Feedback and Complaints

It is important to us that the questions you get in your exam are fair – neither too difficult nor too easy, and free from ambiguity. To help us achieve this, we may include additional ‘trial’ questions in exams to ensure that new questions meet our strict standards by testing them under exam conditions. Trial questions do not count towards your final score, and you do get extra time to answer them.

When you answer the trial questions in your exam, you are helping future candidates to experience the same fairness in their exam and we thank you for your help.

The questions used in your study material are for learning and revision purposes. While they are based on the syllabus, they do not necessarily replicate actual examination standard questions. They are, however, designed to test whether you have gained the knowledge or understanding relevant to particular sections of the learning material. Our workbooks are authored and reviewed by actual financial services practitioners who ensure the content is accurate and aligned to the syllabus.

Yes, our sample papers are constructed from questions that have been through the same quality assurance process as ‘live’ questions and are at the same level. Many of the sample questions have been used in past live papers, thereby giving you an opportunity to experience a fair and accurate trial before you sit the exam for real. Sample papers are updated with each version of the exam.

Multiple-choice examinations are assessed automatically by computer as soon as they are submitted. As the nature of the exam means that there is only one correct answer, we are unfortunately unable to remark multiple-choice examinations.

For our written (narrative) exams, we rely on the academic judgment of our examiners to mark scripts fully and fairly, so it is not our policy to re-mark written exam scripts. Details of our post results service for narrative exams can be found here.

We construct our multiple-choice exam papers from a random selection of questions from a question bank. As a result, we are unable to issue past papers because this would effectively place the question bank in the public domain and thereby invalidate the qualification. We do, however, offer sample papers for a number of our multiple-choice examinations. You may also find our Revision Express online study tool helpful. This provides exercises and questions to help you revise for your exam. You can find out more about Revision Express here or contact our Customer Support Team (customersupport@cisi.org | +44 20 7645 0777).

We are unable to return scripts to candidates once a written (narrative) exam paper has been submitted at the end of an exam. We do, however, offer a post results service for unsuccessful narrative exam candidates. Details can be found here.

Please see our Appeals Policy here.

The examination will be based on the content of the syllabus. The workbooks are designed to support your learning, although you may also find it helpful to read the financial press. At levels 3 to 5 you are expected to be able to apply principles outlined in the workbook to situations which are not explicitly stated in the material. The answer to a question could draw on information from more than one area of the workbook.

At level 6 and 7, while the official workbook is essential reading, you are expected to read around the subject, and this reading is not prescribed, although for some subjects, there are suggestions at the end of the syllabus. Questions will be set on the whole syllabus, and topical issues may be tested, so candidates are expected to be aware of developments in the relevant area of financial services.