In a statement, FASEA said 69 per cent of candidates passed the March exam, compared to 67 per cent in January.
However the pass rate among those sitting the exam for the first time was still lower than usual, at 79 per cent compared to an 83 per cent average for all exam sittings so far.
A total of 2,234 advisers sat the March session, and 13,500 had passed the exam at the end of March, representing 65 per cent of all advisers on the ASIC register – just shy of FASEA chief executive Stephen Glenfield’s prediction earlier this year that 70 per cent of the register would have passed after the March sitting.
Overall, 89 per cent of advisers who have sat the exam have passed so far.
“FASEA congratulates successful candidates on completing an important component of their education requirements under the Corporations Act,” the authority’s Mr Glenfield said.
“Over 15,200 advisers have sat the exam with nine in 10 demonstrating they have the skills to apply their knowledge of advice construction, ethics and legal requirements to the practical scenarios tested in the exam.”
FASEA said candidates who were unsuccessful in the March exam would receive additional individual feedback to highlight the curriculum areas where they had underperformed, and would also be invited to a FASEA-led webinar to help them understand their results and provide guidance on how to prepare for their next sitting.
The authority said 2,100 advisers had booked for the May exam sittings and 600 advisers for the July exam. There were four sittings left until the exam compliance deadline.
Problem areas
FASEA said a number of key areas of underperformance had been identified among those advisers who failed the exam:
Financial advice regulatory and legal obligations
– Demonstrating knowledge of the components of key advice documentation that is provided to the client.
– Applying relevant sections of the Corporations Act when identifying responsible provider obligations, including breaches of those obligations.
– Demonstrating an understanding of the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 requirements to scenarios and identifying compliance and non-compliance.
Applied ethical and professional reasoning and communication
– Demonstrating a practical application of due diligence in financial advice.
– Identifying sources of judgement and biases and their influence on financial advice.
– Applying best interest duty and associated ethical obligations when providing financial advice.
– Effectively applying the FASEA code to various client scenarios.
Financial advice construction
– Demonstrating an understanding of the context in which financial advice is given and requested and how this impacts decision-making.
So glad I’m leaving soon (and I’m not being forced out). The various govt bodies will never be able to weed out the unethical and incompetent relying on exams and consumers will lose more than they will gain.
The bell curve is not looking good for those who have yet to pass.
It is not unreasonable to forecast, less than 60% of those who will sit the remaining exams will pass.
For all those who wish to continue, please prepare as diligently as possible and give it everything you have.
Phil passed in March yippee
Embarrassing fail for those who call themselves advisers and deal with other peoples money……
Not really… It is far from a competency exam.
Agreed. No doubt their clients would love to know that they have failed an exam on the laws and standards they are supposed to be operating under.
You sir madam must have no idea of what the exam is testing. It is not fit for purpose for different groups of financial service providers
I passed the exam early last year. This is f’ing useless and a waste of time. This examines little about actually being a competent adviser.
That’s is a ridiculous fail rate either some thing wrong with exam ie the ambiguous multiple
choice or the advisor are not up to scratch I believe it’s the ambiguous questions written by so called industry experts
This has to be fixed before no one is left
That’s funny, I believe its advisers not being up to scratch.
I believe you’re wrong. Approx 90% have passed to date, but now we’re getting down to the ‘tail’ of advisers, the ones who probably shouldn’t have been in the industry all along. The one’s with 4 units of the Diploma of FP & nothing more, picked up out of a cereal box & given a licence to deal with people’s futures. The one’s who have sat the exam & failed twice… Is the bloke who complained to that muppet Craig Kelly still trying to pass the exam? Runs his own AFSL & failed this exam twice…wtf??
Is anyone really sad that the chaff is being sorted from the wheat? Maybe once that’s occurred we can start to relax some of the draconian rules forced upon us by all these cowboys.
“..Relax some of the draconian rules”- Jimmy, you’re dreaming as I’ve been waiting 30 years for separation of product and advice. Some of us leaving are eligible to stay, highly qualified and FASEA ready but its the bleak, corrupt future that has us going- and we have better options. Good luck as you will need it.
Well you know what honey – I have been doing my MBA and chose not to sit this until I had completed other subjects that I were important for my needs. I passed the first sit in this last session. At the same time I have been supportiing my family cope with a serious accident and TBI injury. Perhaps before you start your generalisations you would be better to sit back and consider a lot of people have personal circumstances, whether it be family, health or other issues they need to address. I undertand that you may not be affected by extenal issues and committents, but lets have empathy for those that do and show support rather than comments that may increase their stresses. In the age of helping each other – lets be their not add to mental health and coping issues – lets be there for each other as a community
Well said Susan. Don’t judge the adviser’s that have not got through yet. You don’t know their personal circumstances. This FASEA exam is a huge extra burden that takes a lot of preparation and time. A lot of advisers are working full time, looking after their families as well as elderly parents. I agree you should be degree qualified to be an financial adviser. I think the FASEA exam is an unnecessary burden which puts a lot of pressure and anxiety on the advisers to get through it. I can understand why a lot of advisers are suffering with their mental health. Best of luck to all who need to sit the exam. As Susan mentioned let’s be supportive of each other, it is a difficult time for a lot of advisers and I think there are a lot of good & honest adviser’s out there it’s shame we are going to lose a lot of the good and experienced advisers due to this ridiculous FASEA exam.
Interesting comment. Myself I waited to sit the exam till the last sitting and passed with only 1 day of study. 20 years in the industry. 8 as a senior paraplanner, 8 as a senior financial planner and 4 in compliance. Never knew I was ‘chaff’, given I decided to defer sitting the exam to a date that suited my situation. I do however feel a lot of empathy for those advisers that are left and have to pass the exam or else they lose their job etc. The exam can be quite hard if you do not come from a compliance background and I wish them all the best in passing their exam from now till end of 2021.
Not to mention the increase in the volume of questions in the actual exams held January and March, both multiple choice and written response, to be answered within the same time frame. Interesting how the average pass mark prior to the change was either Low 90’s to high 80’s, now last 2 exam periods high 60’s.