent with Section 405(a).
An original ProSyllabus practice question, written to NASAA's Series 63 test specifications. It is not a NASAA exam question.
Practice question · Ethical practices
A customer tells an agent over the phone: "Buy whatever tech stock you think is best for me this week." The account has no written discretionary authority. Under NASAA's statement of policy, the agent:
- A. May buy, and then has ten business days to obtain the customer's written authority
- B. May buy any tech stock, because the customer has given oral discretionary authority
- C. May not choose the stock until the customer gives written discretionary authority
- D. May buy, but only up to the amount of cash that is already held in the account
Show the answer and why
Answer: C.
NASAA's statement of policy (1.e, applied to agents by 2.f) lists exercising any discretionary power in effecting a transaction for a customer's account without first obtaining written discretionary authority from the customer, unless the discretion relates solely to the time and/or price of execution. Choosing the security is not time or price.
An original ProSyllabus practice question, written to NASAA's Series 63 test specifications. It is not a NASAA exam question.
Practice question · Regulation of broker-dealer agents
An employee of a nonprofit hospital is paid a commission to sell the hospital's bonds to the public. The bonds are exempt from registration under the Act's nonprofit exemption. Under the Uniform Securities Act, the employee is:
- A. An agent who must register
- B. Not an agent, because the bonds are exempt
- C. Not an agent, because the issuer is a nonprofit
- D. Exempt, because hospitals are regulated elsewhere
Show the answer and why
Answer: A.
An exempt security does not by itself make the seller exempt. USA Section 401(b)(1)(A) excludes issuer representatives only for securities exempted by clauses (1), (2), (3), (10) and (11) of Section 402(a): governments, foreign governments, banks, qualifying commercial paper and employee benefit plans. The nonprofit exemption is clause (9), which is not on that list.
An original ProSyllabus practice question, written to NASAA's Series 63 test specifications. It is not a NASAA exam question.
All three turn on a word in the rule: "finding" in the first, "first" in the second, and the five exemptions the agent definition lists in the third. NASAA says a question may or may not name the concept or legal rule being tested.
FreeTests: Communication with Customers and Prospects · Ethical Practices and Obligations · Regulation of Broker-Dealer Agents
Series 63 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
The pace the real exam asks for
You have 75 minutes for 65 questions, 5 of which do not count but cannot be told apart. That is about 69 seconds a question (our arithmetic). A simple check during a timed practice test:
| After this many questions | Time used at an even pace (ours) |
|---|---|
| 20 | about 23 minutes |
| 40 | about 46 minutes |
| 65 | 75 minutes |
A routine that uses practice tests well
Our suggested routine
- Early on, read NASAA's test specifications and study guide once, so you know the eight sections and the sources each one draws on.
- Study by section, starting with the two largest: Ethical Practices (15 questions) and Communication with Customers (12). Together they are almost half of the scored questions.
- After each block of study, answer practice questions on that section untimed, and write down the rule behind every question you got wrong or guessed.
- In the last two weeks, sit full practice tests against the real clock: 75 minutes, one sitting, no notes.
- After each timed test, review every wrong or guessed answer before taking another, and do not retake the same questions until you could explain each answer from memory.
Our suggestions, not NASAA's or FINRA's.
Our review technique: when you get a question wrong, find the exact words in the rule that decide it, and write them down. In the Uniform Securities Act and NASAA's policies such conditions include "first obtaining written discretionary authority", "solely incidental", "no place of business in this state" and "within the past ten years". Learning the condition fixes the whole family of questions built on it.
What to drill in each section
NASAA Series 63 test specifications (effective June 12, 2023): 60 scored questions. The 5 unscored pretest questions can come from any section.
| Section (scored questions) | Worth drilling (ours) |
|---|---|
| Investment Advisers (3) | The exclusions from "investment adviser" (lawyers, accountants, teachers and engineers whose advice is solely incidental; banks; publishers of bona fide publications that do not give advice based on each client's own situation; federal covered advisers); the small-client exemption for an adviser with no place of business in the state; what an advisory contract must say. |
| Investment Adviser Representatives (3) | The five activities that make someone a representative; where a federal covered adviser's representative registers (a place of business in the state); who notifies the Administrator when a representative moves. |
| Broker-Dealers (7) | The exclusions from "broker-dealer", including the institutional-only and existing-customer cases; the 30-day effective date and 31 December expiry; the federal limit on state capital and books-and-records rules for broker-dealers (Exchange Act Section 15(i)); supervision. |
| Broker-Dealer Agents (8) | An agent is always an individual; which issuer representatives are not agents; when registration is not effective; the grounds for denial, especially the 10-year conviction rule. |
| Securities and Issuers (5) | What is and is not a security (fixed vs variable annuities, the Howey test); exempt securities against exempt transactions; registration by coordination; federal covered securities and notice filing. |
| Remedies and Administrative Provisions (7) | What a buyer recovers in a civil suit, and the time limits; the 30-day rescission offer; criminal penalties; cease and desist orders; when an offer is made in a state. |
| Communication with Customers (12) | What an agent may say about registration; fund disclosures (breakpoints, "no load", yield vs total return); disclosures at a bank branch; correspondence vs retail communication; margin and options agreements. |
| Ethical Practices (15) | The practices NASAA's statement of policy lists as dishonest or unethical: excessive trading, unauthorized trades, discretion without first obtaining written authority (unless it relates solely to the time or price of execution), lending to or borrowing from customers, transactions not recorded on the broker-dealer's books unless it authorised them in writing beforehand (selling away), sharing in customer accounts without written authorization, guarantees against loss, prices not reasonably related to the market; plus Regulation Best Interest and the vulnerable adults model act. |
FreeTests: Communication with Customers and Prospects · Ethical Practices and Obligations · Regulation of Broker-Dealer Agents
Series 63 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
Reading a practice score
A practice score is the share of practice questions you got right. It is not a Series 63 result. The real pass mark is 43 of the 60 scored questions, and NASAA says each exam is assembled from a pool of eligible questions to the same content specifications and difficulty level; practice questions are not from that pool, and the NASAA materials cited here give no conversion from a practice score to a Series 63 result. Use a practice test to find the sections that cost you marks, then go back to the rule behind each wrong answer. Our format and passing score guide sets out what NASAA and FINRA say about the exam.
ProSyllabus has an independent Series 63 practice exam with two timed 60-question mocks; it is not the official exam and is not made or endorsed by NASAA or FINRA.
FreeTests: Communication with Customers and Prospects · Ethical Practices and Obligations · Regulation of Broker-Dealer Agents
Series 63 Practice Exam: free sample
Answer 3 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
3 questions to answer
Start nowabout 5 minThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
Frequently asked questions
What does NASAA publish to prepare for the Series 63?
NASAA publishes test specifications and a study guide that list the sections, their weights and the testable laws and rules. It says it does not approve, endorse or recommend any third-party preparation service.
How long should I spend on each Series 63 question?
About 69 seconds on average, by our arithmetic: 75 minutes for 65 questions, including the 5 unscored ones.
Which Series 63 section has the most questions?
Ethical Practices and Obligations: 15 of the 60 scored questions (25%). Communication with Customers and Prospects is next with 12 (20%).
Do Series 63 questions name the rule they test?
Not always. NASAA says a question may or may not name the concept or legal rule being tested.
Are these practice questions real Series 63 questions?
No. They are original ProSyllabus questions. NASAA says its exam questions are its copyright and third-party preparation services have no access to exam content.
More in this series
Sources
- official — NASAA — Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination (Series 63) Overview, September 1, 2023 (PDF): sources tested, section scope, consolidated list of testable subjects, how exams are assembled and scored
- official — NASAA — Series 63 Test Specifications (PDF): the eight sections and their weights, for the specifications in effect since June 12, 2023
- official — FINRA — Series 63 Uniform Securities Agent State Law Exam (a NASAA exam administered by FINRA; 60 scored and 5 unscored questions; 75 minutes; 43 of the 60 scored to pass; corequisite: none; cost $147; Exam Validity Extension Program)
- official — NASAA — Series 63 Exam Content Outline (65 multiple-choice questions, 60 scored, 5 pretest questions not identified; 75 minutes; closed book; enrollment through Form U4 or an individual enrollment window via FINRA; 120-day window; test specifications effective June 12, 2023)
- official — NASAA — Uniform Securities Act (1956) with NASAA updates and commentary (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Statement of Policy: Dishonest or Unethical Business Practices of Broker-Dealers and Agents (adopted May 23, 1983) (PDF)
- official — NASAA — Statement of Policy: Dishonest or Unethical Business Practices by Broker-Dealers and Agents in Connection with Investment Company Shares (adopted 4/27/97) (PDF)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
