A total of 73 per cent of candidates passed the adviser exam in August, or 150 of the 205 candidates that sat the exam, the corporate regulator revealed on Friday.
“As has been the practice for past exams, unsuccessful candidates will receive general feedback from ACER to highlight the curriculum areas where they have underperformed,” the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said.
The next exam sitting will be held on 9 November 2023, with enrolments to open on Monday, 2 October and close on Friday, 20 October.
To date 20,718 individual candidates have sat the exam, of which over 19,172 (92 per cent) have passed.
Prior to the August sitting date, ASIC revealed that of the 195 candidates that sat the May exam, 63 per cent or 122 candidates passed.
The exam has been continuously conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) since its inception and, according to ASIC, follows a rigorous process to ensure all candidates in all cycles are held to the same standard.
On Friday, ASIC also released indicative dates for exam sittings in 2024, including 15 February, 16 May, 8 August, and 7 November.
The exam cost increased from $973 in 2022 to $1,500 this year.
The exam fee had jumped to $973 after ASIC took over responsibility for the adviser exam from the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) at the beginning of 2022. The fee previously stood at $540.
Since 1 October 2022, all financial advisers have been required to pass the exam to continue to provide personal advice.
And they still fail. So what’s the rip off fee ASIC are now charging for this wrought – almost $1,500 now?
Thank God I made the decision to never re-sit this exam and drop my pants to this horrific scam and massive conflict of interest again. There needs to be a totally independent inquiry by a body with serious powers into how ASIC, FASEA and the people that have assessed these exams have conducted themselves and produced the exam results.
By trying to eliminate a minute percentage of lower grade advisers, this wrought has effectively eliminated 55% of an entire industry – that’s now seen the first life insurance company go under in the 16 years I’ve been in the industry. Lower end consumers are now being ignored by the remaining advisers who won’t spend the time dealing with them and Australia’s underinsurance problem, which impacts the dreadfully failing NDIS, is getting bigger and bigger. How does this pass any pub test?
ASIC – you have failed here terribly but true to form, you’ll just stick your head in the sand, ignore this and accept zero accountability for it – AS USUAL.
It’s a bit strange you weren’t able to pass a (very easy) exam that would otherwise be bread and butter for any normal Financial Planner worth their salt.
Triple more expensive to sit, where does all the revenue go.