AFA News 28 October 2021. On Monday 25 October 2021, FASEA released the results of the September 2021 exam.  A total of 1,312 people sat this exam, with approximately 800 passing and 512 not passing.  It is important to note that those who did not pass the September exam are eligible to sit the November exam and they need to move quickly in order to register by Friday 29 October 2021.

With the passing of the Better Advice Bill last week, we now have much greater certainty that the nine-month extension to the exam deadline, that the Government has proposed for advisers who have attempted the exam at least twice by the end of this year, will be delivered.  Thus, any advisers who have only attempted the exam once, still have one further opportunity to have a second attempt in order to access the extension until 30 September 2022.

Where to sit the November exam

The November exam will be available in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Gosford, Bathurst/Orange, Geelong and Launceston or by Remote Proctoring.  If it is not being held in a location that is convenient to you and you need to make a second attempt, then you will have no choice other than to do the exam remotely.

Re-sitter pass rate much higher than July

The pass rate for the September exam was 61%, with 65% of first-time sitters passing and we estimated approximately 53% of re-sitters passing.  Whilst these pass rates are lower than they have been on most occasions since the exam commenced, the result for re-sitters was much better than the 40% achieved in the July 2021 exam.  It is interesting to see that there was still a majority of first-timers sitting the exam, with only 32% being re-sitters.  Clearly, some advisers are leaving it right to the end, however with 65% of first-timers passing, this is a good outcome.

There are now 14,630 advisers who have passed the exam and are active on the Financial Adviser Register.  We estimate that there are around 750 who have attempted the exam at least twice who are yet to pass, who will be eligible for the extension until 30 September 2022, and at least a further 1,400 who have attempted the exam only once.  We believe that there are around 2,200 advisers who are active on the FAR but are yet to attempt the exam.

One last chance in 2021

We encourage everyone who is interested, to attempt the November exam, either in order to pass or otherwise to ensure that they have at least had two attempts and are eligible for the extension into next year.  FASEA has advised that there are already 1,500 who have registered for the November exam, however, we estimate that this will grow significantly before registrations close at the end of this week.  We wish everyone attempting the November Exam good luck.

For any questions on the FASEA Exam please email campusafa@afa.asn.au.

Issued 28.10.2021. AFA Policy & Education Update

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